Primary Site Navigation

• Home
• I am CUES
• Join CUES
• Share your story
• cues.org

My name is Kim, and I am CUES.

I learned the value of continuing education early in my credit union industry career, and I wouldn’t have the opportunities I’ve had without the education and connections I sought and found through CUES.

In fact, my job out of college was actually with CUES as a program assistant working with new products and marketing, where I first learned about the credit union movement and philosophy and got to know some leaders in the credit union industry.

I soon became marketing manager for State Capitol Employees Credit Union, and then an executive with what was then CUNA Credit Union. Within six years, I had become president/CEO of that credit union, Summit Credit Union, which now has $1.71 billion in assets.

Being a part of CUES, and taking advantage of the educational and networking opportunities CUES offers, definitely put me on the fast track to the CEO position.

Early on, I took financial programs, and my then CEO, Mary Cunningham, took me to CUES’ CEO Network (now CEO/Executive Team Network), which was mostly CEOs at that time. The CEO Network experiences specifically gave me exposure to the high-level strategic thinking and top-level CEOs, which helped me gain what I needed to further my career.

CUES has been a serendipitous relationship from the beginning, peaking my interest in credit unions to begin with, and fueling that interest with educational opportunities and resources, almost uncannily knowing exactly what I need, when I need it.

It never ceases to amaze me that just when I am thinking about something I need to address at the credit union, CUES’ Credit Union Management™magazine will come out with that very topic in it!

There is a saying that “when the student is ready to learn, the teacher will appear,” and that’s how I think about CUES.

My name is Kim Sponem, from Summit Credit Union, Madison, Wis., and I am CUES.