LAS VEGAS — A California credit union director who in 2005 worked free for four months to turn around a Berkeley credit union at the brink of collapse won top national honors here last week as "Director of the Year" during the annual National Directors' Convention.
Charles Dawes, director of Travis Credit Union in Vacaville and a 32-year veteran of the industry, received the honor at closing ceremonies of the conference held at the Venetian Hotel/Casino.
"He is an amazing person and we are grateful to have someone of his vision and compassion in our industry," declared Andy Papanoe, who nominated Dawes for the title and is the president and CEO of the surviving $80 million Cooperative Community FCU of Berkeley.
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Dawes, a former NCUA examiner, at the behest of regulators agreed to take on the turn-around task of Coop Community and on that "he did a masterful job" restoring the beleaguered CU to financial health, said Papanoe.
The Berkeley CU got into trouble with high delinquencies on home loans, but Dawes managed to quell that difficulty as well as meet GAAP compliance, make major budget changes and took part in the hiring of new senior staff and Papanoe, the CEO who took over last April.
At the $1.6 billion Travis, he helped guide the Vacaville CU into offering members a broad menu of new services as well as overseeing the move into a new building complex. He also has witnessed the CU nearly doubling in size from $800 million to $1.6 billion.
He has served in all the chairs including president of the Sacramento Valley Chapter of the California Credit Union League winning its "Chapter of the Year" honors. He is a retired pilot with the U.S. Air Force flying C-141 aircraft and serving missions in Vietnam.
Dawes, who serves as the Chapter delegate to the California League, is also a member of the Nominating Committee for NAFCU and is a founding member of the Credit Union Directors Association.
He is president of the Jimmie Doolittle Air and Space Museum Education Foundation at Travis AFB. Locally, he has served three years as a planning commissioner for Solano County, is an active member of Rotary International, and annually sponsors an indigent child's education in Mexico.
Runner-up to Dawes as Director of the Year was Pat Madden, chairman of Ventura County CU in Ventura, Calif. who was cited for her leadership skills in developing succession planning at the CU as well as her volunteer activities in the community including serving at a homeless shelter.
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