SUU to Credit Union Marketing Director

Matt Yardley, who today thrives as the southern Utah market director for Chartway Federal Credit Union, is a prime exemplar of SUU graduates who live varied and fulfilling lives sparked by their Thunderbird experiences.

A 1996 graduate of Kearns High School in the Salt Lake Valley, he envisioned a life in law, and intended to enter law school after earning his SUU degree in political science with a minor in criminal justice. The University’s pre-law program prepared him well to pursue law school studies and following his 2003 graduation, he enrolled in the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law, where he completed the Master of Science in Legal Administration degree, with plans to gain his Juris Doctorate later.

“However,” he says, “after getting my feet wet in the legal field through a variety of internships, I determined that I was better suited for an administrative career, rather than practicing law directly.” He says he fell into a career in banking and finance and could not be happier.

His position with the Virginia-based Chartway entails the oversight of all aspects of the credit union for the southern Utah market, which currently includes five branches from Cedar City to St. George. From member experience to branch production and profitability, he ensures that member’s lives are “truly made affordable through value added products and service.”

It’s a demanding job, but he is quick to credit his SUU education in immensely helping to prepare him for his life’s work.

“At SUU, I learned the importance of effective communication and the value of hard work, and had outstanding staff and faculty members to aid me in my pursuits,” he says, and he has praise for Dean Rodney Decker and Diane Werber of the HSS College staff, and for professors Michael Stathis and Lee Trepanier, each of whom, he says “were dedicated to helping me achieve my goals.”

And, he says, SUU prepared him with many of the leadership and communication skills necessary to run his business. He has fond memories of engaging with the Michael O. Leavitt Center for Politics and Public Service, which helped build his all-around abilities and awareness of the larger world.

He and his wife of 19 years, Whitney, are parents to three sons, and his family forms the foundation of his life. His leisure time affords him the opportunity to man the drum kit in what he calls his “makeshift band,” and for Jeeping with his eldest son in the southern Utah wonderland surrounding the family’s Washington City home.