CUES Hall of Fame Inductees

2018 Award Winners

Marty Komsa

Retired President/CEO, Windsor Family Credit Union

Windsor, Ontario

In 1986 Marty was named the general manager of Windsor Family Credit Union, with his title changing to president/CEO in 2001 to reflect his continued strong leadership. Windsor Family CU has long been recognized as one of the leading, progressive financial organizations in the City of Windsor and Essex County and under his leadership grew in size from $40 million to $4.5 billion in assets.

Marty was instrumental in charting the credit union’s strategic plan to ensure Windsor Family CU is seen as a leader and innovator in such areas as human resources management, marketing and community investment.

“I truly did not realize what an educational and lifelong journey I was in for,” he says. “It has been my privilege and my honor to have worked in the credit union system.”

Eileen Rivera

Retired President/CEO, Skyone Federal Credit Union

Hawthorne, CA

Eileen worked in the credit union movement for 38 years and was a CUES member for 35 years. While working full-time as a credit union teller, Eileen earned an MBA and then became the VP/marketing at FAA Western FCU, which is now SkyOne. Five years later, she was promoted to president/CEO of SkyOne FCU, a position she held for 26 years, retiring late last year.

During her time at SkyOne, the credit union grew from $90 million in assets to $534 million. The CU also converted from a single sponsor to a TIP charter, enabling it to serve members nationwide. Other career highlights for Eileen include negotiating five mergers, adding an investment services platform and being certified by the Great Place to Work® Institute as a top employer to work for.

At the 2018 Hall of Fame award ceremony, she reflected on her career. “CUES has been a supporter and a promoter of my career since I started,” from the very first business conference she attended, a CUES marketing event. “I was able to [learn at] Stanford, MIT and Harvard thanks to CUES. I love their institutes.”

Cathie Tierney, CCUE

President/CEO, Community First Credit Union

Appleton, WI

Cathie started her credit union career as a teller and receptionist at Community First CU in 1976. She worked her way up and through the course of her career has overseen marketing, customer service and branch operations, eventually becoming CEO. Under her leadership, Community First CU has grown from $164 million to $3 billion in assets.

She believes in the power of credit unions. “At the heart of everything, I believe in the role of the cooperative. Credit unions matter. You matter,” she says. “Every moment that we interact with member owners matters. Look at the things we get to do every single day and how we can impact peoples’ lives. We get to be there during difficult times. We get to be there when they celebrate that first car, a new baby, their first home. We witness their struggle sand we witness their pain. Our member owners are at the heart of everything we do. It means they, and we, have so much more to do together. And that’s why I come to work every day.”