The African-American Credit Union Coalition hosted the inaugural Small Credit Union Summit, joined by CUNA Mutual Group, Inclusiv and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) and PRO Found Recovery Solutions, during its 24th Annual AACUC Conference. This is an exclusive summit for executives at small credit unions with less than $100M in assets; leaving CEOs empowered to tackle running their small credit unions with HR, Compliance, Lending, Board and Supervisory Governance strategies and best practices.

Leading experts from within and outside the credit union industry provided fundamental concepts and new ways of thinking to deliver impactful outcomes in the areas of board governance and supervisory committee matters, digital marketing, compliance (people and processes), lending, risk, financials, human resources and recovery solutions. The summit was also an opportunity for the NCUA to share invaluable resources specifically geared towards small credit unions including training, grants, loans, minority deposit institutions, chartering and field of membership expansion.

“While at an Inclusiv conference in Puerto Rico, mutual members asked for more intense support. Cathie Mahon, President/CEO of Inclusiv and the Honorable NCUA Chairman Todd Harper agreed to hold a summit to laser focus on small credit unions to ensure their viability and sustainability,” said Renée Sattiewhite, AACUC President/CEO. “By banding together, we felt strongly that we could meet small credit unions where they are and equip them with the tools and connections that would help them overcome their most pressing barriers to success. Small credit unions play a distinct role in the credit union movement, and we believed it was our responsibility to address this gap so that small credit unions could not only survive but thrive.”

Predicated on the concept of joining together to solve three compelling problems facing small credit unions, CEOs and Board Members were able to ask questions and interact with the experts. Beyond these three solutions, participants expressed overwhelming gratitude for the attention given to their most critical needs.

“I am so thankful for this summit. I feel seen and heard,” said Alexandria Currie, President of FAMU Federal Credit Union. “To know that so many people and organizations are invested in the success of small credit unions like mine means so much to me and my peers. We can walk boldly and confidently knowing that the unique communities that we serve – who are often low-income or minority communities – are just as valuable, and meeting their needs is equally as important.” 

The Small Credit Union Summit was successful in large part to AACUC’s Chairman Circle partners. These top-tier donor partners played an integral role in helping fund the operations and programming for AACUC, including sponsoring Small Credit Union CEOs to attend this inaugural summit as well as the AACUC annual conference.