Darren Ditto is the Clinical Systems Manager for Northern Health.

What is it like to be on a community credit union board of directors? We asked Director Darren Ditto to share what it’s like to be a Director, highlighting a day in the life in our Director series. Here’s what he had to say.

Picture of Darren Ditto with a dark background in a blazer and light blue collared button down shirt.

I became interested in digital currencies and non-government financial systems about six years ago. The more I learned about concepts of what is money, and the different ways of storing and transmitting value, the more gaps I uncovered in my understanding of the conventional financial system. I learned of the opportunity to join the Board and the idea of gaining a grounded perspective of the Canadian financial system through the lens of a credit union appealed to me.

I have an undergraduate degree in Computer Science focusing on Artificial Intelligence. In my “day job” I work as a Clinical Systems Manager for Northern Health. My work at Northern Health has given me an understanding of how to implement and support, complex, service-critical systems. My deep technical background applies directly to my board position, especially to my committee assignment on the IT Governance Committee. Much of what we do at Integris relies on technology, specifically on large, complex, high-uptime systems. With my background, I can provide advice and a second set of eyes as decisions around technology implementations are evaluated.

I didn’t have a clear understanding about the role credit unions such as Integris played in the larger financial landscape in Canada. I vaguely understood the difference between credit union and a bank, with credit unions being focused on the community and banks being more shareholder focused. I didn’t have a clear understanding that credit unions are owned by their members, and how this shared ownership shapes how they engage with the community.

The board provides training to new Directors and this training has allowed me to re-examine what I do at Northern Health through a different lens. Integris has excellent senior leadership. Working with them through their interactions with the board has allowed me to better understand the strategic planning process and how it results in changes to the organization. Our work together has also given me a better understanding of how complex, organization-level, decisions are made.

A significant amount of oversight is applied to financial institutions. Within established boundaries, the board is responsible for ensuring the organization meets our legal obligations and is effectively run for the benefit of our members and staff. This includes actively monitoring situations that have triggered ongoing oversight at the board-level as well as making decisions that will affect the future health and potential of Integris, our staff, and our members.

There is tremendous opportunity to grow as a person and as a professional by working as part of the board. Growth comes through an investment of effort, and from a place of genuine curiosity. If you are coming in without a financial background like I did, there will be a steep learning curve before you are comfortable contributing. If you invest the time and effort, you will be able to meaningfully contribute to the board, the organization, and to our community.

Interested in joining our board?

Our board of directors released a call for nominations for those interested in joining our board. If you are interested in joining the Integris Board of Directors, visit our Board webpage, or reach out to our team.

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