LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The board of directors of the Kentucky Credit Union League elected Alla Holland, president, C&O United CU in Edgewood, as the league's first chairwoman in its 70-year history. Holland was elected during the League's annual meeting, Oct. 21-23. She will serve a two-year term. "It is a great honor to be the first woman elected to chair the Kentucky Credit Union League," said Holland. "We have an excellent league president and staff who are dynamic in what they do, and I'm looking forward to working with the board to support the staff and leadership to the league so they'll be able to carry on their mission." Holland has been a member of the KCUL's board since 1998. She was first vice chair before the recent election. League President/CEO Wendell Lyons said he's confident Holland will do an excellent job as chairwoman for the Kentucky Credit Union League. "She's served on the board for six years and she also served on the CUNA Renaissance Commission. So she's had a lot of exposure on the national level as well as the state," he said. Holland said that experience "gave me an insight into broader issues that I wouldn't see if I was just serving the state side. It also gave me wonderful contacts I can call for advice." Looking ahead to 2005, Holland said one of the key items the Kentucky League will have to focus on is preserving credit unions' tax exemption, "and in doing so we'll have to work to keep credit unions united. Bankers would like to see large and small credit unions divided against each other, and we don't want that to happen." Of the 112 credit unions in Kentucky, 101 are League affiliated.