Robert G. Allen

President and CEO
Teachers Federal Credit Union

"The credit union mantra is 'people helping people,'" says Robert G. Allen. "I think it's a good rule to live by, and it comes back to you many times over."

With 40 years in the credit union industry, Allen has been president/CEO of Teachers Federal Credit Union (TFCU) since 1988. He has been instrumental in the growth of this full-service financial cooperative, which was founded in 1952 by a small group of teachers, to a company with over $4 billion in assets, 22 branches and more than 500 employees.

As a member-owned cooperative, TFCU takes financial education to heart. It tries to get the education process started as early as possible by providing in-classroom presentations as well as educational assistance for teachers to become instructors in financial literacy. TFCU also aligns itself with local colleges, with some classes being taught in its own building.

As the organization continued to grow, Allen found the need to have promotable people who could be moved up to higher management positions; therefore, the company put into place a tuition-assistance program.

Under Allen's leadership, TFCU, one of the largest credit unions in the country, received a four-star excellent rating, the highest rating offered by Bauer Financial Reports. A four-star rating put TFCU on their recommended report.

In addition to his position at TFCU, Allen is director of UsNet (NYS Shared Service Center), director/vice president of Advancement for Commerce, Industry & Technology, and a Member of the Staller Center for the Art Advisory Council (Stony Brook University), the Long Island Museum Board of Trustees; Member Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council; the School of Business Advisory Board at SUNY College at Old Westbury, the Credit Union Association of New York and the Credit Union National Association Governmental Affairs Committees, among others.

Raised in Queens, N.Y., Allen graduated from Queensborough Community College and SUNY College at Old Westbury, where he earned a bachelor's degree in finance. He currently lives in Northport with his wife Linda. They have two daughters and three grandchildren.