ACU Employee Spotlight: Getting to know Lisa Delorme Meiler

The ACU Employee Spotlight series features some of the many people that work at the credit union, highlighting how their unique roles help members and the community every day.

When you think about the people that work in banking and finance, your mind probably wouldn’t jump to someone in a creative role. But for Lisa Delorme Meiler, she lives and breathes imaginative design and creative graphics, making ACU’s brand come to life in an inspiring way.

In this spotlight, we get to know Lisa as Brand and Campaign Specialist, and as an inspirational participant in the ACU community. She is a proud circle member of the Indigenous Leadership Circle at ACU. ACU’s Reconciliation learning journey is led by the Indigenous Leadership Circle — a group of employees at ACU who identify as Indigenous to Turtle Island. Outside of work hours, Lisa is a practicing fine artist.

Getting to know Lisa:

Question (Q): How long have you worked at ACU? 

I’ve worked at ACU for nearly 20 years.

Q. Describe a “day in the life” of your role. 

As ACU’s in-house Brand and Campaign Specialist, my day consists of creating visual assets to tell ACU’s brand story. As a visual communicator, every day is different and full of interesting and creative challenges, but the constant is creating visual assets and making ACU’s brand come alive.

As a creative professional, I create a variety of assets ranging from traditional print media to developing assets for use online, on social media, and mobile. I also dabble in photography as ACU’s resident paparazzi, capturing people and moments at the credit union. In addition, when the opportunity presents itself, I stretch my skills into creative writing, writing blogs, campaign ad copy, social media posts, and advertising copy.

I’m very passionate about my work and couldn’t imagine doing anything else. The most rewarding part of my job is that I’m always able to create something new. You often hear of people following their passion, and that’s what I did.

Q. What is your favourite part of working at ACU? 

Besides getting to do what I enjoy doing every day, it’s also the people who work here. When you enjoy your work and the people by your side, it makes your job not feel like work at all.

Q. What’s a fun fact about yourself that most people wouldn’t know? 

I am a practicing fine artist and began in early 2013 with a self-hosted show at Le Garage Café in Winnipeg.

Around the same time, I also visited Neechi Commons when its doors first opened. It was there that I spoke with the curator, Arlea Ashcroft, and after seeing my work, she asked me to have an exhibition at Neechi Niche. That was a wonderful experience that led me down a path of connecting with other artists and organizations.

Since then, I’ve shown my work at exhibitions such as Manitoba Art Expo, and Wolseley’s Envision Festival of the Arts, and through connections made while showing and selling my work, I also began facilitating art. In 2014, I joined the Steering Committee and was the Art Collaboration Facilitator for the Building Leaders in Women of Tomorrow program at Winnipeg’s Wahbung Abinoonjiiag Inc.

I then led workshops for the Seven Oaks School Division for both teachers and students at the Amber Trails School. And most recently, I was a volunteer Artist Mentor Facilitator within The Open Art Room & Wellness Program at Siloam Mission.

The artist mentorship program at Siloam Mission has been fortunate to have Lisa Delorme Meiler as a workshop host. Her consistent commitment to creating a warm and non-judgmental atmosphere at our in-house studio allowed community members to let their inner creativity flow. Lisa shared with others her artistic talent and encouraged them to do the same. Through her artist workshops, Lisa was able to develop relationships with community members who might not otherwise have had the opportunity for this kind of rich creative experience. Thanks Lisa!”

— Natasha Ross, Siloam Mission.

I’ve had the honour to have my work published in three issues of Red Rising Magazine including Love, Issue 5, March 2017, Storytelling as a resistance, Issue 4, November 2016 and most recently the front and back cover artwork for Métis, Issue 9, April 2019. My art also made it on the cover of the album Late O’clock for Manitoba musical group, The Deeds.

I recently participated in the 2019 Manito Ahbee Art Challenge on the May long weekend. It was my first time at the event and first time participating in the art challenge where we created artwork in just 30 minutes in front of a live audience. What a great experience, and I was pleased to have made it to the final round!

To view some of my work, you can visit my site at www.lisadelormemeiler.ca

Helping others kickstart their careers:

Q. Why would you encourage people to work at ACU in particular? 

ACU has a wonderful work culture and is a great place to work, simply put. Working for a values-based organization is a refreshing change from what you might think of a traditional workplace.

Here at ACU, there is a wonderful, diverse work culture that puts you first:

• You’re a valued member of the team
• You’re contributing to something more
• You get to work with a diverse group of people
• You have fun and engaging work
• You get to make a difference in your community.

Q. What brings you the most joy from being part of ACU? 

The most joy I get from being a part of ACU is that I work for an organization that does more for the communities we live in. When I think of all the things ACU has done over the years, I’m proud to say I work here.

It’s not often you get to work for an organization who cares about people, that is mindful of the planet and wants to ensure that everyone has access to financial services as well as wanting you to be prosperous.

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