Jackie Buchanan, president and CEO of Genisys Credit Union, has been named among Crain’s Detroit Business “100 Most Influential Women” in Michigan.

“It is quite an honor and quite a surprise,” she said.

Buchanan, a 1984 Oxford graduate, said she first fell in love with numbers during a high school accounting class.

“What really first got me involved in a credit union was my first accounting job where I was an accounting clerk,” she said. “I did that because I loved my accounting class . . . I always loved it in high school, and I was always good with numbers.”

Buchanan received her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Walsh College and a master’s degree in information systems from Lawrence Technological University.

In 1986, Buchanan began her career as an accounts payable clerk at Parda Federal Credit Union in Rochester.

She started at Genisys (previously T&C Federal Credit Union) as an accounting manager in 1991.

About seven years later, she was promoted to vice president of Information Technology.

In 2008, Buchanan became executive vice president and CIO of Genisys.

Two years later, she was named president and CEO.

Genisys Credit Union has seen a 60 percent growth in assets in the six years she’s spent at the helm.

“Because of this, we have been able to give back to our members in meaningful ways such as by adding more convenient branches, offering the best loan and deposit rates around, providing our members with state-of-the-art mobile and online banking, offering a unique program where members can combine their debit and credit card reward points and much more,” Buchanan explained.

Buchanan credited the people she works with for the financial institution’s growth.

“It’s all very humbling, but I owe a lot of my success to the team here at Genisys Credit Union,” she said. “They do a great job, which makes my job easier.”

Buchanan was the only credit union CEO in the state to make the prestigious list.

“I believe there are other credit union professionals deserving of this recognition, but there is no doubt in my mind that the dedication our employees have to our members makes Genisys stand out from all of the financial institutions in our markets,” said Buchanan.

During the selection process, Crain’s Detroit Business looked for proven leaders from businesses and organizations. The company has been honoring influential women in metro Detroit every five years since 1997. This was the first year that the award search was state-wide rather than regional.

Buchanan offered some advice to young women on how to become successful.

“Don’t expect success to simply come to you. It’s hard work, and you just need to accept that,” she said. “Secondly, show appreciation to everyone who helps you along the way. Everyone wants to feel appreciated, and it’s so easy to say thank you. Their respect for you will grow, and so will your influence as a leader.”

The Oxford branch of Genisys is located at 120 S. Washington St.

Genisys Credit Union is member-owned financial institution, which currently has 28 branch locations and approximately 180,000 members.