Mike Williams Named Pierre Jay Award Winner

September 5, 2023

Mike Williams, CEO of Colorado Credit Union in Littleton, was named a Pierre Jay Award recipient for 2023 in a ceremony held on Aug. 27 during the 58th Annual National Association of State Credit Union Supervisors (NASCUS) State System Summit. 

The Pierre Jay Award honors those who have demonstrated outstanding service, leadership, and commitment to NASCUS and the state system. This distinction is NASCUS’s highest honor in recognizing champions of the state credit union system. 

“On behalf of the NASCUS leadership and staff, I wish to extend our congratulations to Mike Williams for his outstanding accomplishments. This award recognizes the significant positive influence he has had on the overall health and prosperity of the state system,” said Katie Averill, superintendent of the Iowa Division of Credit Unions and NASCUS Regulator board vice chair. “Mike has committed his professional life to guarantee a secure, stable, and resilient dual charter system, and we sincerely appreciate his enduring friendship and unwavering commitment.” 

Williams has dedicated his entire 38-year career to financial services, specifically credit unions. In addition to his role as president and CEO at Colorado Credit Union, he has served on nearly every board in the credit union industry, offering his wisdom and expertise to help foster growth. His priority has been focused on ensuring an efficient and competitive operating environment for state-chartered credit unions. For the past decade, he has served on the NASCUS Credit Union Advisory Council, serving as the Chairman from 2020-2022. In addition, he has served as a board member of the State of Colorado Division of Financial Services since 2018. 

“We are thrilled to see Mike honored for his decades of leadership and passion for credit unions and the state system,” said Troy Stang, President and CEO of GoWest Credit Union Association. “His longtime leadership helped guide the original Colorado Credit Union League, which became the Mountain West Credit Union Association, to what is now GoWest, with over 300 credit unions representing more than 16.5 million consumer members. A strong state system is essential to all our success.” 

Williams has served on the NASCUS Credit Union Advisory Council for the past decade and served as Chairman from 2020-2022. During his term as Chair, he helped the organization navigate through the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic as well as the search for a new CEO. He served as the Board Vice Chair from 2018-2020 and Secretary from 2016-2018. He currently serves on the Interstate Branching/Operations Task Force and has been actively involved in NASCUS’ Legislative and Regulatory Affairs work. 

“I am sincerely grateful for being honored with this award. Thank you to the NASCUS team, NASCUS President/CEO Brian Knight, the staff, and the leadership for this tremendous honor,” said Mike Williams. “Serving on the NASCUS Joint Advisory Council has been a privilege. I appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with a skilled group of state credit union regulators and industry experts nationwide, all aimed at preserving the state charter’s robustness, adaptability, and innovation.” 

In addition, he has served as a board member of the State of Colorado Division of Financial Services (DFS) since 2018. Mark Valente, Commissioner for Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, in the DFS said, “I want to thank Mike for serving on the Financial Services Board the last several years. His dedication to serving Colorado citizens and the Colorado credit union industry is truly appreciated.” He added, “In addition to serving as a credit union CEO, Mike is a NASCUS advisory council member, where he positively impacted the state credit union system by being a voice of reason and an advocate for improvements in the state credit union system and encouraged his colleagues to be involved also.” 

For the past 31 years, he has served as chief executive officer and president of Colorado Credit Union. He has grown the organization from solely serving Johns Manville employees to being open to nearly all Colorado residents. Under his leadership, Colorado Credit Union has grown to more than $375 million in assets with more than 26,000 members. Recently, he helped navigate the merger of White Crown Federal Credit Union into Colorado Credit Union. The merger was unanimously approved by both boards and overwhelmingly approved by the membership. 

Colorado Credit Union is celebrating its 50th year of service in 2023 – a history marked with excellence and community service. Under Williams’ leadership, Colorado Credit Union has earned a long list of recent accolades. The organization was voted the best credit union in Colorado by readers of ColoradoBiz magazine in the publication’s 9th Annual Readers Poll (June 2023). For seven consecutive years, CCU was named one of the best credit unions to work for in the United States by American Banker. In 2023, the credit union also received a 5-star rating from BauerFinancial, recognizing CCU as one of the strongest financial institutions in the country for the seventh consecutive year.

In October 2022, Williams was named one of Denver Business Journal’s Most Admired CEOs. The award recognizes CEOs who are driving transformative change within their organization, industry, and community. 

In addition to the Pierre Jay Award, his personal accolades also include being elected Mountain West Credit Union Professional of the Year (2011) and receiving the Distinguished Leader Award from the Center for Credit Union Leadership (2017). He was elected to the Credit Union House Hall of Leaders in 2013. He is also an alumnus and serves on the Board of Trustees of the prestigious Western CUNA Management School. 

Posted in Colorado, Regional Member News.