Washington CUs Hit Airwaves with Former Attorney General of Mexico, Build Trust

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – A recent interview of White River CU President/CEO Linda Kleppe-Olson and Washington Credit Union League Senior Vice President RoxAnne Kruger-Monahan by former Attorney General of Mexico Consul Jorge Madrazo-Quellar has gone a long way to helping build local credit unions’ profile in the Latino community. “Conservatively, we reached a potential listening audience of 250,000 from Bellingham to Vancouver,” said Jenaro Castaneda, the Washington Credit Union Foundation’s financial education partner from the Office of Minority and Women Business Enterprises. Madrazo, appointed by Mexico’s President Vincente Fox to serve as Consul of Mexico in Seattle, has the primary mission to protect the interests of Mexican citizens and his weekly radio broadcasts are generally geared toward promoting outreach. His latest address has portrayed credit unions as protecting the interests of Mexican citizens and the general public in Washington. During the interview, Olson and Kruger-Monahan answered questions from listeners who wanted to know everything from how to join a credit union to how to finance a car. Castaneda and Consul Madrazo translated to relay the message to the Spanish-speaking listeners. Madrazo concluded the broadcast by encouraging Latino people in Washington to join credit unions. “Since they are supporting us, we should support them.” “Believe it or not, we had 10 phone calls from the time our number was given out,” said Olson describing what she discovered at her credit union after the broadcast. White River’s Spanish speaking staff volunteered to take a late lunch to field calls from the time Olson went on the radio. “Three families have actually driven from as far away as Seattle to open accounts! Two of them were here when I returned!” “Having the Mexican Consul conduct the interview brought so much credibility to the enterprise,” added Olson. “Trust is extremely important to the Latino community. This helped bridge the potential trust barriers.” To reinforce credit union visibility and dedication to the Hispanic community, several credit unions, the Washington CUF and the Office of Women and Business Enterprises will also provide sponsorship to support upcoming festivities surrounding a visit to Washington by Mexico’s President Vicente Fox and other diplomats to celebrate Mexican Independence Day in September.