CANDIDATE PROFILE

"As a former Servus board member with significant experience supporting credit unions in a variety of capacities, I bring a wealth of knowledge, experience and passion. I am a long-time business owner, active community member and have experience managing and contributing to complex teams and businesses."

Statement of intent

As a Servus board director from 2019-2020, the virtual experience and unique board member relationships of “zoom” and vigor accomplished big decisions — the external auditor and the new CEO.

Why Servus? It is my credit union, I am a member and after 35 years of diverse consulting and assisting credit unions internationally, in Canada — especially Alberta — I have the experience and energy to serve!

Project collaboration, policy, risk management, member engagement, governance, working with staff and board directors to brainstorm ideas and solutions are my strengths. The highlight of my day is taking a difficult problem and work it to solution.

I look to lead change and I believe and practice a focused approach to risk management, that being navigating Servus growth while protecting it from unnecessary risk. I’m ready to focus on scaling up my ability to learn, to support innovation, to seek and provide great ideas and take a focused approach to asking the right questions at meetings while thinking broadly.

Joining this great team of innovators would be the highlight of my service focus. I look forward to achieving success as an electoral candidate and a board director with Servus.

For more information, find Donna on LinkedIn.

Servus’s Noble Purpose is “Shaping member financial fitness.” What does that mean to you?

Financial fitness typically encompasses seven steps: setting goals, understanding where one’s money is going, managing debt, putting finances on autopilot, maintaining a steady lifestyle, investing wisely, and obtaining knowledge and advice.

Within these steps, the goal is to teach the member to feel good about their money. In turn, it leads to their confidence about contributing to their community through employment, or volunteer work, or service.

During this pandemic, however, it means to me that we must pivot to help members recover their fitness. Many member-owner businesses and individuals are in a serious situation, not knowing how to stabilize within an everchanging situation that, for many, is their first.

This is a very important time for Servus to help our members rebound and recover to stability so that when the time is right, their understanding of their successful fitness will be more important in their commitment to Servus.

What makes Servus Credit Union different than other financial institutions?

The easy answer is to discuss the Act and member ownership. Over the past three years, however, I’ve come to reflect that this is an amazing difference!

Here’s what I mean: Servus focuses and excels on branch community. They invest in the community the branch serves. More than 100 locations in 59 Alberta communities make Servus different because all our branches are diverse, have different socioeconomic situations, needs, wants and challenges.

We recruit managers that understand their branch demographics and in turn they employ staff teams that reflect the community they serve.

We treat diversity broadly so that our banking practices reflect the diversity of the community as well — that’s what matters!

A farming centered branch is as uniquely diverse as an inner-city branch in Edmonton. We bring our service directly to the community which pays tribute to the cornerstone of credit union development from inception in the 30s.

What are the key issues or challenges facing the credit union system today?

Critical threats: data breaches and identity fraud. Data breaches occur at an average rate of four per day, releasing a wave of identity theft, scams, and fraud costing billions. COVID-19 enhanced these threats regarding remote work, exploiting systems handling remote capacity. I believe they are not the modern financial institution robberies. Being too bogged down in complicated matrix structures or being too bureaucratic stops innovation. Our ability to pivot towards understanding our members vulnerabilities and our risks is critical.

Member & staff engagement: re-engaging community councils to lead and help us adapt through their leadership, encourage our staff teams to lead under many types of conditions and using artificial intelligence and technology as tools for managing change and informing decisions.

Recovery: communicate for member recovery fitness, leading to financial fitness success, pinpointing exposure, tailoring education for the individual or all members, makes us one team — highly personalized, different than traditional FIs.

How will your skills and life experiences bring value to the collective Servus board?

Over my 35-year career and 27 years as a business owner, I have taken advantage of opportunities that came my way.

These opportunities provided me with one year on the Servus Board — a year that was virtual, productive and challenging. I have been an international credit union trainer, consultant, education developer, crisis responder, strategic planner, policy developer and an emergency manager. With our Indigenous and business client base, interim management for projects and business units has been invaluable.

Our company enjoys a diverse clientele including seven large First Nations. I have chaired and been director of community boards, Chair of the City of Leduc Subdivision and Appeal Board.

I understand legislation. I am a certified carrier reviewer with Alberta Transportation. Our corporate contracts have made departments more efficient.

I am a Leduc Servus Community Council Member. My farm upbringing instilled an authentic person dedicated to service.