America’s Credit Unions President/CEO Scott Simpson opening session remarks:

Scott Simpson

Scott Simpson said that the system of cooperative finance is more than a business model, it’s one of the most successful social movements in American history. He highlighted the importance of telling the stories of members, as they are essential to the credit union movement’s future:
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“I’m guessing every one of you can think of one of those stories. That’s a humanity that isn’t found anywhere else in retail financial services, and you as credit union leaders... as board members, marketers, communicators, and advocates... you’re part of the process of capturing, and retelling, these stories of humanity,” Simpson said. “As someone who has spent a career on both sides of policy meetings, I can tell you just one of those stories, coupled with data that brings the scope and scale of this work, resonates a hundred times deeper than any chart. Every meeting has graphs, facts, and figures, but most do not have a ready example of a life changed for the better.” 

As long as the cooperative finance model remains, it will continue to be under attack by bankers, Scott says. This truth means that the movement should remain unified and resist any attempt to slice up credit unions by size.

“As a unified movement, all of us must have the discipline and wisdom to see this model is under constant threat. And the discipline and wisdom to stay together.”

Federal advocacy is instrumentalto America’s Credit Unions and the credit union movement.  In his addres, Scott made sure to arm listeners with the three most crucial points to focus on with lawmakers:

• Defeat government price controls and interchange mandates; 
• Modernize reporting thresholds and ensure they are updated with inflation; and  
• Empower credit unions to combat fraud and scams that continue to rise in cost.  

He closed his remarks with a challenge to not just attendees, but to the movement as a whole:

“You and I are the stewards of this great social movement. There are 145 million people who are looking to us to stand between them and those who would destroy the pathway to their pursuit of happiness, to their economic freedom. That’s why we’re here,” he said. “We cannot give an inch to those who seek to discount this difference by merely institutionalizing credit unions. We need to capture and speak of the transformation that is delivered in the lives of your members, somewhere in your branches, every day.” 

Brené Brown shared the importance of leadership and courage in the everyday operations of credit unions
Addressing the more than 6,000 attendees, author and academic Brené Brown shared her thoughts on leadership, courage, and how credit unions can leverage both to execute their mission of helping people.

“Mission clarity is mission critical. Every single person in your purview, without hesitation, should be able to explain what drives your mission,” she said. 

Brown explained that clarity doesn’t mean that there’s only one way to operate, continued curiosity is a positive method to continue growing.

“Your value is your subject matter expertise, but also you need to be open to what you do not know,” Brown said. “The person who says, ‘I have deep experience, but I’m also open to everything that I do not know,’ that’s the most valued leader in any company.” 

She reminded the audience that “vulnerability is an emotion we experience from uncertainty, risk, and exposure,” and rather that being a weakness, Brown instructed attendees to view vulnerability as “the birthplace of courage.”

NCUA’s Kyle Hauptman discussed modernization and regulatory relief
Looking back at his tenure on the NCUA board, Kyle Hauptman said he accomplished three significant goals: Improving examination processes at the agency, advancing digital assets, and streamlining the Administration’s operations.

Exam improvements, restructuring, and the agency’s Deregulation Project are an example of “looking from top to bottom” at everything it could that was outdated, could save time, or wasn’t necessary in the current environment, Hauptman noted.  

“In the end, some of the documents we asked for during each exam, some of the individual rulemakings, they had a purpose, the people who wrote it weren’t crazy. But these just kind of stack up and up and up,” he said, leading the agency to remove extraneous processes and requirements.  

“We did a top-to-bottom look at the agency at everything we could do that saves time… if our examiners are spending time doing something, it better be worth it,” he said. “Our restructure, I think was done very thoughtfully, and every single thing we do, every mouse click, was reevaluated for who, does what, in what manner, how often.” 

He also encouraged credit unions to provide feedback on each of the proposals issued under the Deregulation Project, current and forthcoming.

Advocacy Panel discussion on best practices to stand out when meeting with lawmakers
“A major question in advocacy is: what is your relative strength? And the strength of credit unions is in this room,” said America’s Credit Unions Senior Vice President of Advocacy Greg Mesack. “Credit unions have people. They have a mission, a story, grassroots… Every single credit union in this room can walk into a meeting with member of Congress, or to the administration and say: here's what I did this week to make someone's life better. Big banks can’t do that.”

The panel looked at personal impact stories as the most effective way to reach lawmakers and to be memorable when they are considering legislation. Echoing this, America’s Credit Unions Head of Regulatory Advocacy James Akin recalled his experience working with the administration and how to make meetings stand apart. 

“The meetings that stood out were ones that had specific issues that we could fix, and that were framed in a way to show solutions or victories for both sides, the administration, and for the people asking. Those are the ones that get people to follow up, to get people to say, ‘Hey, that's really interesting, I never thought of that, here are the things I can do about it, please, let's stay in touch and keep this moving.’ If you’re specific, and you make sure that what you are doing is something that can be changed, you're going get a lot further.” 

League and credit union advocates commented on the importance of unified voice in advocacy. Amy Broderson, president/CEO of Family Focus Federal Credit Union, furthered this point while also urging the audience to keep members in mind during advocacy efforts.

“Whether you're big or small, or you're a $1 million credit union, or a $2 billion credit union, we all have very similar missions, and our stories are the same. For example, the increase of fraud was brought up backstage, and over and over from colleagues this week. Yesterday it was part of the Small Credit Union Roundtable,” she said. “It's a threat to all of us. It's something we're all engaged in daily with our members. Who better to tell this story than us? We can’t sit this out. We need to be at the table. Your members depend on it.” 

GAC Breakout panel session on effective storytelling
To tackle the affordability concerns for consumers every day, it is important for advocates to connect the dots for lawmakers to fully understand credit unions impact on consumer affordability.

First Service Credit Union President/CEO David Bleazard joined America’s Credit Unions Chief Membership and Engagement Office Anthony Demangone, Vice President of Strategic Communications Cassie Blake, and Head of Political Affairs Trey Hawkins to discuss the importance of drilling down the credit union difference to show how policy impacts real people.

“Politicians represent people and that’s ultimately who they want to hear about,” said Blake.

Bleazard shared examples of programs already at work in his own credit union that result in real economic empowerment for members. “We don’t need to be legislated to help our members—that’s the mission,” he added. 

The group also discussed how to train staff to recognize “moments of magic” in capturing stories that should be elevated and highlighted. “Credit unions can’t miss the opportunity to take the everyday moments that are lifechanging for members and use them as differentiators between our competitors,” said Demangone.

Hawkins provided important data showing that the public already trusts credit unions as effective affordable financial partners and with affordability a priority issue, illustrating these facts with lawmakers is key as attendees prepare to head to Capitol Hill later this week. 

GAC Day 3 preview
Tomorrow, GAC attendees will hear remarks from New York Federal Reserve President John C. Williams as well as a short Q & A session.

Following this, organizational psychologist and bestselling author Adam Grant will give attendees an enlightening keynote address.

Attendees will then partake in several breakout sessions covering navigating a new regulatory landscape, utilization of AI, and best practices on confronting fraud and cyber threats.

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