Bill Wilby
ICD.D, ACCUD, A.CCD, Canada DE
Board Trustee and Treasure, Grand Forks and District Public Library
Entrepreneur, Business Owner,
Blogger, content creator, Bill’s Trails & Tales
Organic Market Garden Support/Farm-Hand, Settle Down Organic Farm.
Truth and Reconciliation, my journey has begun and is shared with this blog post,
Where do you come from? Why are you here?
Welcome
For the last 12 years ending in April 2026, I have served as a board director on several credit unions. This includes serving on four different credit union boards: Grand Forks, Stabilization Central, Gulf, Fraser, and Beem Credit Union. And I have had the privilege of collaborating with many dedicated and skilled board members and management colleagues who have been passionate about their roles.
This spring I was elected to the board of the Grand Forks and District Public Library and assumed the role of treasurer. With my extensive governance training, board experience, and passion for good governance, I am confident that I bring value to an organization’s board of directors.
Life experiences include building and operating several businesses in partnership with my wife. Our family life together and businesses have provided services and retail sales to small communities. We have also maintained a rural lifestyle while operating e-commerce businesses with national and global customers.
My most recent project is combining my interests in walking and hiking by sharing my experiences in a website’s blog. Bill’s Trails and Tales’ mission is to help others discover the enjoyment of putting one foot in front of the other and going for a long walk or hike.
Some History
When I became a director of Grand Forks Credit Union in 2014, I thought I was well prepared for the position. I soon learned that there is a lot to know about fiduciary duty, governance, oversight, and protecting the members’ and communities’ best interests. I also learned that I had valuable skills to contribute to a board, diversity of thought being one of them. This blog post explores diversity of thought.
I also became hooked on the cooperative business model. The co-op model is something I have explored with a tour of Northern Italy’s co-ops as part of a St. Mary’s University program. I studied the United Nations Sustainability Goals as they apply to co-ops with the Canada DE program, also hosted by St. Mary’s University. And as the chair of our credit union peer group executive committee, organized a meeting of cooperatives in Nelson, B.C. This blog post explores the cooperative advantage.
During my nine years on the board of Grand Forks Credit Union, I served on all the board committees. And I have chaired the Governance and HR, Audit and Operational Risk, Credit and Market Risk, and Member and Community Relations committees. I served as the vice chair of the board, and for 2022 I was elected the chair of the board. For a three-year term, 2019 to 2022, I served on the board of Stabilization Central Credit Union. Stabilization Central’s members are the B.C. credit unions.
In the spring of 2023 I was elected to the board of Gulf and Fraser Credit Union. And on January 1st of 2024, Gulf and Fraser Credit Union merged with Interior Credit Union and formed Beem Credit Union. For the two years I served on the Beem board, I chaired the HR and Compensation committee.
My full bio can be found here………
My blog posts detailing learnings and ideas can be found here……
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Testimonials and Comments
More testimonials, endorsements and comments from community members and credit union associates can be found on this page…..
I had the pleasure of working with Bill for a handful of years, including going through our Credit Union Director accreditation together, and have known him for decades. He brings a different perspective and voice to the Board, particularly with his focus on values-based banking and social inclusion. The time that he has given to volunteer locally for community-building opportunities and co-operatives, whether agricultural, financial, or otherwise, clearly demonstrates his dedication to community values and helping advance what our communities need.
I’ve known Bill Wilby for many years, first as a business owner in Grand Forks, and then as a co-director on the board of GFCU. Bill is passionate about building communities, and that shines through in everything he does. He is an active learner, as demonstrated by his extensive participation in director training. His knowledge gained while on the Stabilization Central Credit Union board is a much-required skill for the stability and resilience of the credit union system. Bill’s business acumen layered with cooperative principles would be a tremendous asset for a $5 billion credit union such as Gulf and Fraser.
I have had the pleasure of working with Bill Wilby over the past few years. Together, we have built the Peer Group meeting themes, including the presentations/panels that were highly rated by both Directors and Executives. Bill’s ability to seek out feedback and understand your needs- a key quality required in this elected position- is very much demonstrated through these offerings and is transferable to any position he sits on representing Peer Group 3. As a consultant, I have also had the pleasure of facilitating Stabilization Central’s Strategic Planning Session where I was able to first hand witness Bill’s strategic thinking and candidness with his questions. These qualities, paired with his unwavering dedication to life-long learning makes him an excellent candidate for this role.
Bill is a dedicated and engaged collaborator in everything he does. He has great ideas and energy, a wealth of experience, and very little ego. He is principled and inspired. He can see beyond the current challenges and persevere to the larger goals. I have connected with Bill at a number of events and credit union convenings over the years. It seems like he is everywhere all at once, always looking to learn more and participate in everything that is happening. I first met him at a credit union event he organized in Nelson in 2019 to bring together co-ops in the area, to build relationships and share knowledge. He understands that business is personal — to the leadership and to the members. He also has a great sense of the wider sector trends and challenges, a pulse on current events, and a passion for community. Any credit union would be lucky to have Bill on the board.
I sat with Bill on the Board of Stabilization Central Credit Union; Bill was a thoughtful, conscientious and diligent Director. I would be happy to sit on a Board with Bill again.
I am happy to provide support to Bill Wilby’s candidacy to represent the best interests of our communities. Bill’s entrepreneurial experiences added to his years in leadership positions on our local Credit Union Board make him a perfect choice for the merged board as our two organization move forward together.
I would like to add my support and encouragement to have Bill Wilby represent the values and interests of Grand Forks on the G&F Board.
Over the many years that I have known Bill I have never been disappointed in his integrity, community concern or positive action,…whether in his entrepreneurial pursuits, or in his various community and Credit Union roles.
I cannot think of anyone I would be more willing to trust to look after my interests, the interests of my community and the interests of the G&F Credit Union.
If you would like to contribute a comment, endorsement or testimonial to my website for publication please use this contact form. If you would like to subscribe to my newsletter please use the form at the bottom of the page.
You have found the bottom of the page and a list of recent blog posts. Enjoy the reading and please consider leaving a comment, I would really like to know what you think of my observations and opinions.
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