“Empathy emancipates making us greater than hate or vanity;
That is the American promise powerful and pure.”
(A phrase from poet Amanda Gorman’s, The Sacred Scene, read on August 21, 2024, Chicago)
I reached out to Great Basin FCU’s CEO Jennifer Denoo to discuss three topics:
- To learn about the credit union’s announcement of an affordable housing project with the FHLB San Francisco. How would this help and what was their role?
- Why a 2010 video of an interview of the first President and his wife about the credit union’s founding in 1951 was linked to their website.
- The reasons why that website presents a very different “vibe” than most.
The Financials
At June 30, 2024 Great Basin reported strong financials, partly due to a recent small merger with another Reno, NV credit union.
Total assets: $313 million; Loans $215.5 million; Net worth 11%; Delinquency .47%; and ROA of 1.93% and share growth in double digits, results helped by the merger. It serves 25,000 member-owners.
The Affordable Housing Initiative and Goodwill
The credit union had joined the San Francisco FHLB in 2023 to have a liquidity backup. Jennifer asked questions about other FHLB services offered. As a member-owner, she wanted to learn if services could be more than a transaction. Was it a relationship opportunity? She learned that few other Nevada financial firms were taking advantage of recent federal government funding and FHLB grants to support affordable housing projects (AFP) in the state.
One such program was undertaken by a non-profit developer, Sunwood Housing. It approached the credit union to partner in a new development in Lovelock (pop. 2,000), the only incorporated town in a very rural county.
The credit union’s role was to monitor the disbursement of the $663,000 FHLB’s AHP grant. The oversight required their expertise and time; there was no interest or fee income. The grant then freed up other federally authorized funding for this 24-unit development for low income residents.
Jennifer said the credit union’s support for this affordable housing project could open further possibilities with the developer, the county commissioners and residents, and the FHLB. The expertise, market awareness and goodwill could lead to future AHP partnership opportunities; but the immediate gain is the positive impact on a small community she serves.
The Founding Video-History Never Gets Old
The credit union created a video interview of its first President Jack Dunn and his wife Laura in 2010. It tells the story of the beginning in 1951 as the Reno-Bell Phone Company Employees FCU.
NCUA required the credit union raise $25 in shares to receive a charter. The eight organizers were $12.50 short. So, Jack put up the rest and became the first President. At the end of the first year there were several hundred members. Records were kept in a founding member’s garage. The credit union was offering loans to members that banks would not, because the volunteer leaders knew their members as “family.”
Jennifer said the video was created so every employee understands “who we are.” She explained, “As we grow the FOM, now covering 12 counties, it would be easy to be seen like a bank. We never forget how we were started. We show it to every new employee so they can feel the passion and mission of the credit union. History never gets old.”
Bank Like a Boss: Members Are the Owners
Jennifer became CEO in 2018. She began as a teller thirty years earlier but had trouble balancing out her cash drawer. The CEO at the time saw something in Jennifer and suggested she apply for another position–being a collector. The result: “Best job I ever had. My goal was to recover payments and assets through empathy and understanding of the member’s situation. To make them feel like their current financial situation did not define who they were.”
When she was 30, that same CEO and her cherished mentor in the credit union died unexpectedly. She thought about going back to school to become a hospice nurse while raising her three children. Jennifer saw a parallel between what a hospice nurse does and what a credit union leader does – they teach, they hold hands, they give dignity and grace. Once she realized she was doing what she was already passionate about– leading with empathy – she chose to stay at the credit union as it evolved its member-centric focus.
Making Member Love a Reality
The credit union’s website feels different. Here are two prominent statements:
We give a DAMN about every member.
Let us show you why we’re not just member-owned, but member-loved, too.
As CEO she continued the mission and vision of member love. She admitted the site may feel quirky, but it was based on communicating a fundamental business competitive advantage: employee empathy. It drives everything the credit union does. It is the number one skill every employee develops.
Her personal commitment to this effort is shown in her first video as CEO, Just Ask Jennifer.
The skill is practiced in training sessions. Scenarios with the words to use that first acknowledge how the member feels, in a non-patronizing way–“Say it, to live it.”—before resolving a problem or opening a new service.
Even when the member is not always right, empathy is the first action when taking responsibility for a solution. For example, an older member came into the credit union angry that the credit union would not give him his tracking number for an insurance payment. He insisted the credit union had it; but he was using the wrong word. He needed the routing number.
The employee put themselves in the shoes of the member, imagined how overwhelming it must be to set up a new insurance deduction and led with an understanding heart before fixing the problem.
Or the 11:00 PM Just Ask Jennifer member query about how to change a password. Jennifer takes pride in answering each of these inquiries, even at night or on a weekend because she feels how unsettling it is to not access your account online.
The service promises and values stated on the web site are specific. Take ownership of the situation, show appreciation, step in the other’s shoes, etc. All are important for making these employee skills an essential part of the credit union’s brand.
The overall strategy is to build relationships not merely transactions. For she asserts “It is relationships that will carry the organization over the next bump in the road.”
Jennifer’s leadership skills have resulted in positions on four other credit union and financial collaborative organization’s boards. Her bottom line is “You just have to believe in people-and give a damn.”
A sound strategy not just for leading a credit union, but for life.