The CU DEI Collective announced Wednesday the election of its new members to the governing body. CUNA is a founding member of the collective and CUNA Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Samira Salem serves on the governing body. 

The election brings the number of board members to 21 to reflect broad and deep diversity of voices and life experiences within the credit union space.

The following organizations now complete the Collective’s governing body with their voice and vote:

• CUES (John Pembroke), representing Other Trade/Professional Organizational category
• CU Pride representing the LGBTQ+ Credit Union Community, representing the Diversity-centric organizational category
• Mitchell, Stankovic & Associates (Susan Mitchell), representing the At-Large organizational category.
• National Association of Federally Insured Credit Unions (Jacqueline Ortiz Ramsay), representing the At-Large organizational category
• BECU (Jackie Martinez-Vasquez), representing the Credit Union category
• Premier America Credit Union (Diana Cervantes), representing the Credit Union category

“I am humbled to see such interest in the Collective. We were pleased to receive so many applications. The nominations showed unrivaled aspirations and a firm commitment to making the credit union space a place of inclusion and belonging,” said Victor Miguel Corro, Coopera CEO and chair of the Collective. “We have remarkable people on the governing body to build a strong Collective.”

“If there is one thing I have learned, it is the power of bringing people together. People who come together have power, power causes change, and change brings opportunity. We often talk about doing the right thing and by joining DEI as a collective we will concrete change. At the end of the day, who does not want to make a difference for many years to come” said Diana Cervantes, VP Business and Community Development, Premier America Credit Union.

The first convening of the full governing body will be January 19. “As we are still in the foundational stages of building out the CU DEI Collective, we will need many more voices, perspectives and experiences,” said Alison Carr, Chief Strategy Officer at Your Credit Union Partner and Executive Committee member of the Collective. “We hope to broaden our reach to engage others in the future, at such time as these opportunities become available. There is much work to be done and we are only just beginning.”

The CU DEI Collective has many plans in the works, including the launch of an online DEI resource hub in Q1 of 2021.