My very first experience with Inclusiv (then the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions) was 25 years ago, in New York City, at the organization’s 25th anniversary. I was a young man – a middle-class white guy from northern Vermont – trying to figure out how to organize and run a community development credit union in Bushwick, Brooklyn. I was looking for some friendship, some advice, some inspiration. What I found was totally life-transforming. I found people motivated by faith. I found people motivated by a sense that the hard work of the civil rights movement was not complete. I found people working to ensure that new immigrants to the U.S., those making their livelihoods in some of the most difficult of circumstances, were treated with the respect and dignity they deserve. I found people working to ensure that those earning a living in the fading economies of Appalachia and the rust belt were not forgotten and left behind. I found people who just wanted to build a slightly better economic democracy. (And we can now add to that list those wanting to contribute to the clean energy transition!)
All of these people were focused on the simple, noble project of building stronger credit unions in their communities. In a word, I found solidarity. It should not go without saying: It is very hard today to find such a diverse set of cultural and political identities working together on a common project. That is what has made, and will continue to make Inclusiv so special to me. That sense of solidarity.
I am really proud to have played a small role in the growth and development of the organization. Its staff is doing absolutely incredible things for our movement. My fellow members of the Board of Directors are, and have been some of the kindest, smartest, and most committed people I’ve worked alongside of. The whole experience has been the professional privilege of a lifetime. I will miss it.
Jack Lawson
President and CEO, Clearwater Credit Union