Who Is CUNA’s First-Ever VP of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion?

Samira Salem, CUNA’s first-ever vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion, was born into diversity as the first generation American of her family. In the 1960s, her dad from Egypt and her mom from Guatemala immigrated and settled in Southern California, where they met through mutual friends.

“The principles of DEI, social justice and commitment to community, all of that pretty much came from the cradle,” Salem said. “That was the modus operandi in our family and how I walk through life because of that experience.”

She earned a bachelor’s of arts degree in economics from Pepperdine University and then a master’s of arts in the same discipline from the University of Southern California.

“Part of the rationale for going into economics is because throughout my life I’ve seen extreme poverty and extreme wealth, and I wanted to understand why this could exist and coexist. Why are some people rich? Why are some people poor? I was drawn to economics to drill into some of those questions,” she said. “I got my PhD in political economy because it was more interdisciplinary, more holistic and it asked some of the same questions but also added some important questions, which is much more connected to the work of DEI, and that’s, ‘Who wins and who loses?’ It’s integrated to this idea of the distribution of power and relationships.”

Since 2002, Salem has held a variety of professional positions that gave her the opportunity to work on several aspects of DEI challenges as a senior development specialist for DAI, a senior trade analyst for labor with the U.S. International Trade Commission and a consultant for the Center on Wisconsin Strategy. Before she joined CUNA as a senior policy analyst two years ago, she served as director for social innovation and community development for Forward Community Investments in Madison, Wis.

In an interview that will be published in the Sept. 23 edition of CU Times, Salem shares her insights about DEI, why it is an important priority for the industry, and how credit union executives can leverage DEI for current and future opportunities and growth in a rapidly changing world.

“We know that in the next two decades the U.S. is going to be majority people of color,” Salem said. “We also know that these folks have a different relationship to money, and finance, and financial institutions, so to really remain relevant, we need to reach these folks. We need to ensure that we understand them so that we can better serve them. And how do we accomplish that? By being more diverse, more equitable and more inclusive.”