Regional News: SOU Alumni Award to Former Rogue Credit Union CEO

As noted below from the SOU website, Gene Pelham gained recognition for his continual service to the community. Congratulations, Gene!

Pelham
The Stan Smith Alumni Service Award recognizes alumni who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the community and service to people. Gene Pelham, who earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business at SOU in 1983 and 2006, credits an attentive high school counselor with helping him secure a scholarship to attend college and he has in turn tried to help others throughout his career. He began work with a Eugene credit union in 1985, took his first CEO position in 1999, then returned to southern Oregon in 2007 as CEO of Rogue Credit Union – where he served until his retirement in 2022. RCU grew to serve 183,000 members and held $3 billion in assets under Pelham. He encouraged volunteerism among his employees, who last year donated 8,000 hours of service to more than 30 organizations. The credit union also raised more than $600,000 over the past five years to benefit the Children’s Miracle Network, and Pelham has spearheaded efforts to teach the essential skills of financial literacy in local schools.

The Southern Oregon Business Journal also did a piece on Pelham when he retired as CEO from Rogue Credit Union, focusing on the power of home-grown leadership. He has a great story that keeps adding chapters!

We are grateful to both SOU and Rogue Credit Union for their SOREDI membership and for continually raising quality leadership for Southern Oregon.