FirstLight Federal Credit Union in El Paso, Texas, has promoted Margie Salazar, its chief financial officer, to be its next chief executive.
Salazar will take the helm of the $1.5 billion-asset credit union on Feb. 1. She succeeds Karl Murphy, who has been CEO of FirstLight since 2003 and is retiring at the end of January.
"Margie is an accomplished leader with extensive experience in the financial industry. … She understands the needs of our members, our employees and our community stakeholders," Murphy said in a press release on Wednesday. "Margie is an innovator in the finance space and will thoughtfully guide FirstLight into the future."
Outside of her work with the credit union, which spans more than 25 years since she joined as a teller, Salazar has held leadership positions on the board of the El Paso Chapter of Credit Unions and with the Armed Services YMCA. She is currently board chair for the YMCA of El Paso, sits on the advisory council for University of Texas at El Paso's El Paso Banking Academy and is a member of the National Association of Latino Credit Unions and Professionals.
"I am extremely passionate about the credit union movement and our overarching mantra of 'people helping people.' … As a proud Latina from El Paso, I look forward to building upon our mission of improving lives so our members and community alike can achieve their dreams," Salazar said in the release.
