Having had such a storied credit union career, there are a zillion overused clichs I could employ to describe Dave Chatfield, the newly-retired former CEO of the California and Nevada Credit Union League. Quite simply, Chatfield has done it all in this industry and he has done it well. With so many credit unions looking outside the industry for new talent these days, Chatfield's credit union career path is becoming less and less common, and that's a shame. He started on the credit committee of a small credit union in Colorado. At the time, he was a property underwriter for a large insurance company. He later joined the board of the credit union. His next career moved played on his newfound appreciation of credit unions and his knowledge of insurance. He became a field representative for CUNA Mutual Group, rising to a field supervisor. Next, he joined the service corporation of the New York CU League, his first exposure to the leagues, albeit on the vendor side. His career then started to meander deeper into the association side of credit unions. He was recruited by Jonathan Lindley to become the director of political action for CUNA, a new position for the association. It was the true start of grassroots politics for CUNA in a coordinated, national fashion. Chatfield became a road warrior, urging leagues to get engaged in the political action system. We all know today how important the coordinated national effort is. And oh by the way, at the time Chatfield joined CUNA, Herb Wegner was running the place, so Chatfield learned from the greats. Chatfield believes the grassroots political framework he helped build still exists, but is bigger, better and functions at a much higher level. His next career step seems hard to believe now and was probably more so then – he moved his wife and four children 5,000 miles away to Alaska to lead the Alaska Credit Union League. Nothing against Alaska, one of our most beautiful states, but it's quite a change in environment from D.C. He put that league on solid footing and it was the first time it had a full-time staff. Chatfield stayed in Alaska, joining Alaska USA FCU as a senior vice president. At the time, it was the third largest federal CU behind Navy and Pentagon. Chatfield again was part of something new. Alaska USA was a pioneer in field of membership expansion. It was first in line when NCUA started to allow SEGs. As Chatfield describes it, the NCUA regional director really had no idea how to handle the CU's SEG request because it was all so new – Barry Jolette was the director at the time. It became an issue for the NCUA Board, gaining national attention. Alaska USA was involved in another compelling FOM issue during Chatfield's tenure. The credit union had been serving Eskimos, Indians and Aleuts, in response to a special request from NCUA in the `70s. After some executive changes at NCUA, the regulator did a turnabout and not only asked Alaska USA to stop serving them, but kick them out. The credit union went on to get a federal law passed to expand the CU's charter to serve native Alaskans – the only time Congress has ever passed a law to expand a CU's FOM. Chatfield's career turned to the always dangerous political minefield of NCUA. He was appointed to the NCUA Board by Ronald Reagan, and moved his wife and children 5,000 miles in the other direction back to D.C., after having been gone for 10 years. He served under the Reagan administration and first Bush administration in an unexpired term left by PA Mack. Chatfield could have been renominated for the board, but it didn't happen, and why it didn't happen tells us a lot about the leader Chatfield is. During the S&L bailout days, the Bush administration proposed merging the insurance funds, meaning the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund would be lopped in with the bank funds. Chatfield didn't play ball. He just couldn't support that. As he put it, adding the NCUSIF wouldn't have made "a drop's worth of difference in the S&L bailout." After a speech he made at an annual meeting of the Texas CU League, someone asked him about his thoughts on merging the funds. He said he was against it. Little did he know, there were more members of the Fourth Estate in the crowd then from just the trade press. The next day, a front page story appeared in the Fort Worth Business Daily with a headline to the effect of, "Regulator Criticizes Bush Bailout Plan." That was obviously a small hitch in Chatfield's political career. After NCUA, he was called on to head up the Filene Institute, where he helped shape the academic research skills of Filene, which are still at the core of Filene's mission today. After a few years at Filene, California beckoned. Chatfield's resum here is well known. It is one of the most politically active and PR savvy leagues in the nation. It's no wonder the Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act came from a California Congressman. The league is on the leading edge of branding. It implemented a branding campaign with mandatory funding from its credit unions – making it the only league so far to force members to pay. Chatfield is proud of it. He said the league knew going in that the policy would ruffle some feathers, and it did, but the greater good is more important. Waiting to do branding at the first sign of trouble (Utah anyone?) isn't the way to go, said Chatfield. At the league, Chatfield helped create the Shapiro Group, a program where stronger, larger CUs assist smaller ones. This is a group that has helped keep many small credit unions in business. In another pioneering move, the league implemented a dramatic governance change whereby board members are elected by asset size and location, and at-large seats are available. Other leagues, and even CUNA, later followed suit. Don't look for Chatfield to do any consulting or speaking in retirement – he's done. He'll split his time between a home in Alaska and a home on the Big Island of Hawaii. As he steps away, he still believes credit unions need to get stronger politically, and that every credit union has to pay its fair share. Credit unions can't ride the coattails of each other, he said, they all have to step up and share in the future of the industry, whether it's a branding campaign or paying dues to their leagues. Comments? E-mail [email protected]