IOWA 500: Meet Vic Israni, president and CEO of GreenState Credit Union

The list includes leaders representing 14 categories, which we believe reflect the scope of business sectors in our state. Vic Israni’s profile introduced the Banking category.

Transparency. Inclusiveness. Engagement.

Whether he is speaking about the employees of North Liberty-based GreenState Credit Union, its membership, or the dozens of communities it serves, those themes bubble up frequently during a conversation with Vikram “Vic” Israni, 62, president and CEO of GreenState.

On the job since March 1, 2024, Mr. Israni espouses an inclusive leadership style that has made its mark on the state’s largest credit union, with more than $11 billion in assets.

He follows principles he calls “the four L’s” – listening, learning, being loyal and loving people.

“The four L’s resonate with me quite a bit,” Mr. Israni said. “It’s more about learning as a leader, and making sure it’s about them and not about me.”

His statements reflect a leadership blueprint developed in an almost 30-year career in the financial services industry, including nine years as CFO for Wings Financial Credit Union, headquartered in Apple Valley, Minnesota, and other high-level roles such as treasurer, chief risk officer and senior finance positions.

Mr. Israni, who was born in India, learned at home about the importance of sound financial principles.

“My family had an emphasis on financial responsibility, and community service was key for us … not to borrow too much money, to have a good balance sheet, to save.”

Moving to the United States in 1982, he received a Bachelor of Science degree from St. John’s University in New York and an MBA from the American Graduate School of International Management – Thunderbird, in Arizona.

GreenState Board Chairperson Fred Mims, whom Mr. Israni considers his mentor, is enthusiastic about the direction of the new CEO’s leadership, noting he “has come in and shown great vision.”

“We are lucky to have somebody with his experience,” Mr. Mims said, whose service on the board (formerly the University of Iowa Community Credit Union) goes back more than two decades.

During the interview process, Mr. Mims said, the GreenState board was impressed by Mr. Israni’s “strong financial and risk acumen, deep understanding of balance sheets and financial analysis, asset management, and risk identification and mitigation.”

Mr. Israni said his “pitch” to the board when he was being hired “was being transparent to what we are all about as an organization, the goods and the bads, and empowering our team members, fostering open communication with all our employees.”

Strengthening the financial stability of the organization is a top priority after GreenState experienced a net loss of $82.8 million during the 2023 business year, compared to a net profit of $40.3 million in 2022. The loss was blamed on the compression of net interest income due to interest rates on member deposits rising faster than interest rates on member loans.

Both Mr. Israni and Mr. Mims say the financials are turning around.

“Our financial reports are already telling a different story from last year (2023),” Mr. Israni said. “We have been positive in the first three quarters (2024).”

In his first eight months on the job, Mr. Israni has met all 950 GreenState employees, visiting four to five branches at a time during tours of the various markets served by the credit union. GreenState has 33 branch locations, 24 in Iowa and nine in Illinois.

“So everybody has seen me in person,” he said. “Leadership is about building that inclusiveness on helping each other and influencing each other and making sure when there are ups and downs, you basically recognize the ups and help with the downs through learning and teaching.”

GreenState has been recognized as a Top Workplace in Iowa by the Des Moines Register and a Top Workplace in Illinois by the Chicago Tribune.

The recognition, he said, “is 100% very important to me because it drives what we do as a culture in this organization, the fabric we build in this organization. I can’t take credit for it; it’s been going on for a long time.”

A strong employee culture translates into care and concern for the credit union’s membership, which stands at more than 447,000.

“If employees recognize each other, they will recognize the needs of our membership, too, so it kind of gravitates throughout the organization and down to the communities,” he said.

By its very nature, a credit union is about belonging, he said, “and I think that level of belonging is bringing that care and love for our membership to make sure that we are taking care of their financial dreams.”

On a personal level, Mr. Israni and his wife, Debbie, are enjoying getting to know the Iowa City-North Liberty community, including its golf courses. It’s a sport they both enjoy. Their adult children, son Kish, 29, and daughter Rhianna, 27, live in Texas.

And you’ll likely spot Mr. Israni and Mr. Mims, the longtime University of Iowa athletics official, at Hawkeye sporting events.

“Fred knows everyone in this community,” Mr. Israni said. “I’m excited to be by his side. He introduces me to folks, people he knows on the sidelines, in the stands, while tailgating. … It’s been very good for me to hang out and take his knowledge base and learn from him, and help the community.

“Iowa’s a very robust state, and I’m very excited to be here.”