Diana Dykstra, former CEO of San Francisco Fire CU, had just amonth as head of the California and Nevada Credit Union Leaguesbefore facing the audience of several hundred credit unionexecutives at its annual conference. She sat down with CreditUnion Times Editor-in-Chief Sarah Snell Cooke to discuss hertransition and the state of credit unions during that busy time andshared her thoughts on her sand state responsibilities andcollaboration and cooperation.

Watch a video of this interview here and read the complete transcript here.

SSC: California has been a very difficult place to run a creditunion of late-the last two, three, plus years. Talk about theopportunity and the challenges that credit unions have had,particularly in this state over the last couple of years.

DD: Credit unions really have struggled, but the more importantthing is that credit unions have made a difference. We continue tolend. We continue to do things to help our members: The loanmodifications that have been done in the state of California. Theoutreach-instead of waiting for a member to come to us, creditunions were proactively looking for people that we thought werehaving problems. So we really did do great things.

We would love to have great return on assets and growingcapital, but we've made it through and I think we've come outsmarter through all of this and we're proud of what we've done,even though it's been difficult.

SSC: How do you see that increased responsibility you have inhelping these credit unions to survive and thrive through thedifficult problems?

DD: I think I said this morning: I love running a credit union.It was a great job. But my passion is really to make sure allcredit unions can do well and survive and grow and prosper. So Ithink that it is a challenge, but being that I've started with acredit union in the lowest job you can have and worked my way up, Iunderstand what goes on in credit unions and I think the league canbe positioned to be innovative and bring products and service andideas to help our credit unions really move through and transitionto this new reality.

SSC: Any new initiatives you have for the association to helpcredit unions through?

DD: At the top of my mind-four weeks and two days-there aren't alot of my initiatives. But I was fortunate to have worked on thecommittee for the last two years in collaboration, and just lastmonth the company incorporated-it is now CU Roots-and we are doinggreat things to bring economies of scale and reduced cost andback-office operations for credit unions.

SSC: Credit unions are moving toward consolidation-that's aconcern and an interest of anybody in the industry, tradeassociations and publications alike, as well as some of the leaguesare consolidating-yours now represents two states, and it has for awhile. Where do you think these trends are going?

DD: Certainly consolidation is part of what's happened to us fora number of years. Consolidation is a natural progression ofthings. I do think that if we can collaborate more and really helpeach other systematically or system-wide, we can slow theconsolidation. But it is natural. We've got two large creditunions, one in California and one in Oregon that are merging-and itjust creates a better economy for them. But I do think we'llcontinue to see it. I hope we can slow the amount.

SSC: Is the consolidation good for the industry in general?Maybe not necessarily for some of the credit unions that are havingdifficulties, but in general do you think they'll come out maybelarger and stronger?

DD: I would like to say that I would love all credit unions tomaintain their current charters and their business. The reality isthe world's changing, sponsors are going away, smaller creditunions have some difficulty in providing all the products. Largercredit unions-there's some attractiveness today to merge, to reallygain some economies and broaden field of membership. But again Ireally hope that through collaboration and cooperation we cancreate systems in which credit unions that have the want, thedesire and the ability to remain viable will have thatenvironment.

SSC: You've talked a lot about collaboration. And you hear fromboth sides that collaboration is better and stronger and it's wherecredit unions are going to survive; others have said we need tocompete, we need to be financial services institutions first. Doyou feel there is a loss of that cooperative spirit, and if so, howare credit unions going to regain it or use it to their advantagein the long term?

DD: I think for a period of years, when field of membershipstarted opening up and we had lots of community charters andoverlapping, we got to feel we were competitive. We're not bigenough to say that our competition is one another. I think throughthis financial crisis, credit unions realize that being cooperativeand working together is the only thing that makes us survive. I seea renewed sense of that cooperation, and I think that we all knowwe need each other. The system is interdependent, and when you makea loan or you lose a loan, it also impacts me.

SSC: So how are credit unions going to face up against thebanks?

DD: I think we're just going to have to tell our story better.Certainly getting out to the media and really telling thedifference that credit unions make in communities-telling ourstory, showing how we help members, how we grow businesses, how ourcommunities have benefited from us being in the marketplace-andpeople will vote with their feet. I come from San Francisco, andcertainly there was this sense of community, strength andawareness, and when the banks started falling by the wayside thelast couple of years, you saw tremendous growth and lots of peoplelooking for that local decision, somebody that cares about thecommunity.