NRS Community Development Credit Union and its CEO, Eunice Rogers, may not fit the typical CU trade association leadership mold, but then again, the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions isn't the typical trade group.
So it is fitting that Rogers, the CEO of a credit union that operates part-time with volunteers staffing its sponsor church, has been elected to take the helm of one of the credit union movement's most unique groups, the NFCDCU.
Though the credit union is only open a few days a week, NRS CDCU's Eunice Johnson Rogers, is proof that there is a lot of life in these types of institutions.
Earning a degree in mechanical engineering from Vanderbilt University, she was a trailblazer at a time when few African American women could be found in the field; she was a charter member of the National Society of Black Engineers. Rogers worked for nearly 20 years for Bell South, before joining the NRS (New Rising Star) Community Development FCU, which was chartered in 1996.
She threw herself into the credit union movement as if making up for lost time. She attended both CUNA Management School and the Federation's CDCU Institute.
She is active in the Alabama Credit Union League and serves as a liaison to state policymakers, representing the league's District 7.
Nationally, she serves on CUNA's Cooperative Alliance Committee, and this August, she will be participating in the Development Educators program.
Rogers made a strong impression on a large credit union audience as a featured speaker at the NCUA PALs workshop in Orlando in February 2005.
Her credit union is a member of NAFCU, and she is a member of the African American Credit Union Coalition (AACUC), a close ally of the Federation.
Despite her national work and unsalaried duties managing NRS CDCU, Rogers also serves as Chairman of the Planning Commission of the City of Birmingham.
"She's a remarkably accomplished, dedicated, and gracious person," said Federation Executive Director Cliff Rosenthal. "We're sure she will add to the legacy of our immediate past chair, Mrs. Rita Haynes."
