Erin Mendez

America's Credit Unions

Erin Mendez is President and Chief Executive Officer of Patelco Credit Union, where she leads culture, performance and strategic planning and upholds a strong commitment to improving the financial health and well-being of more than 460,000 members with the majority in Northern California. Since her arrival at Patelco Credit Union in 2013, Erin has transformed the organizational culture to building financial wellness for members, team members and the communities Patelco serves. During this time, Patelco grew from $3.9 Billion to over $9 Billion in assets and grew members from 275,000 to over 460,000.

Prior to joining Patelco in 2013, Erin served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union. Her career began as a part-time teller for American Savings Banks, progressing to SVP of Retail Banking. Erin’s more than 30 years’ experience in the financial industry also includes CIO and SVP of Operations at Western Financial Bank and Chief Technology Officer of Health Net, Inc.

Erin earned the designation of Certified Chief Executive from the Credit Union Executive Society, is a graduate of the Advanced Leadership Institute at Harvard Business School, and she holds a bachelor of science degree in business administration.  She currently serves as a director for CU Direct, serves on the Board of Managers for the TCU mutual funds, and is an executive member of the California/Nevada Wine Auction raising funds for the Children’s Miracle Network and related hospitals.  In 2015 and 2016, she was honored as one of the Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business and in 2017 inducted into the Forever Influential honor roll; in 2017 she was recognized by San Francisco Business Times as one of the Most Admired CEOs 2017. In 2021 Erin was recognized by the California Credit Union with their Distinguished Service Award, inducted into CUES Hall of Fame, and was recognized by American Banker in their inaugural top powerful women in Credit Unions.

Erin and her husband Mark live in San Ramon, California, where they enjoy the outdoors and wineries. They have three sons and four grandchildren.