PHILANTHROPIST OF THE YEAR MICHAEL

“Leadership is about showing, not telling…do the right thing, at the right time, for the right reason,” L. Dennis Duffy

LOCAL

PHILANTHROPIST OF THE YEAR

MICHAEL DUFFY IS DEDICATED TO GIVING BACK

BY NORA HESTON TARTE/ D DAN HOOD

In 2022, Michael Duffy, 54, won Philanthropist of the Year, an award presented to him by the Community Foundation of San Joaquin. “It makes me feel so good in a way, but it also makes me feel a little bit like ‘this isn’t what it’s about,’” Michael says. “I appreciate it and I also shrink from it.”

The honor, however, also encourages Michael to work harder. “Now that other people know you’re doing this, how can you do better?” he asks, adding his life motto is “If it ain’t broke, make it better.”

Michael’s life of service started young. Inspired by his dad, L. Dennis Duffy, 80, who used to serve dinner and spend overnights at St. Mary’s Hall weekly. Michael says the moral and ethical standards molded by his father have been at the foundation of all his successes. “He is the archetype of somebody who cares for his community and turns that care into action,” Michael says of his dad.

As the president and chief executive officer of Financial Center Credit Union in Stockton, which recently merged into Valley Strong Credit Union, Michael has been able to dedicate a lot of his resources to community betterment. Working with organizations like the Reinvent Stockton Foundation, All Saints Academy, St. Joseph’s Hospital, and Port of Stockton, his main goals are to create a better future for San Joaquin County, where he was born and raised, through education and healthcare reform.

While Michael hopes for change on a global scale, he says those big moves start with local work, and they aren’t achieved overnight. That’s a large part of why he formed the 54 Fund, to continue and increase the support Financial Center Credit has given to the community, promising a minimum of $250,000 allotted to San Joaquin County annually. It’s a show that the merger hasn’t dampened the organization’s desire to improve local. “We believe its important to continuing helping,” he says.