Andrew Price, Sr. VP of Advocacy and General Counsel for World Council of Credit Unions; Alisa Stesyshyn, Consultant, World Council of Credit Unions Credit for Agriculture Producers (CAP) Project (Ukraine); and Anatoli Murha, Senior Vice President, Ukrainian Selfreliance Federal Credit Union all joined us in the Studio Lounge to preview their conference session: "Why International Advocacy Matters: Ukraine Case Study."

In this session, Andrew, Alisa, and Anatoli discuss how international standards affect regulations in the United States -- and how the international regulatory framework shapes U.S. regulations, the importance of proportionality, with a focus on events in Ukraine and the plight of credit unions.

​Check it out and let us know your thoughts. And be sure to visit our interview archive page for all our 2023 GAC interviews.

Support our Studio Lounge sponsors for 2023 GAC:
Co-op Solutions
Zest AI
Corelation, Inc.
Trellance
PSCU
Janusea
Pure IT Credit Union Services

Co-op Solutions President/CEO Todd Clark stopped by the Studio Lounge to provide an update on the CUSO's internal operations, discussing moves the organization had made in the last year to make communications between department vastly more efficient -- which, in turn, has resulted in an enhanced partner experience.

Todd also talked about spending time with credit union CEOs, discussing if the message of lifestyle over life stage resonates with them in offering products and services.

Check it out and let us know your thoughts. And be sure to visit our interview archive page for all our 2023 GAC interviews.

Support our Studio Lounge sponsors for 2023 GAC:
Co-op Solutions
Zest AI
Corelation, Inc.
Trellance
PSCU
Janusea
Pure IT Credit Union Services

CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle joined us in the Studio Lounge to share highlights from his GAC keynote, addressing why credit unions were born to protect consumers.

According to Jim, banks are abandoning communities, and the ones that are left aren’t locally owned anymore. As a result, there are bank deserts are all over the place -- and fintechs, payday and online lenders can’t do what credit unions do and they certainly aren’t helping improve financial well-being of consumers.

Jim added that policymakers want to know how credit unions have earned that “special status," which requires credit union leaders to remain on advocacy offense.  

To stay on offense, he said that data is a major part of advocacy, showing the numbers—often dollars and cents—behind the credit difference. He pointed to CUNA’s latest auto lending data as an example.  

In addition, Jim talked about a clip from a February episode of The TODAY Show that showed personal finance reporter Sharon Epperson talking about saving money on auto loans, and that credit unions were demonstrably more affordable than banks. 

Lastly, Jim provided a preview of his fireside chat with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Check it out and let us know your thoughts. And be sure to visit our interview archive page for all our 2023 GAC interviews.

Support our Studio Lounge sponsors for 2023 GAC:
Co-op Solutions
Zest AI
Corelation, Inc.
Trellance
PSCU
Janusea
Pure IT Credit Union Services

Todd Spiczenski, Executive Vice President and Chief Products and Services Officer at CUNA, visited us in the Studio Lounge to share a preview of this year's GAC, which included speakers, topics, networking -- as well as reporting record attendance for 2023.

Check it out and let us know your thoughts. And be sure to visit our interview archive page for all our 2023 GAC interviews.

Please check out our sponsors who support our GAC coverage:
Co-op Solutions
Zest AI
Corelation, Inc.
Trellance
PSCU
Janusea
Pure IT Credit Union Services

Ryan Donovan, President and Chief Executive Officer, Council of Federal Home Banks (FHLBanks) joined us in the Studio Lounge to share his return to the GAC after leaving CUNA six months ago, as well as discussing why FHFA’s review of the Federal Home Loan Bank System matters to credit unions.

Check it out and let us know your thoughts. And be sure to visit our interview archive page for all our 2023 GAC interviews.

Support our Studio Lounge sponsors for 2023 GAC:
Co-op Solutions
Zest AI
Corelation, Inc.
Trellance
PSCU
Janusea
Pure IT Credit Union Services