LAFCU's Kelli Ellsworth Etchison Receives Prestigious National Award for Service to Greater Lansing

Kelli Ellsworth Etchison has been awarded the prestigious National Sojourner Truth Meritorious Service Award by the Greater Lansing Area Club (GLAC) on the occasion of GLAC’s 35th anniversary. It’s the highest award given by affiliates of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs Inc.

The award recognizes Ellsworth Etchison’s ongoing contributions to the betterment of the Greater Lansing community. She serves as LAFCU’s senior vice president of marketing.

“You can always find Kelli providing support through her time, talents and financial giving,” said Renee Morgan Freeman, GLAC recording secretary. “She genuinely cares about the community in which she works and plays. Kelli truly merits this respected award as well as the heartfelt gratitude of GLAC leadership and its membership for her contributions to the community.”

Ellsworth Etchison said, “Few things are more gratifying to me than helping others and making life better for those in my community. There are many wonderful people who feel that way, too, so I am especially honored to receive the Sojourner Truth Award and to even be remotely associated with Ms. Truth.”

Sojourner Truth, 1797-1883, escaped slavery as a young adult and became one of the foremost leaders of the abolition movement, also advocating for women's rights, prison reform, property rights and universal suffrage, among others. The Smithsonian magazine included her in the 2014 list of the 100 most significant Americans of all time.

Ellsworth Etchison’s volunteerism spans from serving on the cleaning committee at her church, Rivers of Life Church, Holt, for 10 years to being tapped as the first African American female board chairperson for the YMCA of Metropolitan Lansing. Other community organizations for which she has held or holds leadership positions include the Lansing Community College Foundation Board of Directors, Greater Lansing Area Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Commission, Capital Area United Way, Rotary Club of Lansing and the Mayor’s Drug Free Youth Committee.

She even lent her talent to the Dancing with the Local Stars community fundraiser for Care Free Medical where she and her dance partner won the championship mirror ball.

An ardent advocate of education, Ellsworth Etchison has focused much of LAFCU’s programming on youth financial literacy education and has spearheaded college scholarship programs, providing thousands of dollars for education to women and military-affiliated students of all ages.

In her current role at LAFCU, Ellsworth Etchison manages marketing and public relations activities, and the internship and member education programs; develops and supports strategic initiatives; and assists with product and service development.