Hunt Has a Vision for Virginia Credit Unions

As a kid growing up in Annapolis, Md., Carrie Hunt was consistently surrounded by two elements: Credit unions and the government.

Her parents worked in the government and they opened up her first credit union account as a young child.

In her first job out of law school, Hunt worked as legal counsel for a Massachusetts state senator who happened to be involved in rewriting the banking code for the state. As she put it, “I just love statutes and regulations!”

That love led her to a 17-year career at NAFCU. While serving as NAFCU’s EVP of government affairs and general counsel in May 2021, she announced she was leaving the association to become the new president of the Virginia Credit Union League the following month.

One year later, CU Times spoke with Hunt to find out how moving from a high-level view in Washington, D.C., to a more on-the-ground view in Richmond, Va., has changed her perspective on the credit union industry.

CU Times: What have been your observations in your first year at the league?

Hunt: So I have been trying to visit as many credit unions as possible. And while I certainly did that quite a bit at NAFCU, it really is different when you are experiencing how credit unions engage with their communities. All politics really is local, and seeing that has been very invaluable. I’m visiting five credit unions within a relatively small geographic area and seeing how each of those credit unions are different and have developed a slightly different business model to suit the needs of their members. It really does drive home that we need to make sure that we have a flexible environment so credit unions can serve the needs of their membership.

There are nuances and there are the competitive pressures between credit unions and banks, [and the pressures] are currently exacerbated on the local level. And a lot of these issues that I dealt with at the 40,000 foot level at NAFCU, I’m dealing with now in a much more intimate space, and I’ve loved that!

CU Times: What was making the decision to leave NAFCU like for you?

Hunt: It certainly was a difficult one because I loved NAFCU and I loved what I was doing. But for me, it was a question of ‘What more could I do?’ And I came to the realization that … advocacy is cradle to grave and I wanted to see if I could make an even greater impact by working with credit unions at the state and federal level. Clearly, I’m no longer representing credit unions all across the country, but one of my biggest pushes and one of the big tenants of what I’m doing at the league is really focusing on collaboration. And I wanted to see if I could bring my experience to the league system, because it really is what we do and the collective that impacts advocacy as a whole.

And what I have observed is we sort of have these pendulum swings and there are times when we have a very active and strong federal system. There are times where the states take a greater role. And I think what we’ve seen in the past few years, because of federal inactivity, is the states are jumping in more.

So you have this really, really strong nexus and I think for credit unions to be successful in achieving their advocacy goals, we have to be strong on both sides. And I wanted to see what I could do and experience that.

CU Times: After a year, are you surprised by anything at the state level?

Hunt: You know, I don’t think that anything has really surprised me. I will just say it’s validated a lot of what I knew, witnessing the dedication of not just credit union CEOs and teams, but also the loyalty of credit union members has been great. And, you know, it certainly gives me energy to continue to fight the good fight, because it, again, has also validated that there’s a lot of work that we have to do. And we need to be, I think, better and smarter about how we formulate our advocacy goals as an industry overall and use our resources to create the best tactics to achieve some of those successes.

CU Times: It sounds like your credit union perspective has shifted.

Hunt: Yes. I feel like I have the best of both worlds. I have all of the experience at NAFCU. I am working within a smaller pond at the league, but I also collaborate with the other leagues and with CUNA and with NAFCU also. I mean I truly believe that we need to be having dialogue. We need to be smart about these choices that we make and we need to work together.

CU Times: What are you currently focused on?

Hunt: I will say that the bankers have done a really great job of having a pretty strong grip on the legislative process in Richmond. And I’m not saying that credit unions don’t have friends – we passed two bills this year. But anything relative to field of membership, the bankers politicize it and make it a non-starter. There’s definitely vehement opposition to anything credit unions do whatsoever. One of my big goals is to continue to try to build credit union champions who are willing to stand up to the banks and to fight for what credit unions need to grow and thrive. And just like at the national level, I think a lot of these issues tend to be political ones for trade associations, not necessarily issues between actual financial institutions.

I will say too, in Virginia, the issue of whether or not credit unions can purchase banks is one that we need to address. As of now, the [Virginia] Department of Financial Institutions has taken the position that it’s not permissible on the state side, because the statute is silent on it. So that is an issue that I see percolating.

CU Times: What other issues are you trying to address?

Hunt: Trying to figure out the best way that credit unions can continue to serve as many people as possible is certainly top of mind for me. I think for some credit unions, assisting them with a growth strategy, which potentially could mean changes to the field of membership or not, is certainly something that I think we can be of assistance with and help with. But it’s also figuring out how credit unions can continue to collaborate, and share either back-office [resources] or additional grants for digital services, or group affordable health insurance for small credit union employees.

I get very frustrated sometimes when I hear policy makers only focus on small credit unions and the work that they do in their communities. I’m not saying that small credit unions don’t do great work in communities, they do! But, medium and large credit unions do too.

And often, because they have more resources, they can reach more people and provide that valuable financial well-being. So I want the dialogue to change.

CU Times: What’s your vision for the league?

Hunt: You know, my vision for the league is for it to be the premier trade association for Virginia credit unions. And what does that mean? That’s a very, very top-line vision and that’s to provide the best in advocacy, business solutions and collaboration. I see the league being very important in filling holes that national trades do not fill. And I also see the league being very important behind the scenes to help formulate the dialogue and make sure that the interest of Virginia credit unions is being taken to consideration in the larger dialogue. And, you know, we are in an environment right now, especially on the federal level, where leadership very much determines how policy gets formulated and what sees the light of day. And while that has always been the case overall, I think we’re feeling that even more.