Jane Verret

PRESIDENT AND CEO, CAMPUS FEDERAL CREDIT UNION JANE VERRET JANE VERRET BIO

Hometown: Petal, Mississippi Age: 51 Family: Spouse, Ted Verret, and daughters, Rachel and Helen Grace Years with company: 24 years MILESTONES

1992: Graduates from the University of Southern Mississippi and moves to Baton Rouge, working as an internal auditor for Premier Bank. 1997: Joins Campus Federal Credit Union as internal auditor. 2005: Is promoted to vice president of internal audit at Campus Federal. 2008: Creates a risk management department to ensure the financial stability of the credit union and protect member data. 2014: Becomes chief administrative officer and member of the credit union’s executive team. 2019: Is named president and CEO by the credit union’s board of directors. 2020-’22: Continues the credit union’s digital transformation, including investments in digital banking, opening the Interaction Center at Long Farm Village and breaking ground on the Siegen Lane Mortgage and Business Center.

Q&A

Life-changing experience

While a senior in college, my dad had a massive stroke at age 45. He was a successful, type-A business owner who was active in our community. At that time, my mom had not worked outside the home since my younger brother was born. They lived in a large home, drove nice cars, and lived a great life of travel and social involvement. All of that changed quickly as my mom got a job and became the sole caregiver. Watching my mom’s resiliency and faith through such a drastic lifestyle change instilled in me the importance of the things that money cannot buy.

Needed workplace changes for women

I love what Yolanda Dixon said last year when honored as an Influential Woman in Business: “The day when gender is not a factor in who serves in the highest levels of office or in companies.”

Hardest lesson learned

How to balance accountability and standards with grace and flexibility.

“Be quick to listen and slow to speak.”

Jane Verret never anticipated she would one day be a CEO and lead a credit union.

With nearly three decades of experience under her belt, Verret was tapped in 2018 to lead Campus Federal Credit Union, the second-largest credit union in the region, after serving as the organization’s chief administrative officer for five years.

“Even the morning the committee made their decision, I didn’t think it would be me,” says Verret, regarding the twoyear internal company search for a new leader.

Verret grew up in Petal, Mississippi, outside Hattiesburg. After earning her accounting degree from the University of Southern Mississippi, she accepted a position in 1992 at Premier Bank in Baton Rouge and planted her roots in the Capital Region, where her career has since flourished.

“I took a leap of faith,” she says of the move to Louisiana. “I wanted an adventure, to move somewhere different.”

After five years of working in the internal audit department at Premier Bank, the bank began merging with Bank One and Verret’s future with the institution looked hazy. Verret took another leap of faith and accepted a position at Campus Federal Credit Union as its internal auditor.

“At the time, I didn’t even understand how credit unions were different from banks,” Verret says. “But Campus Federal proved to be a welcoming environment to learn and be involved in issues in areas that would be more siloed in a larger organization.”

Noting trends in the industry, Verret began pushing for a risk management function at the credit union. After presenting her ideas to other members of the executive team, she helped transform the audit department and became vice president of risk management for the organization. She oversaw risk management for Campus Federal for nearly 17 years before becoming chief administrative officer in 2014.

She credits her ability to focus on the most important aspects of the business rather than the things that don’t ultimately matter to watching strong women in leadership roles. Her leadership style, she says, is driven by her personal values, which helps her work with integrity.

“My parents, first and foremost, were my mentors who shaped me and my values—resilience, faith and work ethic,” Verret says. “They set high standards for my brother and I.”

She says that the next generation of successful leaders will come from those who are open to criticism and hard truths and who don’t get offended by peers and mentors. People can’t see their own blind spots, she says. At the same time, she encourages women to be true to themselves and their values.

“Be true to who you are and what you believe in, and don’t deviate,” she says. “Be moldable in that you can learn, but don’t change who you are or what you stand for because ultimately at the end of the day, you won’t be happy and fulfilled if you’re trying to be something you’re not.”

—Holly Duchmann

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