In her just over 12 years in the credit union industry, Lauren Culp has risen from working as an associate at an Alaska credit union to leading the Filene Research Institute’s Cooperative Trust, to serving as President/CEO of CUInsight.com and finally as Executive Director of the National Credit Union Foundation - the charitable arm of the U.S. credit union movement. Since becoming Executive Director of the Foundation in late 2024, she has been meeting the challenge of filling the big shoes left behind by her predecessor, the now-retired Gigi Hyland, head-on.
In this episode of "Shared Accounts With CU Times", Culp discusses how she’s been adjusting to her new role, her strategic priorities for the Foundation in 2025 and what it was like heading up her first-ever Herb Wegner Memorial Awards at America’s Credit Unions’ Governmental Affairs Conference back in March. She also shares her thoughts on DEI and credit unions at a time when cuts are being made to diversity programs at the federal level, including at the NCUA; how the Foundation is supporting credit unions amid an increase in severe weather events through its CUAid program; and who led her to catch the credit union “bug” and pursue a career in the industry.
Recommended For You
For credit unions, the season of giving runs all year long. Get in the spirit and give this episode a listen!
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
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.
