Credit unions have, and must continue, to work to open up financial opportunities for consumers, National Credit Union Foundation Executive Director Gigi Hyland recently wrote in CUInsight. 

“As we think of credit unions and the power to be able to help people improve their financial lives, there's a need for focus I think at credit unions around the intentionality of our employees and of the culture that we have,” she wrote.

Hyland raises the question on how to “leverage empathy” for credit unions to better understand and connect with their members.

Her conversation can be resumed in these three key pieces of advice:

1. You can’t tackle what you don’t understand: Every credit union is unique, so how they conceptualize, develop and integrate programs to build financial well-being will always be unique.
2. Measurement is vital: Like the programs they track, the respective key performance indicators (KPIs) are specific. How powerful it would be to identify some core, translatable metrics, we could track and plan action against at scale.
3. Financial Well-Being for All is intrinsically linked to diversity, equity and inclusion: Culture and ethnicity heavily influence financial behaviors. Credit unions' ability to meet the macro-needs of an increasingly diverse membership will grow stronger with increased diversity in thought, leadership, and programs.

Hyland also discussed her credit union career journey, remote work life, and more in a recent episode of the CUInsight Experience podcast.