Last year, the Celero Commerce executive team created a special award to recognize elite performers and culture carriers who exemplify servant leadership. Today, we’re thrilled to announce the Michael P. Duffy Leadership Award 2020 third quarter recipient, Spencer Ellis.
During his almost six years with Celero and legacy company Elmhurst Financial, Spencer has proven to be an exceptional customer service team leader. He currently serves as Customer Service Manager at Celero’s headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee. His dedication, passion, and commitment to the wellbeing of his team are unmatched. Throughout the many challenges of the COVID-19 crisis, Spencer has “adapted extremely well and continuously taken on more responsibility, with the utmost positivity and enthusiasm at every turn,” said Celero Commerce CEO, Kevin Jones. “He ascended into his new leadership role with grace and, of course, an unwavering focus on his team.”
The leadership team at Celero created the Michael P. Duffy Leadership Award in honor of fintech industry giant Michael Duffy, who was a mentor to many of Celero’s leaders earlier in their careers at industry leader Chase Paymentech. The Duffy Award, which is based on peer nominations, is given to those who not only perform, but also lead with core company values of selflessness and teamwork.
“Spencer is an invaluable asset to our team and to the company as a whole,” said Jorge Torres, Senior Vice President of Operations. “Spencer has managed to consistently keep everyone informed and trained across multiple platforms, even with the challenges of working home due to the pandemic. He did an incredible job during the Mitel installation at FlashBanc, making sure customer calls were integrated seamlessly into Relationship Services.”
As a Duffy Award recipient, Spencer will be invited to attend the company’s first Leadership Summit, to be held in the spring of 2021 at the Celero headquarters in Nashville. This annual event brings together leaders across the organization to celebrate their successes and craft future leaders at Celero by discussing strategy, fintech trends, and our market position. The 2021 summit will include the four quarterly Duffy award recipients and the top 10 percent of performers in other departments. C-suite executives will lead the event, and they have some great Nashville entertainment in the works.
Spencer’s name will be engraved on a commemorative Duffy Award plaque, joining previous winners Nicole Becher, Abigail Lucier, and Karo Torosyan at Celero’s corporate offices.
Spencer’s receipt of this award signifies an important milestone. “Celero is a big and fast-growing company, and Spencer’s selfless leadership has brought him to the top one percent of all those in the organization,” said Jones. “This is not only a great honor for him, but also for us. We’re blessed to work alongside people like Spencer, who personify the core values upon which Celero was built.”
The next Duffy Award winner will be named in January of 2021.