Western CUNA Management School Ignites ‘Innovators Challenge’ Day

Western CUNA Management School (WCMS), a cornerstone institution renowned for fostering the next generation of visionary credit union leaders, hosted its annual “WCMS Innovators Challenge” on campus during the 2024 WCMS school year!
 
Since 2021, this immersive full-day event serves as a capstone during the organization’s rigorous two-week leadership educational program each year, which has become an essential foundation of professional development for credit union executives and managers across the Western United States.
 
“Our Innovators Challenge is both a culmination, and starting point, of our intensive education and team-building collaborations,” said Dr. Michael Steinberger, dean and chief academic officer for WCMS. “It’s where theory meets practice, where our credit union leaders, hailing from diverse occupations and positions across the West, step up to tackle real-world challenges head-on. This year, we pushed the boundaries even further by focusing students’ innovations on financial viability and the member experience.”
 
In keeping with WCMS’s unwavering commitment to continual refinement of leaders and its steadfast support of the credit union movement, the school’s Innovators Challenge embodies a 64 years-long philosophy of empowering professionals to ascend to new heights in their credit union careers. By plunging students in the breadth and depth of industry thought leadership and instilling transformative principles, WCMS consistently cultivates a network of alumni who lead their organizations to long-term success.
 
This year’s Innovators Challenge is no different. Collaboratively sharing the event’s riveting spark and experience across three class cohorts of credit union leaders is not just important — it’s essential. The bonds formed among students during the day’s challenge will fuel a multitude of crucial endeavors, enabling them to translate their education into tangible results for their credit unions, members, and the entire industry.
 
Students attended class in the morning and spent the afternoon in groups developing their solution to the year’s challenge problem. Then, in Round 1, all students presented their solutions to innovation coaches and peers, who voted on each solution. In the final Frog Tank Round, the top groups presented to the entire three-year WCMS student body (401 individuals) and the eight innovation coaches. Everyone voted again — and eventually, the winner was crowned.
 
Innovation coaches were senior leaders from key partners in the credit union industry from the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues, Filene Research Institute, Origence, and TruStage. Innovation coaches spent time with each group, providing mentorship and feedback aimed to hone the group’s idea, pitch and delivery, helping prepare students for pitching new ideas back home at their own credit unions.
 
The day was a whirlwind of activity. Students engaged in dynamic team-building exercises, followed by intense brainstorming and solution development sessions under the guidance of experienced coaches. It culminated in the electrifying Frog Tank Round, where the top three teams pitched their polished solutions to a panel of esteemed innovation coaches and peers. The full day’s experience included:
 

• A lecture by Filene Research Institute/WCMS faculty members.
• Networking and ideation lunch with year-one, two, and three classmates.
• Class team-time for Innovation Challenge collaboration.
• Dinner with year-one, two, and three classmates (networking and brainstorming).
• Three rounds to decide the Frog Tank Champions (preparation for pitching the innovative idea within students’ credit unions).
• Innovation Round 1 (Meet Your Coach and Pitch Presentation); Innovation Round 2 (Coach’s Knockout Round); and Innovation Final Round (The Frog Tank).

 
To infuse the Innovators Challenge with the school’s legacy of educational excellence, WCMS maintained a robust administrative structure while providing direct assistance to year-one, year-two, and year-three credit union leaders/students throughout their “head and heart” WCMS journey. This unwavering dedication each year — manifested annually in the Innovators Challenge and other on-campus activities — has solidified the school’s position as one of the largest nationally recognized organizations in the credit union movement, a testament to its transformative, relevant, and active approach in credit union leadership development.
 
“The WCMS Innovators Challenge is more than just a competition,” Steinberger said. “It’s a microcosm of the actual here-and-now challenges that credit union leaders face daily. By encouraging students to think critically, collaborate effectively, and embrace calculated risks, WCMS continues to reinforce the life-changing principles upon which our school was founded. Win or lose, if every student feels more comfortable and is expected to innovate upon returning to their organization, then we all win.”

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