Michael G. Valentine
Michael G. Valentine serves as the chair of the board of directors of CUNA Mutual Holding Company, a leading provider of financial services to credit unions, their members and valued customers worldwide. He joined the board in May 2015.
Valentine has spent more than four decades in the financial services industry with much of his career dedicated to Baxter Credit Union (BCU), based in Vernon Hills, Ill. He has been the credit union’s CEO since 1994. His ability to forge strong partnerships and lead compassionately have helped BCU achieve unparalleled success — now serving more than 355,000 members with assets exceeding $5.8 billion. Topping the list of Valentine’s strategic achievements are successfully building relationships that have taken BCU from a single corporate sponsor to being known as a leading financial well-being benefit partner for America’s best workplaces, including Target Corporation, Cardinal Health, UnitedHealth Group, GEICO, CVS Health, HCA Healthcare and many others. Valentine has set new standards for delivering digital and human experiences that employ people to discover financial freedom.
A 1981 graduate of Western Illinois University, Valentine’s credit union career began in 1984, when he joined BCU as Manager of Lending & Collections. Over the next 10 years, he cultivated a strong sales and service culture, streamlined the lending operation, perfected service delivery and instituted a results-based employee incentive program. He earned his MBA at Lake Forest Graduate School of Management in 1988.
Active throughout the industry, Valentine serves on the CUNA CEO Council Executive Committee, the VISA Senior Client Advisory Council, and the American Cancer Society Leadership Circle. He is the past Chair of the Board for PSCU Financial Services, former Chair of Bonifii (f/k/a CU Ledger), former member of the Filene Research Council, MEMBERS Development Company Board of Directors, and a past member of the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management Advisory Board. He was named the Credit Union Executive Society (CUES) Hall of Fame Inductee in 2017, as well as their Executive of the Year in 1998 and 2004, is the Spirit of Hope Recipient from the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and was Co-Chair of the American Cancer Society Black & White Ball in 2012.
Valentine resides in Cary, Ill., where he and his wife enjoy spending time with their family, golfing, boating or vacationing in Florida.
