Dadeneau safeguards Navigant’s values through expansion

OBSTACLE JUMPER: Lisa Dandeneau, chief operating officer of Navigant Credit Union, meets with Eliza Lavergne, vice president, project management, at the credit union’s Smithfield office. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY
OBSTACLE JUMPER: Lisa Dandeneau, chief operating officer of Navigant Credit Union, meets with Eliza Lavergne, vice president, project management, at the credit union’s Smithfield office. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER | Lisa Dandeneau, Navigant Credit Union


“It’s not just work. It’s very much a work-life balance,” said Lisa Dandeneau, of her job as chief operating officer of Navigant Credit Union, headquartered in Smithfield.

Dandeneau has been at the company for 24 years, nine of those in her current position. Born and raised in Pawtucket, Dandeneau always knew she wanted to pursue finance – she studied accounting at Bryant University. But it was only after working four years as a public accountant that she moved to the credit union business.

In 1994, she took a job as assistant vice president/internal auditor at Navigant, then located in Central Falls. At the time, Navigant had one branch and controlled $304 million in assets.

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As the internal auditor, Dandeneau managed the department and developed the first internal audit function for the credit union. After two years in the position, she was promoted to vice president of electronic banking and technology. She spent four years evaluating, choosing and implementing a new data-processing system for the credit union, as well as navigating the daily operations and development of its pilot online banking and electronic bill-payment services.

After spending four years in that job, Dandeneau was promoted to senior vice president/chief operating officer in 2003. In the position, she oversaw operations at six branches across the state, and developed a long-term retail branching strategy that has been instrumental to the company tripling in size in the past dozen years.

“We trusted Lisa to take on any project and navigate the credit union through any obstacles that came up along the way,” said Navigant Credit Union President and CEO Gary E. Furtado. “Her leadership has been invaluable since the day we hired her, and her work ethic and commitment to our members [have] been infectious throughout the organization.”

In 2009, Dandeneau was promoted to her current position, executive vice president/chief operating officer. Now, the credit union has 18 branches across the state and more than $1.9 billion in assets. It is the second-largest credit union in Rhode Island, and Dandenau has been integral to this success.

One of the challenges in Dandeneau’s work has been not only finding the balance between work and family but also navigating the amount of growth the organization has experienced.

“Knowing how to maintain the culture with our growth has been a positive challenge for us. … This institution was founded in 1915, and we never lost sight of who we are with all the growth. … Embedded in all of it are the people,” she said.

Navigant’s core values – LUCI, which stands for leadership, unity, caring, integrity – have resonated; “caring” being one that Dandenau touches upon often. She cares about the employees and the community and giving back.

“This is a great organization, and our employees are passionate about what they do. … My favorite accomplishment is to be able to honor and align our values with our goals, and our employees really resonate with that. We take care of our employees, members and the community, and that’s the key to success and always will be.”

She serves as the board chair for the Pawtucket Corps. of the Salvation Army, giving back directly to the community she grew up in. She works with the Little Sisters of the Poor, where she served as co-chair. She works with the Rotary Club of Smithfield (where she has served as president and treasurer), and she is a member of the Bryant University Women’s Summit Program Committee.

“Being able to align personally and professionally is so rewarding,” she said.

This sentiment extends to Dandeneau’s work.

“At Navigant, we get to make a difference. We’re not a giant organization, but we get to make a difference with communities, and their people and families get to see it,” she said.

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