Karen Duffy
Title: President and CEO, Worcester Credit Union
Age: 56
Experience: 28 years
Karen Duffy has never been one to shy away from a leadership position. Fortunately for her, she wound up in credit unions. Duffy began working part-time as a teller when her children were very young. Over the years, she’s held almost every position from member service representative to branch manager to loan officer. Twenty years ago, she came to Worcester Credit Union as president and CEO, and as part of the gig, she especially relishes the work she does out in the community. Earlier this year, Duffy was elected chairman of the board of the Worcester Regional Research Bureau. She sat down with Banker & Tradesman to chat about community involvement, financial literacy and her favorite things to do with her grandkids.
Q: So how did you wind up getting involved with the research bureau?
A: That’s really due to my board and their commitment to community involvement. The Research Bureau has been providing reports, forums for citizens and businesses for almost 30 years, and they’re well-known and well-respected for credible reporting on topical issues for people, like taxpayer issues and business issues.
My board is comprised of local business people and city employees. They have a vested interest in the city and the community. They like to see me getting out and getting involved, particularly taking a leadership position. I’ve never shied away from that. I was honored to be asked.
In terms of public policy, we’re always interested in anything that’s involved in the community. My members live and work in this community, so they have their own interest in public policy and making sure that their elected leaders and city business leaders are doing what’s best for the community. We feel that’s an extension of looking out for our members.
Q: What other community organizations have you been involved with?
A: For nine years I was on the board of Worcester Community Housing Resources, and of course, housing is very topical for us at the credit union. I wound up as the chairman of the board a couple years ago. That is a tremendously dedicated group of people who are in there every day working for low and moderate income people, trying to find them decent housing. It is just such a worthwhile organization.
For about five years, I was on the Worcester Educational Development Foundation. That’s a group that was put together to assist with some of the funding that got cut through budget cuts for student programs and teacher training programs.
I’m now serving as a corporator on the Greater Worcester Community Foundation, which is a wonderful philanthropic organization here in Worcester. They take grant apps from small nonprofits in the community. We as corporators assist them by going out to the nonprofit, learning about it, and making a recommendation. That’s been really helpful for me because then you get to see some smaller groups that don’t get so much PR and you get to learn about the work they’ve been doing in the community.
Q: What do you do in the way of financial literacy programs?
A: That’s our foundation for being involved in the community. We’ve done financial literacy training for the Worcester Community Action Council, the Gilda St. Agnes Center, and the veterans’ shelter. We tailor it to whoever our audience is.
Probably our biggest effort is our full-service branch at the technical high school. Since we opened in 2006, we’ve trained about 80 kids, the finance and marketing students. We’ve employed a quarter of those, and they come out of our training program fully employable as a teller. They’re not just learning how to cash a check, either. They’re learning about all the policies, procedures, rules, regulations, compliance, employment conditions, and employers’ expectations.
What’s nice is when we hear from other banks and credit unions that have hired our kids. It’s nice to hear, “Wow, you did a great job training.” We employ them here, so we know how good they are, but we think of them as our kids. It was great to get that feedback from other institutions.
Karen Duffy’s Top Five Things To Do With Her Grandchildren:
- Baking
- Games
- Teach them something active
- Watch Scooby Doo movies
- Read
