Going into her new role as president and CEO of the Californiaand Nevada Credit Union Leagues in October 2010, Diana Dykstra hadnearly three decades of experience working for California creditunions, which allowed her to build many relationships. So it madesense that becoming head of a league that oversees two strugglingsand states was a natural transition for her.

Dykstra began her credit union career as a part-time loan clerkand later became the senior vice president of the $3.6 billion,Pleasanton, Calif.-based Patelco Credit Union, president and CEO ofthe $619 million, Lompoc, Calif.-based CoastHills Federal CreditUnion, and most recently, CEO of the $670 million San FranciscoFire Credit Union. She said the main differentiator between her andformer leagues president and CEO Bill Cheney, who was namedpresident and CEO of CUNA last year, is their backgrounds.

“Bill and I have the same philosophy as far as the needs ofCalifornia credit unions,” she said. “But having spent 28 yearsinside California credit unions, I have a different vantagepoint.”

In her first seven months on the job, Dykstra said politics haveplayed a key role in her day-to-day activities. She noted that 132bills recently entered the state legislature, more than 40 of whichare related to mortgages and foreclosures, and standing up forcredit unions during the decision-making process has been apriority.

“There have been so many legislative and regulatory things goingon,” she said. “So I've spent a lot of time on the politicaladvocacy front.”

Hearing from California and Nevada credit unions on how theleagues can better serve them has also been a priority for Dykstra.Credit unions recently completed a member survey, which revealedseveral key themes–their need for cost effective and broadeducation, desire to produce new revenue streams and interest inreceiving useful information from the leagues.

“We've been thinking about how to streamline the informationwe're getting out, and how to get information out that's notredundant,” Dykstra said.

One question California and Nevada CUs are undoubtedly askingtheir new leagues president is, how will she help us pull throughin these rough times? Dykstra said she'll be helping CUs that havebeen hit hard on an individual basis by providing answers to theirquestions and the tools they need to succeed.

“It's more of a one-on-one effort,” she said. “We don't have anoverarching program for all of them.”

While Dykstra noted that a great majority of California andNevada CUs are struggling, she also said she saw light at the endof the tunnel. For example, she said net worth ratios at CaliforniaCUs are higher than national averages. She's also seen animprovement in charge-offs and delinquencies and positive return oninvestment numbers in the state.

California is also home to Western Bridge Corporate CreditUnion, a former member of the league that was placed underconservatorship in 2009. Now that a newly elected board ofdirectors is leading WesCorp's transition into a new corporatecredit union, Dykstra said it's hard to say where the institutionis headed. However, she said the league is behind the corporatecredit union system 100%, and is working from the outside to helpcredit unions gain universal access to the corporate credit unionsystem.

She foresees credit union collaboration–teaming up to reduceexpenses and find solutions–as a significant trend in the nearfuture.

Dykstra said she thinks California and Nevada will continue tosee consolidations, not because of financial issues, but becausefinding new, strong leaders is a tough job for credit unions.

“If a credit union has been around for 30 years, who willreplace them?” she asked. “They're having a problem finding thenext level of leadership.”

When asked about her specific goals for her next six months onthe job, Dykstra said it's impossible to map out her agenda thisfar in advance. Instead, she plans to continue taking one day at atime. However, her overall direction and philosophy is crystalclear.

“As we're coming out of this financial crisis, I'm focused onhelping credit unions move forward and thrive,” she said. “I wantto create an environment that's legislation and regulatory friendlyand provide the tools and services to assist them. In this job,it's about adaptability.”