Inclusiv Hosted the 11^th Annual CDFI Certified Credit Union Roundtable at GAC

On March 27, 2023, the Inclusiv team and guests addressed a standing-room-only crowd of CDFI credit union professionals and those interested in learning more about our movement. The presentation began with prerecorded remarks on the importance and impact of CDFI credit unions from Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Senator Mark R. Warner (D-VA).

Inclusiv CDFI Program Director Chriselle Martinez and Inclusiv Senior Consultant Terry Ratigan provided an update on the CDFI industry and a preview of changes to come, followed by a conversation between Inclusiv President and CEO Cathie Mahon and CDFI Fund Director Jodie Harris.

Ms. Harris provided updates on the expected changes to CDFI Certification and a general timeline for future updates.  She also anticipates ERP awards will be announced in the coming weeks and that the next Financial Assistance and Technical Assistance rounds (combining FY 2023 and FY 2024 funds) would open around the fourth quarter of the year.

Rounding out the Inclusiv CDFI Credit Union Update was a panel discussion with Brian Best, CEO, GTE Financial FCU; Patty Corkery, CEO, and Kieran Marion, EVP of Advocacy & Communications, Michigan Credit Union League; Carrie Hunt, CEO, Virginia Credit Union League; and Alane Dent, VP of Corporate & Legislative Affairs, CUNA Mutual Group.  This panel covered state-level CDFI activities and funding, as well as the importance of cultivating bipartisan support for CDFIs.  The session was closed out with a call-to-action from Inclusiv SVP of Policy & Communications Alexis Iwanisziw outlining CDFI-related advocacy talking points in anticipation of attendees’ Hike-the-Hill visits with elected officials. Thank you to all our guest speakers and attendees!

View slides from the presentation here.

Juntos Avanzamos Roundtable Breakfast

On February 28, 2023, Inclusiv hosted a full house at the Sixth Annual Juntos Avanzamos Roundtable.  Over 120 CEO's, board members, and credit union practitioners joined us for a Roundtable focused on serving Hispanic and Immigrants communities.

The Roundtable was kicked off by Cathie Mahon, Inclusiv President and CEO, who was then followed by dynamic speakers that including Wil Lewis, Chief Global DEI and Belonging Officer at Experian, Susana Barragán, Policy Analyst at Unidos US, Victor Corro, CEO at Coopera Consulting, Linda Rossi, CEO at Ventura County Credit Union, Eva Gómez, Board member at Premier America Credit Union, and Bryant Ottaviano, CEO at Pivot Lending.

As part of the Roundtable, Inclusiv and the National Association of Latino Credit Unions & Professionals conferred the second Juntos Avanzamos Champion Award to John Deese, former CEO of Guardians Credit Union.  John led a distinguished career supporting financial inclusion and service to Hispanic and Immigrant communities.  Congratulations, John!

Minority Depository Institutions (MDI) Roundtable

On Wednesday, March 1, Inclusiv hosted our inaugural Minority Depository Institution (MDI) Roundtable at CUNA’s Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC). Attendees learned about recent MDI trends, heard directly from leaders of MDI credit unions, and networked with MDIs and non-MDIs in order build a more inclusive and equitable economy. Inclusiv’s President and CEO, Cathie Mahon, opened the session with welcoming remarks followed by programmatic updates from Natasha McAdoo, ACCESS Program Officer, NCUA. Then Monica Copeland, MDI Network Director, provided a brief MDI overview and shared announcements such as the development of a New Majority Growth Initiative (which includes the creation of an MDI and Cooperativa Learning Center), budding Native CU Network, and a new association for Hawaiian Asian Pacific Islander Credit Union Professionals (HAPICUP). We ended the MDI Roundtable with a robust panel discussion with the following speakers: Sue Cuevas, President/CEO, Nueva Esperanza Community Credit Union; Tracey Jackson, CFO, Resource One Credit Union; Sheilah Montgomery, CEO, Florida A&M University Federal Credit Union; and Hazelmae Overturf, Program Director/Grants Administrator, Kaua’I Federal Credit Union.

Small CU Roundtable

More than 150 small (under $120M) credit unions gathered to network and learn from their peers.  The credit unions learned of new opportunities to increase their lending through technology and discussed the impact of marketing to increase loan volume.  Awards were given out to those small CUs that successfully implemented new products and services.  Carma Parrish, CEO, NorthPark Community CU, challenged and motivated the gathering to look at digital solutions to help their small CUs grow and provide more services.

DEI Roundtable

The first-ever DEI workshop at GAC was organized by CUNA and attracted a crowd of more than 100 staff, board and committee members of credit unions.  This workshop looked at the key elements when building effective DEI strategies around an inclusive workplace, employee resource group initiatives, community outreach, lending portfolio, multi-cultural marketing and staffing.

Inclusiv Educates Credit Unions on the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund at the United in Sustainability Breakfast

Inclusiv CEO Cathie Mahon joined Jon Jeffreys from Callahan and Associates, Shabd Singh from Climate Reality and moderator Patrick Siler of United Nations FCU to discuss the transformative potential of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and how credit unions are best positioned to ensure that the benefits of the Fund and of a greening economy reach all communities equitably.

GAC Breakout Session: Current State of the CDFI Certification Process

Chriselle Martinez, Inclusiv’s CDFI Program Director, and Alexis Iwanisziw, Inclusiv’s SVP of Policy & Communications, joined CUNA’s Elizabeth Sullivan to update GAC participants on the current state of the CDFI certification process. Chriselle shared reflections on the alignment between the CDFI Fund’s mission and credit union values as well as an overview of Inclusiv’s advocacy on the Fund’s updates to CDFI certification standards. Alexis and Elizabeth highlighted areas of concern in the proposed updates to the CDFI certification standards. All three guided participants through approaches to effectively advocate for more resources for CDFI credit unions and how to provide recommendations for changes to the proposed certification standards with a focus on constructive, actionable feedback for the Fund. The presentation was followed by a lively Q&A session.