Where Did This Come From?
The majority of credit unions, worldwide, are managed by women; however, as assets increase, the number of women CEOs declines dramatically. In the US, of credit unions with assets over $300 million, less than 1% are run by women.
Why the disparity, since studies show that women intuitively demonstrate leadership qualities conducive to today’s business environment? The movement is seeing women that run smaller credit unions:

• Retire
• Move on to middle management positions with larger credit unions
• Watch their institutions merge with those led by male CEOs

 
The results for the movement include genuine concerns and potential negative consequences, such as:

• Larger CUs often turn to the banking industry for CEO searches
• As more bankers fill our ranks, the greater momentum for demutualization
• As the difficulty of tapping into appropriate leadership ability internally continues, the long term consequences for the integrity and the future positioning of the movement increases
• Women already in CU leadership positions could and should be filling these positions 

Since a majority of credit union CEOs are currently women who are not moving to similar positions in larger CUs, there is a professional development gap to be filled. As our movement becomes more focused as an industry, it is essential to provide focused professional development opportunities to this major segment of credit union leadership.