Teri Kuehn

Teri Kuehn has spent her life investing in people, institutions, and communities to become stronger through service, thoughtful stewardship, and an uncommon willingness to step forward when leadership is needed.

A graduate of Michigan State University with a degree in accounting, Teri built a distinguished 26-year career as a certified public accountant. Her professional journey included five years with Deloitte, where she developed a deep foundation in audit, accountability, and financial discipline, followed by service within the St. Joseph Mercy Health System. This experience gave Teri more than technical expertise. It shaped her understanding that strong institutions depend upon integrity, careful stewardship, and leaders who are willing to ask difficult questions.

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Education has also been central to Teri’s life. She taught accounting courses at colleges in Arizona and Michigan and served for many years as an adjunct instructor at Oakland Community College. In the classroom, she helped students gain practical knowledge, confidence, and new possibilities for their futures. Her teaching reflected the same approach she would later bring to credit union governance: make complex matters understandable, listen closely, and help others recognize what they can achieve.

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That same spirit has defined Teri’s service to the credit union movement.

As Board Chair of orsa credit union, Teri helped guide the organization through one of the most significant transformations in its history. Working in close partnership with fellow Directors, president & ceo Tansley Stearns, and the orsa team, she supported the evolution of a 75-year-old institution from Community Financial Credit Union into orsa credit union.

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The transformation was a commitment to carry the cooperative’s history forward while preparing it to meet the changing needs of its members. Throughout the journey, Teri understood that honoring an institution’s legacy and pursuing meaningful change are not opposing responsibilities. They are both essential acts of stewardship. She supported a bold vision for orsa as a protector and guide, grounded in care and pointed toward possibility. A credit union committed to creating joy, igniting Michiganders’ impossible dreams, and becoming a best friend to women and those who love them.

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Her partnership with president & ceo Stearns has combined trust, candor, courage, and governance discipline. Teri has understood that the role of a board chair is not to occupy the center of the organization. It is to create the conditions in which Directors can govern effectively, executive leaders can lead confidently, and the credit union can remain faithful to its purpose.

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Teri rarely seeks recognition for this work. She is more likely to be found preparing for the next conversation or asking the question others have not yet considered. Her influence can be seen in the stronger governance she helped build, the transformation she helped steward, and the people who have felt supported by her steady leadership.

Teri Kuehn represents the credit union philosophy at its best: disciplined stewardship joined with genuine care for people. Her legacy is one of courage without spectacle, accountability without ego, and service without expectation of recognition.

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orsa credit union proudly honors Teri Kuehn as an Unsung Hero whose leadership helped protect a remarkable legacy while opening the way toward an even more meaningful future.