CUEvangelist®’s Post

Today, we celebrate a milestone that has shaped the financial landscape of our nation – the 90th Anniversary of the Federal Credit Union Act. Enacted on this day in 1934, amidst the Great Depression, this pivotal legislation paved the way for #CreditUnions to thrive under federal charters across the United States. The Act’s vision was clear: make credit accessible and encourage savings through a robust network of non-profit, cooperative credit unions. It’s a vision that has stood the test of time, as credit unions have grown from humble beginnings to become key financial institutions serving millions of Americans with dedication. As we reflect on the evolution of credit unions, we remain committed to the original spirit of the Act. Here’s to many more years of empowering financial freedom and stability! #FCUAct90 #CreditUnionHistory #PeopleHelpingPeople

🚨 Verity Credit Union Receives Second Grant from the U.S. Treasury to Serve Marginalized Communities 🚨 We are thrilled to announce that Verity Credit Union has been awarded a $725,000 Financial Assistance #grant from the U.S. Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institution (#CDFI) fund! 🎉 This vital funding empowers us to deepen our mission of providing inclusive, affordable financial services to historically #marginalized communities. What this means: 💡 Expanded support for low-income individuals and small businesses 💡 Increased access to capital and opportunities for wealth-building 💡 Strengthened initiatives like #microbusiness lending to help break the cycle of poverty "This grant helps us show up for those unfairly excluded from accessing capital and mainstream financial services, directly addressing the socio-economic realities of the wealth gap," said Ziquora Banks, MBA, our Chief Impact Strategy Officer. At Verity, we believe that together, we can build stronger, healthier, and more sustainable communities. 💚 Learn more about how we’re making a difference through people-centric decisions at veritycu.com. Verity Source: https://lnkd.in/drtKnEKC #VerityCreditUnion #CDFI #CommunityImpact #FinancialInclusion Credit Union National Association CUInsight.com Tonita Webb, DBA, CCE, CUDE, SPHR Financial Times U.S. Department of the Treasury Federal Reserve Bank of New York The Seattle Times

ICU Day has been celebrated on the third Thursday of October since 1948 and is designed to create awareness and celebrate the ways credit unions improve the lives of their members around the world. What makes credit unions unique? ➡ Equal Ownership – Credit unions are democratically controlled and member-owned and member-operated. Each member has equal ownership and one vote regardless of how much money he or she has in savings. ➡ Not for Profit – Credit unions are not-for-profit financial cooperatives that provide a safe, convenient place for members to save money and access loans and other financial services at reasonable rates. ➡ Social Purpose: People Helping People – Credit unions exist to serve their members, not to make a profit. Every member counts, including those of modest means. This “people-first” philosophy impels credit unions and their employees to get involved in their community and support worthwhile causes. ➡ Volunteer Leadership – Each credit union is governed by a volunteer board of directors elected by and from the credit union’s membership. ➡ Financial Education for Members – Credit unions place particular importance on educational opportunities for their members and the public to help everyone become better-educated consumers of financial services. ➡ Trust – Lately credit unions have received positive press for being trustworthy and resilient institutions during a tumultuous time. Credit union members worldwide can be proud of these accomplishments and rest assured that their money is safe at the credit union. #icuday2024 #osfcu #whereyoubelong #communitymatters #peoplehelpingpeople #oneworld

The Honours. Got a minute? Here we go again, awards for many of the most privileged in our society. It’s not cut and dried for me, but I broadly come down on the side of reform at least, abolishment, possibly. And here’s why. 1. I massively struggle with the idea of receiving an award with the word ‘Empire’ in it. You can disagree, and many people I respect, do. When the stupendous Lemn Sissay accepted his award for his 12 year-old self, I cannot argue with that. But as a white privileged woman, it’s a no from me. 2. The Honours systems is systemic and supportive of our baked-in inequity. Those with power giving others awards. I genuinely love it when truly great community leaders get recognition, the likes of Alan Bates and a number in our own community as well as social enterprise. People deserve recognition - but not just the visible and privileged. People not on here and who you have never heard of in our communities deserve recognition and more - but some are invisible due to their lack of privilege. The rest don’t need further elevation. 3. Giving out these tokens feels like Bread and Circuses. Those with the power can’t keep us smaller people happy in this way. I can think of better ways - like reducing poverty for example. which leads me to 4. The recognition for many people doing truly important and selfless things. That’s genuinely fab. But a functioning government, economy and country would mean much of this wouldn’t be needed and the circular benefit would be less dependence of people on those with the privilege - which all props up the same inequities in our society. #honours

Critical information here!

Leaving aside the political aspects of this essay, it raises issues of great importance to #nonprofits. What we're telling our clients: no matter which party wins in Nov, funding streams will likely change fast. If the Democrats win, sentiments toward many progressive policies are changing + the `$37T deficit. If the Republicans win, things like the green new deal, subsidies for migrants, etc. will be dropped to address other priorities like awful educational outcomes, etc. + the $37T deficit. There'll still be vast amount of grants, but for new priorities. Very similar to 1980 when Reagan won and 1992 when Clinton won. Fasten your seatbelts!

We're still making a United Way (HUGE) Impact as we honored First Bank President & CEO Patrick L. Ryan with our Live United Corporate Award back in May. Read the full article here, https://lnkd.in/egExcUNG

Today is World Caring Day. It is an “opportunity to remind people to take seriously the needs and care of others who are struggling… No matter the situation, everyday there are ways that people in the local community could use a helping, caring hand”. As not for profit financial cooperatives, credit unions care about their local community and their members. Local credit unions help with the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and many other local organizations. It is at the heart of what we do. #peoplehelpingpeople #creditunions

“The key vehicle that is propping up the ability for excessively wealthy folks to hoard their wealth is the tax system.” Read Nonprofit Quarterly here: https://lnkd.in/erjc9ijD #taxtherich #taxes #wealth #wealthy #inequality #billionaires #economy #economics #money #taxsystem

The Co-op Model..... How did any of us find out about the cooperative business model? I learned by accident. Our organization was looking for a new kind of business structure to have a community owned classic amusement park museum. When our local amusement park (Whalom Park) closed the surrounding communities were upset that our park wasn't going to open and no one asked us what we as the citizens of those communities wanted. Then it was stripped and sold for development before our eyes. In one of our many meetings we had at my house one guest said that it sounded like a ski mountain her friends owned shares of. After that meeting I Google searched that information and found the Mad River Glen Cooperative MRG a skier owned mountain. For the next two years of researching MRG and co-ops in general we formed our organization as a consumer cooperative called the New Whalom Cooperative. As a business model it makes sense for us but it makes sense for many businesses but it's so hard to find all the information and tools needed to create a co-op. In today's world you can set up a business structure through a website in 5 minutes but you can't find a way to do that as a co-op. Why is that? Over the years since I've/we've found more resources and great people who help guid our co-op journey. One of those resources is the Everything Co-op radio show hosted by Vernon Oaks. For 11 years the show has dived into many types of co-ops and different programs that help educate and create cooperatives. Within this episode referenced here in this post the question arises. How can we market the co-op business model more? It's the business worlds best kept secret. How many of you have an account at a credit union? Did you know that a CU is a financial cooperative?! I didn't either. As cooperators we need to spread the word about the co-op business model. October is co-op month and if you have a platform you need to post, share or download as much information as we can so maybe in the future any cooperators can structure there co-op business on that same site that only takes 5! minutes....