This Moment

We are in a moment. This is a moment full of anger, anxiety, worry, sadness and grief – and we are only halfway through 2020.

Collectively, our world fell apart more than three months ago. For many, the world broke decades if not centuries ago.

We are well past 100,000 deaths in this country from the coronavirus and many top health experts expect the worst is still to come as a vaccine is not expected to be developed until next year at the earliest.

One death, unrelated to the coronavirus, exposed yet again how broken many social systems are in our country. The death of George Floyd exposed the social pandemic we’ve known about for so long. Possibly in this case, the protestors are the vaccine.

What’s that quote by Ernest Hemingway? “We are stronger in the places that we’ve been broken.”

There are two things happening at one organization that have given me at least a glimpse of some kind of hope and encouragement that there are a few adults in the room talking about the right things and potentially doing the right things.

CUNA deserves to be recognized here for stepping in to try to fill a void left by our absent parents at the federal government level.

It’s in the very early stages, but CUNA announced the formation of the “COVID-19 Recovery Task Force.” According to CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle, this group will be discussing “what else we can be doing” as an industry to guide credit unions through this pandemic as it concerns business continuity, operational issues, staffing and the financial impacts of COVID-19.

On June 9, the task force held its first meeting. As of this writing, details of what was discussed haven’t been made public yet. We do know at least some of the people who are on this task force. The task force members include: CUNA Board Chair and President/CEO of the Northwest Credit Union Association, Troy Stang; Jim Nussle; President/CEO of Teachers Credit Union, Paul Marsh; CEO of Manchester Municipal Federal Credit Union, Lori Herrick; Executive Director of the American Association of Credit Union Leagues, Brad Miller; as well as members of the CUNA staff.

While on a call with CUNA a few days ago, a spokesperson said the task force “roster is not complete” and right now they are just at a good starting point to get discussions underway.

Nussle mentioned before this first task force meeting that he had conducted at least 30 preparation meetings with credit union leaders around the country to get their feedback and hear their concerns about the pandemic’s impact on their credit unions and communities.

All of us have some skin in this game and we should watch, listen and give CUNA feedback on what we hear coming out of this task force as it moves forward.

The other recognition CUNA deserves comes in the form of a resolution passed by the CUNA Board of Directors.

During a board meeting in early June, as the protests over George Floyd’s death were happening across the United States, members voted to officially and on the record take a stand against structural racism.

You might have received emails over the past weeks from organizations like Marriott and PetSmart stating they want to do better as organizations to support Black Lives Matter, and are funding education scholarships for associates of color as well as promising to stand “with our Black communities, to taking meaningful action, to being held accountable,” because these organizations see this as a pivotal moment in history. It’s easy to read those emails and brush them off as simply empty promises from large corporations. Another way to read them is that they are actually challenging their customers to hold them accountable for their words, promises and actions. So, we should.

CUNA’s announcement, to me, felt foundationally significant for the entire credit union space because of four words in this quote by CUNA Board Chair and President/CEO of the Northwest Credit Union Association, Troy Stang: “The CUNA Board took an important first step today to reinforce and proclaim its stance that supporting members of our community and families who have been marginalized and agonized by racism is a top priority for CUNA and the Credit Union Movement.”

“Is a top priority” gave me pause to reread and absorb what he said. In context, this announcement came on the heels of Nussle’s stark and impassioned announcement a couple of days earlier when he said, “Given CUNA’s leadership role within the credit union movement, it is far past time that we speak out and support efforts to break down the systems that enable racism. We look forward to working with the Leagues and system partners, including the African American Credit Union Coalition, to deliver meaningful change in the credit union system and – most importantly – the lives of credit union members.”

With his words and the board’s resolution, there are some significant things happening in that both have promised action and promised to deliver by an actual deadline – Aug. 10.

The board wants to hear from you and has stated what it is looking for:

• Recognize the historic, systemic and institutional racism toward Black people and Black communities;
• Stand against racism and discrimination;
• Be made up of employers that prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion, where employees feel valued, safe, included, respected and justly treated regardless of their racial identity; and
• Be unwavering in its commitment to deepen and support Black and other historically marginalized communities by promoting financial inclusion, equity and economic opportunity, recognizing the mission of “people helping people” and the movement’s unique position to be a catalyst for change.

They are asking to be held accountable. So, we should.

Since this announcement, WOCCU and the African American Credit Union Coalition announced a new alliance to support credit unions in the fight against discrimination around the world. The AACUC took it a step further by announcing the “Commitment to Change” initiative.

In a separate announcement, CUES has committed new resources to fight racial injustice for credit union staff by opening up its Elite Access Virtual Classroom to everyone in the industry even if they aren’t members. According to the announcement, “CUES stands with those who stand for change.”

A lot has happened so far this year, most of it has been terrible. These promises by these organizations signify that doors are opening, minds are opening and hearts are in the right place to make the credit union system be what it should be – a place of positive societal and equal financial services inclusion for everyone.

Don’t let this opportunity go, dammit. This is a moment. This is momentum.

Michael Ogden is editor-in-chief for CU Times. He can be reached at mogden@cutimes.com.