A roundtable session for current and potential low income designated credit unions will be held Monday, Feb. 25, from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the GAC in Washington.

The National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions will lead the session, which will focus on the process of becoming a certified or re-certified CDFI. New certification requirements and programs, the long-term prospects for the CDFI Fund and opportunities to shape the fund's agenda also will be discussed.

Participants will include representatives from the CDFI Fund, U.S. Treasury Department, the Federation and credit union CEOs. Credit unions have received more than $135 million in CDFI awards since the fund was created, the Federation said.

“CDFI certification is a valuable tool that, together with the low-income designation, gives qualifying credit unions access to external resources and partnership opportunities that can significantly strengthen internal capacity to propel a credit union to its next phase of growth and relevance,” said Pablo DeFilippi, director of membership at the Federation.

The NCUA recently launched a program to expand LICU designations and CDFI-certified and LICUs now could soon represent as much as a third of all credit unions, the Federation said. Several hundred credit unions signed up after the Obama administration made expanded eligibility part of a summer 2012 drought package.

Space for the roundtable session is limited and registration is online.