Filene Research Institute launched a Center of Excellence for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) built for and sponsored by credit unions at the start of 2020. One of the Center's aspirations is to fortify DEI research in the credit union space.

Dr. Quinetta Roberson of Michigan State University will serve as the DEI Center Fellow and lead research on a project to measure the DEI advancements of the credit union industry and identify which practices correlate to improved firm performance.

This early research seeks to create a baseline around DEI practices and policies in credit unions. It is not at all like, or in any way related to, NCUA's Voluntary DEI Assessment, according to Filene.

Rather than seeking information on demographics, Filene’s survey seeks facts about what DEI-related policies and practices are in place across organizations, and CEOs, COOs, HR leaders or DEI leaders are best positioned to answer the survey questions. 

Completing the survey will take approximately 10 minutes and will help create a strong foundation of knowledge in the credit union space.

All survey participants will immediately receive a download of Filene’s complete DEI Road Map—a research-backed actionable guide for advancing DEI personally, operationally, and organizationally—as well as a customized index of where credit unions fit in the big-picture benchmark of DEI policies and practices across the industry once the research is complete in June. 

Filene will host a DEI research event June 22-23 with a first look at the results of this research study.