Susan Mitchell, CEO & Co Founder Mitchell, Stankovic and Associates, Most Inspiring WomenLeaders of 2021 Profile

Susan Mitchell
CEO & Co Founder Mitchell, Stankovic and Associates


Susan Mitchell, CEO & Co Founder Mitchell, Stankovic and Associates, Most Inspiring WomenLeaders of 2021

Susan Mitchell is a dynamic achiever who inspires people to take risks, push forward on relevant business practices, and set goals that distinguish the organization from the competition. With an entrepreneurial approach, she builds concepts from ideas into strategic initiatives. Her impact on the organization and the financial services (credit union) industry is transformative.

Susan founded MyDAS Marketing, Inc in 1985 to build a value proposition that included marketing, education, and mystery shopping for the financial services industry. The power of the internet and online learning was just the beginning. Susan had a vision that MyDAS would create a multi-media online educational platform that she named Credit Union University or CUU.com. It was an innovative concept that expanded to Credit Union Educational Sites for Technology and online consumer education. With over 5,000 credit unions and 25,000 + users, CUU.com was translated into Spanish and ultimately provided leadership and regulatory modules before online education became mainstream. Once the education was provided, MyDAS created the marketing materials for consumers to understand credit union services better and then evaluated the service levels through more than 750 mystery shoppers nationwide. With the prominence of MyDAS within the financial service sector, Susan was approached to sell the assets in 2005, and Harland became the ultimate new owner. Susan and her partner, Michael Stankovic, refreshed the model and expanded their consulting practice as Mitchell, Stankovic, and Associates. The company’s mission statement is “Anticipate. Assimilate. Innovate.” If you add motivate, that will summarize Susan’s approach to leadership.

Her award-winning marketing and educational initiatives utilize visual, auditory, and kinesthetic techniques to maximize the learning experience during speaking engagements with large audiences, online virtual sessions, and video webinars. She is an avid reader, combining her insightful observations with strategic execution, helping others do more, and learn how to achieve success.

Susan is a thought leader, turning ideas into action for more than 30 years. The Underground Network, the most recent initiative, reaches thousands of consumers and leaders, challenging them to adapt to market conditions and social issues focusing on financial democracy. Credit unions are cooperatives, not-for-profit, and their charter is to serve people with a common bond collectively. Many are over 100 years old, and Total assets have risen to just under two trillion dollars. The Underground catalyzes credit unions to return to their roots, bridge the gaps and ensure everyone has access to financial services. Susan serves on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Collective Board for the credit union industry and as an officer on the Worldwide Foundation, Doing Global Good.

As a thought leader, Susan utilizes her emotional intelligence expertise to reach people, advise the Board of Directors and motivate all levels of management from the front line to C-Suite to get results, maximize ROI and care about their impact. Credit unions are all about the cooperative spirit of people helping people, so the social mission is intertwined into Susan’s core belief system. This makes her an authentic leader who understands the power of her voice to make a difference in the organization, the industry, and around the world. She STANDS UP for things in life that matter most to her.

To better understand Susan’s mission to empower and inspire women entrepreneurs, we start with a note about the industry she selected as her niche for Mitchell, Stankovic, and Associates, financial cooperatives. Credit unions are made up of people from all industries and employer groups, from NASA to NGOs, Fortune 500 companies, to small communities. There are more than 291 million members and a billion people impacted by credit unions worldwide, and they are representative of society in every region. In 2020, the United Nations estimated that in 2021 there would be 435 million women living on less than $1.90 per day, and nearly one of every three women in the world will be excluded from the formal financial system. She is often quoted as saying, “This is not just an issue of feminism or gender for me; it’s a human issue. Women are central figures in the lives of children and communities. My social mission is to promote sustainable initiatives that give equal access and equal opportunities to help people help themselves.”IEWL


Company

Mitchell, Stankovic and Associates

Management

Susan Mitchell
CEO & Co Founder of
Mitchell, Stankovic and Associates

Description

Mitchell Stankovic and Associates (MSA) is a strategic consulting firm on the leading edge of strategic initiatives for our clients'​ business practices. We are trusted counselors, coaches, experts and friends to organizations and executives from across the globe.


Inspiring WomenLeaders Special Magazine