Credit union lenders must be an active part of advocacy, CUNA Senior Director of Advocacy and Counsel Elizabeth Sullivan told the American Credit Union Mortgage Association’s OnPoint podcast. She stressed the importance of credit union participation in the advocacy process as the ones serving members and communities every day.

“Telling those stories, talking about the relationship between these rules and how they actually help the person in front of you is the most important message we can send to regulators or the hill,” she said. “And the truth is, I don’t have sight on that, as the person who’s advocating on behalf of credit unions. Credit union have to share that with me. I’m not sitting at the desk when you talk to that borrower.

“I can tell Congress, the CFPB or the NCUA that credit unions are doing good work all day long,” she added. “But the truth is, what the Biden Administration wants to hear, are real stories, and they want data. And I don’t have the ability to get those without credit unions participating.”

Sullivan also discussed how her background showed the importance of being pro-active during the rulemaking and legislative process, and how advocacy is a “long game,” even after bills have been passed or rules have been implemented.