Sticking with tradition, we closed out our GAC coverage with the Crasher Mentors. It's always a refreshing message to take home after a marathon three or four days of meetings breakout sessions, keynotes, more meetings, evening activities, and much, much more -- including a farewell to Filene/The Cooperative Trust's former Crasher Leader Cortney Arnold, who now Filene's Director of Partnerships.

Cortney has passed on the leadership torch to Crasher Mentor and fellow Filener Kaeshier Fernandez, who will take over for the rest of 2026 and beyond.

Aside from the passing of the torch, the Crasher Mentors all shared their insights, highlights, and takeaways from the 2026 GAC in true would-be leadership fashion. Enjoy our closing conversation these extremely bright and talented human beings, who represent in fine fashion the future of the credit union industry.

Here are the Crasher Mentors for 2026:

• Sedric Brinson, Director of Councils & Membership Engagement at America's Credit Unions
• Megan Crowson, Solutions Manager, Financial Well Being at America's Credit Unions
• Kaishier Fernandez, Solutions Manager at Filene Research Institute
• Rafael Saucedo, Philanthropy Program Manager at BECU
• Kaitlin Trunell, Senior Director of People Operations at Georgia United Credit Union
• Taylor Ellison, Community Engagement Strategist at VISA (not present for interview)
• Maddie Gunderson, Incubation Manager at Filene (not present for interview)
• Josh Nicolet, Branch Manager at Texans Credit Union (not present for interview)

Check it out and let us know your thoughts. And be sure to visit our GAC Studio Lounge interview archive page for more episodes -- as well as supporting our hosts/sponsors: America's Credit Unions, Velera, Corelation, Alloya, DDJ Myers, Glia, InvestiFi, Metallicus, Scienaptic, TruStage, Trellance, Quinte FT, American Share Insurance, Backbone, Vizo Financial, and Despite Impossible podcast.

Financial guru and Life After Debt Founder Amber Duncan joined us on the show to share her journey from bankruptcy to building a successful financial consulting business (Life After Debt), and her approach to reframing debt as a systemic issue rather than a moral failure.

She also shared her perspective on wealth management, explaining that wealthy people are more educated about leveraging money rather than being naturally better with finances, and emphasized the importance of viewing money as a tool rather than a source of fear.

Amber discussed the role of credit unions in helping consumers manage debt, suggesting that credit unions provide better education and tools for tracking debt-to-income ratios and building wealth through strategic borrowing.

She concluded by addressing the challenges facing younger generations in purchasing homes and maintaining good credit scores, advocating for free annual credit reports and emphasizing the importance of understanding credit scores -- where, again, credit unions can help educate their members and becoming a true financial resource.

Check it out and let us know your thoughts. And be sure to watch the entire episode below for all the details.

FMSI GM Jacob Reeves joined us on the show to share the latest in appointment scheduling, lobby management, and analytics solutions for today’s credit unions to ultimately display the value of the branch.

Jacob explained how FMSI helps branches engage, manage, and measure their traffic through online bookings, lobby management, and analytics that track transactions and staffing needs. He emphasized the value of analytics in making data-driven decisions about staffing and branch operations.

Jacob also addressed the misconception that physical branches are obsolete, citing data that shows branches are thriving and essential for high-value transactions like mortgages and HELOCs.

Check it out and let us know your thoughts. And be sure to watch the entire episode below for all the details.

Michele Raneri, vice president and head of U.S. research and consulting at TransUnion, stopped by the show to share highlights from the TransUnion 2026 Consumer Credit Forecast. According to Michele, this year’s forecast delivers a data-rich look at where consumer credit is heading across credit cards, personal loans, auto loans, and mortgages, with a special focus on credit card balance trajectories.

In particular, she discussed key trends including projected credit card balance growth of 2.3% year-over-year reaching $1.18 trillion, flat delinquency rates for credit cards, and increased delinquencies in personal loans.

She also explained that after the volatility during COVID, the market is moving toward stability as consumers and lenders adjust to new financial realities -- as well as sharing how credit unions can leverage their member relationships and data analytics to better serve consumers across different credit tiers, including through debt consolidation options.

Check it out and let us know your thoughts. And be sure to watch the entire episode below for all the details.

Starlight’s CEO Shreenath Regunathan and CUCollaborate’s CEO Sam Brownell joined us on the show to share their organizations' new partnership that simplifies how credit unions help their members find all of the benefits they're eligible for but may not know about.

Shree and Sam talked about how there are more than $100 billion in government benefits that sit unclaimed every year, yet 83% of households have needed financial assistance in the last five years. Through this partnership, credit unions nationwide will have a simplified process for identifying the benefits that members already qualify for, including SNAP, childcare assistance, utility support, and tax credits and more.

Their goal is to address the affordability crisis the country is in right now - related to all the available but unclaimed benefits - and also discuss how the LMI market is an underserved community that financial institutions should be focusing more time on.

Ultimately, Shree and Chris added that this partnership is all about getting real money to families who need it, through institutions they already trust.

Check it out and let us know your thoughts. And be sure to watch the entire episode below