This is the first of four profiles of CUNA Compliance Community members who have been named CUNA Compliance Community Cultivators in celebration of the five-year anniversary of the community’s launch. Today, the CUNA Compliance Community—a member benefit available to every CUNA member credit union—has more than 6,000 members and is the most engaged CUNA community.

Carmen Warden, CUCE, saw some confusion in the CUNA Compliance Community earlier this year, and acted decisively to clear it up.

"Back in April or May, when the Federal Reserve Board put out the interim final rule about removing the Reg D limits, there was a lot of confusion about that," the Truity Credit Union vice president of enterprise risk management remembered.

The word "delete" was used by the Federal Reserve Board regarding the limits, Warden said. Some people thought that because the rule addressed the coronavirus (COVID-19), there would be a temporary aspect to it.

“It was clear to me that it was a permanent thing,” she said. "Finally I just had to say, 'Hey, folks, this is permanent.'

"I feel that was very helpful to people," Warden said. "For as much help as I have gotten from that board, it felt good to be able to give back."

Due to her high level of participation and involvement in the community, Warden is one of four members being recognized with the honorary title of CUNA Compliance Community Cultivator. The accolade is part of the celebration of the fifth anniversary of the CUNA Compliance Community, which launched on November 3, 2015.

She attended CUNA Regulatory Compliance School in September 2018 and joined the Compliance Community shortly thereafter.

Warden has been employed in the credit union system for nearly 20 years. She accepted her current position with $951 million asset Truity Credit Union in Bartlesville, Okla., in 2019.

It didn’t take her long for Warden to introduce her new compliance assistant to the Compliance Community.

“That’s how important I think it is, especially for people who are new to that arena,” she said. “The first thing I had him do was to get registered for the discussion board daily digest.

“Whether you’ve been in it forever or you’re brand new, there’s always something to learn. Hearing things from different parts of the country and different sizes of credit unions is so helpful. That’s how I start my day: reading that digest and then going to the discussion board and checking out what’s going on in the credit union world.”

The best advice Warden can give to new community members?

“Read every single post, even if you think it doesn’t apply to you,” she said. “There might be something six weeks or six months down the line, and you think, I remember another credit union talking about that. Let me go find that post and see what they said.”

► Read more profiles of Compliance Community Cultivators.