MADISON, Wis. – With a $60,000 sponsorship from U.S. Central, the Filene Research Institute and the Center for Credit Union Innovation have launched i3. i3 will consist of 25 CU leaders who will essentially be looking for innovations in the financial services marketplace and help get the word out in the credit union industry. It is best described as a "working group" said Mark Meyer, Filene Director of Innovation. The makeup of this group is one of the most interesting aspects said Meyer. CEOs are already represented with Filene through its Research Council. Meyer said this new group will consist of leaders not at the CEO level yet and who may be willing to take more risk in bringing new ideas to the credit union. "The end goal is to come up with a really diverse group of people, ideally representing the demographics of members. It's not going to be all IT people or marketing or HR, but a cross-section." The group will not capitalize projects and bring products and services to market. If it identifies a need it will look for the right partner within the industry to take a product to market. But much of what it develops may not be products at all, said Meyer. It could be new processes or approaches such as finding ways to serve the 16-35 age group for example. Meyer said the name i3 captures the core purpose of the group of Ideas, Innovation and Implementation. Those interested in applying for the group will have to complete a 100 question behavioral test which can be found at www.filene.org. The application process is now open.