As someone who firmly resides in a no regrets zone, StaceyWalker, board director at XCEL Federal Credit Union, has never hada problem pushing past her comfort levels.

“I hope that when all is said and done I can look back and say Imade it happen. Whatever it may be from making the most ofopportunities to expanding my knowledge base,” said Walker. “It’simportant to push boundaries, and know that I’ve done what I can tomake things happen not only for myself but the people around me andthe community at large.”

It’s fitting that she’d be a board director at the firstfinancial institution that essentially gave her financial freedomas a high school junior.

“Everyone has a story right? I was your typical unbanked youthin high school who’d get her allowance and spend it,” said Walker.“The summer after junior year I worked at the Social SecurityAdministration and went from just my $20 a week allowance tohundreds of dollars, which I just gave to my dad to hold for me. Ineeded to find somewhere for my money, but I didn’t want my parentsto have to co-sign. If I couldn’t open the account on my own, Ididn’t want it.”

Six to seven banks later without any success, Walker got a tipfrom a co-worker to check out the credit union on site.

“I didn’t know anything about a credit union difference butXCEL, which was then known as the Port Authority of NY and NJFederal Credit Union, gave me the opportunity to have financialindependence and that was huge to me,” said Walker.

Her loyalty to the organization was sealed. She remained amember through college and law school and the experience pushed herto apply to become a director.

“I wanted to volunteer somewhere I knew I could do more, so Ilooked into joining the board of a nonprofit organization,” saidWalker. “Even though I was a member, I didn’t know anyone at XCELbut sent in my résumé and heard back from someone on the nominatingcommittee, went through the process and then didn’t hear anything.I thought O.K., well, I guess I didn’t get it.”

Still determined to be part of a nonprofit board, sheparticipated in a United Way nonprofit training program, which notonly provided a basic board education but also connected thoseinterested in being directors within other organizations. A littleover year later, Walker heard from XCEL and was welcomed on theboard.

Over the past seven years as a director, she has expanded herrole as a volunteer at the credit union. She recommended thedevelopment of new financial products for underserved markets,including unbanked youth, underbanked Americans and future bankinggenerations. She proposed an online data storage database toarchive board reports, policies and minutes for ease of access byvolunteers and senior management and to increase transparency. Shealso encouraged greater interaction with members using social mediasites like Facebook to create new products and scholarships justfor younger members.

“It has been the most positive experience in my life and hasbeen life changing for me,” said Walker of being a board director.“We have an opportunity to help people move from point A to point Band get on the right path of being better off than they were amonth or year ago. Credit unions offer a lot to the community thatpeople just don’t realize it. To be able to share how we can helpbeyond products has gone above and beyond my expectations.”

It wasn’t an easy path as Walker said the learning curve wassteep but well worth the effort. Looking ahead she said some of thetop challenges facing credit union boards today range from thedirector population and education and training to the viability ofthe industry as a whole in terms of relevance.

“There is so much regulation, every board member has to bewell-versed on changes and new regulations/legislation coming downthe pipeline. Conferences and training sessions are costly, so howcan smaller credit unions ensure their volunteers get the educationneeded and how can larger credit unions help? We need to supportthose smaller credit unions providing niche services more throughmentorship, support and shared resources. Otherwise, how are wedifferent than the giant banks?” said Walker.

The greater question all credit unions need to ask themselvesWalker said was if they are staying true to their mission andmodel.

“When you ask that question will you get the overwhelming ‘yes’response from your staffers, the board and members alike?” askedWalker. “Every credit union is in existence for different reasons,so you have to stay true to who you are. As similar as we may beeach credit union is very different. We can’t stand on the statusquo. That group association credit unions have always had sincetheir inception isn’t as prevalent, so we have to raise the levelof education among consumers so they understand the credit uniondifference.”

She added the same holds true for credit union boards.

“The diverse population of the board is important not only interms of succession but also in whether they can continue to relateto the population they are serving today and in the future. I likethe idea of associate director programs, where younger people canbenefit from the experienced board members while slowly beingexposed and introduced to the process.”

She added that the industry as a whole could also benefit fromcontinuous board recruiting efforts.

“It needs to be a year round focus and go beyond having just awarm body,” said Walker. “There should be some discussion on whatis the process, how can it be improved, how can we go about bettervetting people who are interested in being board members and whatcan be done to encourage and reinforce their enthusiasm. I’ve beenvery fortunate with our board because I’ve always felt my voice washeard and I was making valuable contributions. It can bedisconcerting and intimidating for new board members to have theirideas shot down because ‘we tried that before and it didn’t work.’Maybe that person has a different angle or maybe the consumers’behavior now is different so the response would bedifferent.”

A big believer in education, Walker has made it point to reachout to younger members, speaking to students and educators inclassrooms and conferences about the benefits of joining creditunions. She also regularly speaks to graduating seniors at CardinalSpellman High School in New York about financial preparedness forcollege.

As for her own pursuit to learn more, through the American BarAssociation, she completed a two-year fellowship in the Section ofBusiness Law Credit Union Committee as a way to make the most ofcommittee meetings while furthering discussions affecting creditunions. She presented at the 2008 WOCCU World Credit UnionConference in Hong Kong about student-run credit unions andpresented at the Working In Support of Education Money PowerConference before national educators in economics, finance, andbusiness in New York.

“Someone shared with me the best advice that it’s important togain as much information and knowledge and build on it,” saidWalker. “It’s something I’ve always kept in the back of my mind.What I found is that as I try to seek out greater understanding,it’s opened the door to great opportunities to do more.”