Oksana Markarova speaks during CUNA's GAC on Feb. 26. (Photo: WFCU/WOCCU)
During CUNA's GAC last year, Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova addressed conference attendees via Zoom as Russia's invasion of Ukraine began to unfold. This year, she traveled to Washington, D.C. to thank those in the credit union movement in person for their donations and hard work in support of Ukrainians over the first year of the ongoing war.
Surprising an audience of nearly 200, Markarova appeared at the Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions' (WFCU) second annual Cooperative Voices event Sunday, WFCU announced. WFCU is the international development and charitable arm of the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU).
"To have the Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States make time in her extremely busy schedule to come to our event is a testament to the generosity of all our Champions who have donated nearly $2 million to date to support Ukrainian credit unions struggling to continue operations during the war. We are beyond humbled by her words and actions," WFCU Executive Director Mike Reuter said.
WFCU launched its Ukrainian Credit Union Displacement Fund on Feb. 27, 2022, just three days after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. To date, the Fund has raised more than $1.8 million and disbursed more than $600,000 to assist Ukrainian credit unions, and their members and communities, according to WFCU.
"And we really value it [the Fund]," Markarova said at Sunday's event. "It's remarkable how quick you were able to make the decision, create the Fund and then raise $1.8 million, right away, to be put to such good use to help people in Ukraine in a way to sustain themselves and continue doing what they want to do. I think in the whole area of financial services and the whole financial universe, credit unions represent what is in both yours and our constitutions: By the people, for the people."
At the Cooperative Voices event, which was launched last year to showcase the impacts of WFCU's Bridge the Gap campaign, women from several different countries spoke about the campaign's positive impacts on inclusion, leadership, gender and safety. Triza Magreta, general manager of Malawian financial cooperative Mudi SACCO and a Global Women's Leadership Network Sister Society leader in Malawi, discussed the bridging of gender gaps.
"Most women in Malawi, we are in lower positions, and to see someone heading a SACCO, we call them savings and credit cooperatives, it wasn't an easy thing. Less than 10% [of women] were in those positions," Magreta said. "With my involvement in Global Women's Leadership Network, and also the knowledge acquired from the development educator programs, I changed the SACCO and I proved wrong those who said a woman couldn't change those situations."
In addition, Alisa Stetsyshyn, a Ukrainian national who serves as a consultant for the USAID/WOCCU Credit for Agriculture Producers (CAP) Project in Ukraine, spoke further to WFCU's work in Ukraine.
"Thanks to your donations, over 1,200 Ukrainian farmers who are members of credit unions either got their loans compensated partially or they got coupons for free diesel fuel, which was in scarce supply at the time. And thanks to that, they can continue their operations and continue running their agricultural businesses," Stetsyshyn said.
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Natasha Chilingerian
Natasha Chilingerian has been immersed in the credit union industry for over a decade. She first joined CU Times in 2011 as a freelance writer, and following a two-year hiatus from 2013-2015, during which time she served as a communications specialist for Xceed Financial Credit Union (now Kinecta Federal Credit Union), she re-joined the CU Times team full-time as managing editor. She was promoted to executive editor in 2019. In the earlier days of her career, Chilingerian focused on news and lifestyle journalism, serving as a writer and editor for numerous regional publications in Oregon, Louisiana, South Carolina and the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, she holds experience in marketing copywriting for companies in the finance and technology space. At CU Times, she covers People and Community news, cybersecurity, fintech partnerships, marketing, workplace culture, leadership, DEI, branch strategies, digital banking and more. She currently works remotely and splits her time between Southern California and Portland, Ore.
