Cornerstone Says Goodbye as Employee Pursues ‘First Love’

When Jeff Phillipich and his family moved to Texas from Minneapolis, Minn., in 2018, a new job and career path awaited him. Though he left behind his friends and extended family, he relocated to North Texas to take a position at CU Resources (now Cornerstone Resources) as a director of innovation, where he would eventually become SVP of strategic development.

After three years, his journey with Cornerstone will end in May, as he heads back to Minnesota to assume a chief lending officer role at a credit union. Having started his career in lending, he said he is “going back to his first love.” While working in banking during the Great Recession, he saw a significant change in the way banks served their customers and wanted to find a way to impact people, not make profits. Advice from a mentor led him to seek opportunities within the credit union industry in 2010. 

“Working in the banking industry during the recession really opened my eyes to what was truly important to me, my values, and how I wanted to serve the community,” he said. “That’s how I found my way to the credit union industry.”

Phillipich found his place in lending. Prior to joining Cornerstone, he worked as a chief lending officer for a credit union, a position that stoked his passion for the industry and fueled his love of member service.

“At the end of the day, I have to follow my heart, and it’s in lending,” he said. “As a native Minnesotan, I am really excited to reconnect with the community and help them achieve their financial goals.”

Now Phillipich adds product lifecycle management and business strategy to his toolbelt. Within one year of joining Cornerstone, Phillipich was promoted to vice president of product and business development, adding product life cycle management and business development to his duties. As part of the Cornerstone Pandemic Response Committee, he was a key contributor to the organization’s business continuity strategy while continuing to serve Cornerstone Resources partners and members through the crisis.

Phillipich also stepped up to the plate during Cornerstone’s organizational restructure, lending his business acumen and strategic forecasting skills to the effort. He was promoted to senior vice president of strategic development in November 2020, adding oversight of the organization’s overall business strategy.

Cornerstone League President and CEO Caroline Willard congratulates Phillipich on his new venture.

“At Cornerstone League, we encourage our employees to adopt a growth mindset, and it’s exciting to watch someone’s talents and career unfold,” said Willard. “Jeff has made great contributions to the organization, and while we will miss him greatly, I am happy to see him use the knowledge he gained at Cornerstone to continue to impact the credit union industry.”

Cornerstone League has appointed interim leaders to head facets of the strategic development division as the organization searches for a replacement.