This past February, Whitney Anderson-Harrell, the Chief Executive Officer of Elements Financial Credit Union sat down with Jason Archer, the Director of the M.A. Strategic Communications program to talk about the entrepreneurial payoff, DE&I initiatives, and making the right moves in your career to advance.
Anderson-Harrell began at MSU Federal Credit Union in 2015 and oversees community development and financial education departments as well as the Financial Innovation and Education Center. She also serves as the executive director of the Desk Drawer Fund, a foundation supporting the MSU Federal Credit Union and Oakland University Credit Union communities.
She is extremely active in the Greater Lansing and Michigan State University communities. She currently serves as the vice chair of the Lansing Promise Foundation Board, is a member of the Lansing Food Bank Committee, the CIS Advisory Council, Lansing SAVE board, Capital Area United Way board, Lansing School District Magnet Programs Advisory Committee, as the Board Secretary of the MSU Multicultural Business Program.
The Three Key Principles
-
Work hard and continue to move forward. You are the owner of your professional development. Make sure you have the right mentors in place, goals set, and steps mapped out to move you in the direction you want to go.
-
Be brave with your ideas. Don’t be afraid to bring your ideas to the table, but also be open and ready for feedback and collaborative conversations.
- Find the right support system. If you have an entrepreneurial brain, that doesn’t mean you can’t utilize your ideas in a corporate setting. It just means you have to make sure you have the right people around to guide and trust in you.
Additional Resources
-
Learn more about the Desk Drawer Fund: https://www.deskdrawerfund.org/
-
Learn more about the Financial 4.0: https://www.msufcu.org/fin40/
-
Learn more about Evergreen3C: https://www.evergreen3c.com
- Learn more about the DEI at MSUFCU: https://www.msufcu.org/dei