The 2025 SECU Annual Report tells a positive story about the success of the Credit Union: "Different From the Start".
One unique feature of SECU over the years has been the active involvement and participation of member volunteers in SECU through local branch advisory boards. The list of 3,000 member-volunteers takes up @half of the 2025 Annual Report!
Each of the 275 SECU branch locations has a 10 to 12 member advisory board which meets quarterly to provide input to management and the SECU Board on local operations and member concerns.
The Advisory Boards were created over 50 years ago, because the SECU Board was concerned the Credit Union had grown too large (at that time @$300 million in assets!) and that members might feel they were not being heard.
Is building bridges for frank, honest, straight-forward communication with the SECU membership still important? Absolutely! Now, perhaps more so than 50 years ago!
✅ So, you've read about the incomplete response provided by our CEO Leigh Brady regarding the most recent SECU Board approved bylaw amendments in September, 2025 [link]. So what is the truth [link]? The lack of clarity in an answer by our CEO Leigh Brady has generated some 🔥🔥🔥 [link]!
✔ As an easy resolution, I have asked the legendary "godmother " of SECU Advisory Board members, Ms. Shirley Bell, to ask Leigh Brady directly for a straight answer on behalf of the entire SECU membership.
Why ask Ms. Bell to handle this? Not only is she an active advisory board member, Ms. Bell also served on the SECU Board of Directors for a quarter of a century, served as the president of the State Employees Association of North Carolina, on the Board of Trustees of the State Retirement System, local board of elections, NAACP, national sorority leader, numerous civic/non-profits, N.C. Aggie grad and fan, trained chemist, Order of the Long Leaf Pine, church... well, you get the picture. Highly experienced, trusted, respected by all.
✔ Ms. Bell said today she would be happy to do so.
P.S. Just for the record, Shirley Bell chaired the SECU Board and led the Credit Union through the 2008/2010 global financial crisis with remarkable results:
