SAFE CHRO Colleen Nerius Receives Prestigious C-Suite Award

Folsom, Calif. – (August 25, 2026) – SAFE Credit Union Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer Colleen Nerius is among the 2026 C-Suite Award recipients from the Sacramento Business Journal.

The award recognizes Nerius’s leadership in building a supportive workplace culture that has led to SAFE being named a Best Place to Work for eight years. Other spotlighted accomplishments include measurable growth in employee engagement, helping SAFE employees grow in their careers and leadership skills through effective training programs; and supporting DEI&B principles in the workplace by leading efforts to create eight employee resource groups that build community and connection across the organization.

“Colleen has been invaluable in ensuring SAFE’s workplace culture truly supports our employees,” says SAFE President and CEO Faye Nabhani. “She works with her team and leaders across SAFE to foster ways to ensure healthy work-life balance for employees, provide benefits that bring our team members peace of mind and help them build financial freedom, and help employees at all levels learn new skills to support their career paths.”

Nerius joined SAFE as the chief human resources officer in June 2020, a time of great change at SAFE and in the community at large. She immediately set about creating ways to strengthen the workplace culture as corporate office employees started to work remotely and branch employees adapted to new safety and operational procedures. That year she also started the process of launching employee resource groups at SAFE to further connection and community. Now, SAFE has eight employee resource groups that give voice and influence to SAFE employees.

“This recognition is very special to me,” says Nerius. “At SAFE, our employees are our No. 1 resource. They are the ones who serve our members with expertise and empathy. As the human resources leader, my top priority is for our employees to feel valued, heard, and supported so they can have the confidence and ability to help our members prepare for the next phase in their lives.”

Nerius has led multiple initiatives that have strengthened SAFE’s workplace culture. Accomplishments in the past year include:

• Growth in measurable employee engagement from 78% to 83% YOY, according to employee survey results.
• Earned SAFE’s eighth Best Place to Work award in nine years by the Sacramento Business Journal;
• Supported employee career growth and expertise by providing a combined 11,000 hours training;
• Maintained employee retention above 82% YOY through proactive outreach to employees and leaders to identify ways to keep key employees.
• Launched three new employee resource groups focused on parents and caregivers, AAPI community, and the Latino community. The new groups join other employee resource groups at the credit union: Black @ SAFE, People Like Us (LGTBQ+), BRIDGE (multi-generational); EmpowHERment (women empowerment), AASPIRE (Asian-Pacific Islander), Fuerzas Unidas (Latino/Latina); The Village (caretakers and parents), and VALOR (veterans and military family members).

A common thread through all her experience is a strong personal commitment to building cultures where employees are respected. She champions employee training and career growth, designing clear career pathway guidelines and putting training and leadership support in place to help employees grow in their roles. Under her leadership, SAFE launched a mentorship program that pairs experienced leaders with talented employees to provide coaching and professional guidance. So far, some 100 leaders and employees have participated in the program.

Before joining SAFE, Colleen served as the SVP HR Director at Mechanics Bank, where she was a trusted business partner to the executive team through the merger of Mechanics and Rabobank. Her role encompassed driving organization design and effectiveness, overseeing restructures, and leading employee development programs to support long-term growth and create a high-performing, engaged workforce. Other roles included SVP HR Director for Rabobank, HR Generalist at GAP Inc., and HR Specialist for Alta California Regional Center.

For more information email [email protected].