WASHINGTON – CUNA Chairman Kris Mecham’s wife Stephanie used to try to bring him into line by suggesting if he didn’t behave, the elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints were going to send him on a mission to some remote place – such as Mongolia.
Ironically, that’s just what they did, calling the chairman of the CUNA Board and president of Deseret First CU, the Mormon Church’s credit union, for a two-year mission to Ulan Batar, the capital of Outer Mongolia, starting this July.
The 56-year-old Mecham, every bit the credit union missionary too, will take a leave of absence from Deseret First and hand over the gavel of the CUNA Board to Harriet May, president of GECU, when he departs this summer to lead a group of missionaries. There will be a total of 200 participants, 160 of them between the ages of 19 and 24, and 40 of them senior citizens. The group will proselytize the Mormon message as they teach English in the local schools and help build public works.
"This is the sort of thing you don’t apply for," Mecham, who served a two-year mission in Scotland in his youth, told The Credit Union Journal yesterday. "But it’s something you can’t not respond positively to when the call comes."
Mecham, a career credit-unionist, agreed to accept a second one-year term as CUNA chairman in order to retain some continuity throughout the Board’s search for a successor to Dan Mica but will leave halfway through the year.
His proudest achievement as CUNA Chairman was heading the group as it returned to profitability last year, after two years in the red. He credited the work pf Mica and the CUNA staff in cutting expenses to bring the finances into a $7 million net for 2009.
The credit union executive/CUNA Chairman got hooked on credit unions at a young age. After he lost his scholarship at Idaho State University while struggling with a very tough accounting course he was forced to find a job and landed at Atomic Workers CU (now Westmark CU) in Idaho Falls. From there he went to work at Idaho Central CU, then headed the Idaho CU League, each job for four eyars, before taking the position as CEO of Deseret First CU in Salt Lake City, where he’s been for the past 19 years. "I’m the ultimate convert to credit unions," he said.
The board at the $550 million credit union has agreed to find an interim CEO to facilitate Mecham’s mission and to welcome him back when he returns.
