WOCCU Board Chair Lays Out New Strategic Plan at Opening of 2025 World Credit Union Conference

Mike Lawrence

More than 2,000 credit union professionals from nearly 60 countries on Monday celebrated the start of the 2025 World Credit Union Conference (WCUC) with an opening ceremony that included the annual parade of flags, twelve breakout sessions and the announcement of a new strategy for World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU).

WOCCU Board Chair Michael Lawrence welcomed attendees to the 20th anniversary edition of WCUC and immediately addressed some new realities for the organization, which lost most of its international development funding with the dismantling of USAID earlier this year.

“Politician and motivational speaker Les Brown once said, ‘when something bad happens, there are three choices: you can let it define you, let it destroy you or you can let it strengthen you.’ In this vein, WOCCU immediately pivoted to do what we do best and strengthened the organization to serve our members and advocate for the fair treatment of credit unions in front of international standard setting bodies,’ said Lawrence, who also serves as CEO of Australia's Customer Owned Banking Association (COBA).

The remarks came just days after the WOCCU Board of Directors approved a new three-year strategy that prioritizes:

• A more proactive approach to International Advocacy.
• Improved services for WOCCU members.
• Strengthening the organization’s role as a global leader in cooperative finance.

WOCCU International Advocacy leads three breakout sessions
WOCCU’s International Advocacy team wasted no time putting the new organizational strategy to work on Monday by hosting three breakout sessions on regulatory issues.

WOCCU Vice President of International Advocacy Paul Andrews moderated a panel discussion that focused on navigating new developments in anti-money laundering (AML), financial crime prevention and sanctions.

All the panelists agreed that money laundering and financial crimes have largely become borderless and are evolving rapidly thanks to technology, which means the types of financial crimes and risks associated with them are moving much faster than the regulations. 

Carrie Hunt, Chief Advocacy Officer for America’s Credit Unions, said the United States’ AML Act of 2020 is a perfect example of that. Five years later, it has yet to be implemented.

“Ultimately, we’re in this little bit of a stalled blackout period where we don’t have anything finalized because they’re still trying to dovetail what the functional regulators think needs to happen and what, ultimately, (U.S.) Treasury—which is the overarching regulator—thinks need to happen relative to these measures,” said Hunt.

WOCCU announces two new members at AGM, presents annual awards
WOCCU on Monday also held its 2025 Annual General Meeting, which included the announcement of two new members. 
Officials from National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD - India) were on hand for the organization's introduction as a new WOCCU Associate Member. The WOCCU Board also announced the addition of Instituto Panameño Autónomo Cooperativo (IPACOOP) of Panama as a new Supporting Member. 

The AGM also featured the presentations of this year’s Digital Growth Award and Distinguished Service Award.
USF Credit Union (Florida – USA) received WOCCU’s 2025 Digital Growth Award for its “Buy Now, Pay Later” product. Launched in June 2024, FlexPay helped USF Credit Union expand financial inclusion to underserved communities.

“What we're excited about is that we were able to take this innovation and combine it with two of our other values—community and passion—and be able to help members,” said Juli Lewis, Vice President of Community Engagement for USF Credit Union. 

WOCCU also presented Steven Stapp (USA) and Emmanuel Darko (Ghana) with 2025 Distinguished Service Awards.
Stapp is the CEO of Unitus Community Credit Union (Oregon – USA) and served on the WOCCU Board for seven years, the last two as Chair. His fellow WOCCU Board members from the U.S. nominated Stapp for furthering the growth of global financial cooperatives from South Korea to Brazil, Kenya to the Caribbean and beyond.

“This has really been a family affair for me, being able to visit with credit union systems around the world, literally from Australia to Zimbabwe, and (they) have been there to support me on my journey, sometimes having to be away from home and family events, but knowing how important this cause has been,” said Stapp.

Darko serves as the Goodwill Ambassador for the African Confederation of Cooperative Savings and Credit Associations (ACCOSCA), which nominated him for the award. With a career spanning five decades, Darko has supported the growth and development of SACCOs across Africa through his has work with partners like WOCCU, the Irish League of Credit Unions’ Foundation, Cooperative Development Foundation of Canada and others.

“Today marks a remarkable milestone in my life, one I never would have imagined in my lifetime," said Darko. 

Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions commemorates 50th anniversary
Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions (WFCU) is celebrating a major milestone at the 2025 World Credit Union Conference, with President Mike Reuter commemorating the organization's 50-year anniversary during Monday’s opening ceremony.

“In 1975, when WFCU was founded, from CUNA International, it didn’t have much. No donors. No international funding engine. No disaster fund playbook.  But it had something better—a belief that the cooperative spirit is borderless,” said Reuter.

Reuter highlighted how WFCU has since built a Champion community of more than 100 institutional and 300 individual donors who have helped support credit unions in over 90 countries through financial inclusion projects, women and youth leadership programs and disaster relief assistance.

WFCU on Monday night also held its sold out UnWind event at Stockholm’s historic Vasa Museum. More than 300 WCUC 2025 participants were in attendance to honor WFCU’s Champion donors.

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