One World

This week, I am one of the 2,500 credit union professionals who have made the trek to Boston for the World Council of Credit Unions’ (WOCCU) 2024 World Credit Union Conference — the first time the event has been in the U.S. since 2015. Also here from Michigan is MCUL’s YP Scholar, Deleanna Allen from Public Service Credit Union. (Make sure you’re checking out her social media takeover on our Facebook and LinkedIn!)

There are attendees here from 60 different countries around the world this year. Seeing that global representation every day is so refreshing and necessary. It’s easy for any of us to get caught up in our day-to-day tasks and what’s immediately in front of us. For me, that means primarily focusing on the current and future needs of the Michigan credit union movement, as well as the advocacy issues we’re working on in tandem with our national partners.

But WOCCU’s conference is a great reminder that we’re part of something bigger. It’s worth remembering that when we build relationships with legislators or when we fight to remove legislative barriers, we’re always doing it as one piece of a much larger puzzle. And when we are gathered together in one place, like many of us are this week, it’s an opportunity to share those experiences with others so that our movement, as a whole, can continue growing.

Last week, WOCCU announced this year’s theme for International Credit Union Day, “One World Through Cooperative Finance.” The idea of “one world” particularly resonated with me. At a time when our world feels so divided on so many issues, I feel lucky to work in an industry that aspires to do the opposite — to work cooperatively so we can provide a better financial future for more than 400 million global credit union members.

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