Catalyze 2025: Darlene Johnson

We’re asking thought leaders, business people and creatives to talk about the upcoming new year and give us catalyzing ideas for making St. Pete a better place to live. What should our city look like? What are their hopes, their plans, their problem-solving ideas? This is Catalyze 2025.

Darlene Johnson, recently honored as one of the most powerful women in credit unions for two consecutive years, already has her eyes on what lies ahead in 2025 – and it looks like “Fintech,” financial technologies that bring new services and products to the marketplace.

“Early on, we really saw them as negative disruptors,” said Johnson, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer at Suncoast Credit Union. “We thought, ‘Are they going to disrupt our industry in a way that we’re going to have to compete against them, and will they win?’”

If Johnson’s recent accolades are any indication, her strategies at Suncoast Credit Union are continuing the upward trajectory she’s been on since she started her career there nearly 35 years ago. Johnson was recently named one of 2024’s Most Powerful Women in Credit Unions by American Banker magazine. This marks the second consecutive year Johnson has received this accolade, highlighting her impact on the credit union industry.

Johnson’s career began in 1990 when she joined Suncoast Credit Union. Originally chartered in 1934 as Hillsborough County Teachers Credit Union, it is now the eighth-largest credit union in the U.S. based on membership.

Eyes on 2025

As she looks toward 2025, Johnson is focused on integrating fintech solutions to enhance member services. What might at first seem like an unlikely union, Johnson believes, could be the key to continued growth for the future of the industry.

“I have been very impressed with some of the young founders of financial technologies,” she said. “Most fintechs have a single-solution focus, and they’re regulated differently, so they can move much faster than we can. I quickly learned that the best solution, the best way to approach that, was to partner with them.”

Johnson said Suncoast has dabbled in fintech opportunities but will focus much more on strategic partnerships to meet consumer demands in 2025. 

“A strategy for us will be finding the right fintechs to partner with to serve our members in a more rapid way,” Johnson explained. “Covid kind of pushed consumers into an environment where they expect immediacy, and it’s difficult to do unless you’re going out and partnering with these very innovative solutions. I see us doing more of that in 2025, and it gives us the opportunity to bring unique services to our member base in a way that meets their needs in terms of how quickly they want things to come to market.”

Johnson’s leadership philosophy is rooted in empowerment and mentorship. In recalling her early journey at Suncoast Credit Union, an early mentor helped propel her career and help her find her passion in what she at first considered “just a job.” 

Now, in her current role, Johnson also mentors young fintech founders, sharing insights from her extensive experience while learning from their fresh perspectives. This exchange of ideas not only benefits Suncoast but also contributes to the broader financial industry by integrating creative technologies with trusted brands.

“The fintech founders get so excited when you introduce them to the credit union industry because, in most cases, it really aligns with what they want to bring to the industry. They get excited about bringing creative technologies and impacting an industry that they can share values with.”

“The other really cool thing about partnering with fintechs is we have kind of married a couple of them with each other,” Johnson added. “You see a fintech that provides a service, and you think, ‘Wow, if these two fintechs would get together, collaborate and combine their services into one, it would really be impactful to our industry.’ So there have been some of those situations where we bring them together and it’s really a cool thing, and they are so willing to do it.”

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