Drake Tanabe, CEO of Hawaii Central Federal Credit Union in Honolulu, Hawaii, was recognized by CU*Answers as a recipient of the Robert H. Mackay award at its 2020 CU*BASE Leadership Conference. The award announcement was made as part of a special video presentation of the CUSO’s annual event, presented on July 1, 2020, to all CUSO clients and stakeholders.

In announcing the award, CU*Answers CEO Randy Karnes said, “Drake has been the catalyst for CU*Answers focusing on our market west of the Rockies in a whole new way. He’s the inspiration for a new chapter in our CUSO and cuasterisk.com collective. We think this new relationship will be a game-changer, not just serving Drake’s credit union, but serving a whole community where Drake is on the outer edge. We believe he can lead from that outer edge. Innovation often comes from the outside in, and we’re hoping that Drake will continue to push us over the next few years.”

Since the award could not be presented in person this year, Karnes reached out directly to Tanabe, who responded, “Thank you for this great honor. I am humbled to receive an award named after Robert H. Mackay, a modern day pioneer and stalwart of the credit union movement. It is with great pride that I share this recognition with the Hawaii Central Federal Credit Union team, an innovative group of individuals that has never lost sight of our mission to serve the member, first and always, in everything we do.”

The Robert H. Mackay award was established in 2005 to recognize the leadership contribution of Robert Mackay, retired CEO of Berrien Teachers CU (now known as Honor Credit Union,) who served as a member of the CU*Answers Board of Directors from 1985 to 2007 and as Chairman for 19 of those years. Randy Karnes, CU*Answers CEO said “Bob’s leadership and inspiration served not only as a guide but as the compass for CU*Answers to grow and prosper into a CUSO that is now known in the industry for its core values of cooperation, collaboration and innovation.” Each year this award is presented to an individual who exemplifies these leadership skills.