Native New Yorker Cathie Mahon has served as president/CEO of Inclusiv, the credit union industry’s CDFI intermediary in New York City, since 2012. Given that the CDFI program is tied to federal grant funding, we have been eager to check in with Mahon to learn where the program stands today.
In this episode of "Shared Accounts With CU Times", Mahon shares the much-welcomed good news for Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) credit unions in the wake of the threats to federal grants that have been coming down the pike in recent weeks. Of course, challenges remain for CDFIs - while the CDFI grants that were appropriated for 2025 have been awarded, the future of the CDFI grant program is uncertain, and Mahon digs into all of that as well.
She also discusses Inclusiv’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and what it means for credit unions; shares some exciting news about another initiative, the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator; lays out Inclusiv’s plans for GAC; dives into the credit union advocacy issues that have been on her mind; and enthusiastically outlines the agenda for Inclusiv’s 2025 annual conference, set for this April in Cleveland, Ohio.
As we wrap up GAC week (with America’s Credit Unions’ Governmental Affairs Conference happening March 2-6 in Washington, D.C.) this episode is sure to inspire you to advocate for credit unions and all the positive work they do nationwide. Give it a listen!
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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.
