With over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry, Julie Leonard is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Lake Michigan Credit Union (LMCU), a role she assumed in 2024.
Julie is a caring, team-focused, and strategic leader with broad experience in finance, business operations, member service, strategic planning, collaboration, and community involvement. Prior to joining LMCU, she held the positions of Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Suncoast Credit Union in Tampa, Florida, where she served since 1998. While at Suncoast, Julie was a strategic leader whose increasing responsibility helped the credit union grow from approximately $2 billion to more than $16 billion in assets and to more than one million members strong. Before her tenure there, she worked at Citizens Bank in Flint, Michigan.
Julie brings a tremendous amount of passion to everything she does. She leads her strong team to accelerate LMCU’s own growth and ability to serve its members and their communities with intentionality and gives her talents to support numerous community organizations and initiatives. She is respected and admired by her team for her enthusiastic and effective leadership – Julie leads by example and expects others to do the same. Whether in leading the Senior Management Team of LMCU or working with other business and community leaders to drive impact, she keeps two things sharply in focus, positively impacting the lives of LMCU members with outstanding service and exceptional products and growing and developing LMCU employees.
A proud University of Michigan alumna, Leonard holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in accounting and later earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of South Florida. Leonard has also earned industry recognized designations, including Certified Credit Union Executive™ and Credit Union Development Educator™, and is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the state of Florida.
Leonard is deeply committed to the credit union movement and was appointed to serve on a U.S. Treasury committee, contributing her expertise to industry advancements. She has also been named to Crain’s 200 most Influential Leaders in West Michigan and their list of top Women of Influence. Beyond her professional responsibilities, she is actively engaged in community service and currently serves as a board member at Davenport University and The Right Place and is also a member of the Heart of West Michigan United Way Finance Committee.