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On Thursday, the National Credit Union Foundation said it had created a $100,000 grant to help smaller credit unions analyze their membership demographics and better grasp the ways culture, race and ethnicity impact financial well-being.
In a statement, the Foundation said the money will be split between several credit union grant recipients. Those credit unions that are approved for the grant money will also receive access to programs, data analysis and consultation from the multicultural analytics and consulting firm Coopera, as well as assistance from the financial health and data analytics organization Attune.
"The persistent financial inequities faced by people of color have been laid bare over the last few years," Gigi Hyland, executive director of the National Credit Union Foundation, said. "Credit unions were founded to support those most in need but to do so effectively, they need to understand who their members are. This grant will open up that opportunity for credit unions that could otherwise be unable to allocate the human and financial resources."
Grant applications are open to credit unions that fall between the asset size of $100 million and $600 million with 10 or more employees.
According to the Foundation, credit unions that receive the grant money will have the opportunity to use two of Coopera's inclusion tools: The Ethnicity Segmentation Analysis to track membership demographics and the Hispanic Opportunity Navigator, which assesses a credit union's readiness to serve Latinx communities and provides a roadmap to success.
In addition, grant recipients can partner with Attune to measure employee and member financial health and receive data-driven insights to steer strategic planning and product development.
"An effective deep inclusion strategy needs to be based on data analytics to truly include the most vulnerable and financially excluded consumers," Coopera CEO Victor Corro said, adding, "Coopera is honored to support those credit unions looking to go beyond the dialogue and get to the action in diversity, equity and inclusion through data."
John Thompson, co-founder and president of Attune, said, "In order to address the problems of financial well-being, credit unions need to first understand where members and staff are at in their individual financial well-being journey. We're excited to bring the power of the Attune measurement platform to bear, enabling more credit unions to improve financial well-being for all."
The grant application process has opened and, according to the Foundation, all applications should be emailed to Traci O'Neill and are due by the close of business on Friday, Nov. 5, 2021.
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Michael Ogden
Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.
