2002 Marketing Professional of the Year

Lesley Carrell Vice President, Marketing and Sales Electra Central Credit Union Portland, OR

"Lesley Carrell is a consummate marketing professional whose experience and expertise is second to none," says Larry Hoff, former president of Electra Central Credit Union in Portland, Ore., and now president of Fibre Federal Credit Union in Longview, Wash.

Since her start with Electra Central in 1990, Carrell, currently vice president of marketing and sales, worked hard and earned a reputation as an architect and champion of progressive change. She proved instrumental in Electra's move toward a sales culture, spending a lot of time researching and designing the system that would move Electra in that direction.

During the stress of the change, she worked to establish consensus within different credit union factions. "Lesley possesses the innate ability to apply a 'holistic' approach to marketing principles within the credit union. She consistently searches for ways in which her department can be used as an integral part of any project or strategic direction," says Hoff.

Carrell has a strong belief in community efforts and organized and led Electra's community relations committee. "Her desire to help those less fortunate sets the standard at Electra, resulting in a proactive effort," says Hoff, who adds that Carrell spends a lot of hours volunteering.

In addition to winning many past Diamond awards and being active within the league, Carrell was also recently elected chapter director.

Judges for the 2002 Marketing Professional of the Year award were:

• Barbara Takacs (lead judge), Georgia Telco Credit Union
• Joye Cox, SAFE Federal Credit Union
• Kerry Goodliffe Parry, Premier Members Federal Credit Union
• Kelly Sims, Cowlitz Credit Union
• Kim Wall, Georgia Federal Credit Union

—Elizabeth Thompson