Young people as community assets: how a credit union partnership creates lasting impact

One Madison, Wisconsin credit union is partnering with Operation Fresh Start to provide career training for young adults who haven't completed traditional high school, creating pathways to financial stability and direct employment opportunities. Their decade-long relationship shows how credit unions can align business practices with cooperative values to generate measurable community benefits.

"Young people are huge assets in our community that oftentimes aren't given the opportunity to realize their full potential," commented Steph Harrill Kyle, director of financial inclusion and community engagement at UW Credit Union. "So why wouldn't we want to really maximize those assets in our community?"

The Madison, Wisconsin-based UW Credit Union does exactly that through its partnership with Operation Fresh Start (OFS) and its CareerPoint program, which prepares young professionals ages 18 to 24 with their high school diploma or equivalent for success in career-track employment. UW Credit Union participates as one of several employer partners, helping provide training and hiring participants into entry-level positions.

Community partnership built on proven results

UW Credit Union chose this collaboration because "OFS has been an outstanding collaborator and has a proven track record of meaningful outcomes for young people in our community," Harrill Kyle explained. "If they are piloting a program they've identified as having potential impact, of course, we are going to show up to support it."

The credit union's involvement extends far beyond job training. Their comprehensive engagement includes providing expert speakers for topics on financial literacy, consulting on curriculum development, conducting mock interviews, offering career tours, and directly employing participants.

"We have partnered with other talent pipeline programs and really see it as a win-win-win for our nonprofit partners, community member participants, and the credit union," Harrill Kyle said. "We are providing pathways to family-sustaining work not just through financial support to a nonprofit but also by walking the walk as an employer."

Decade of deepening collaboration

This workforce development partnership represents the latest evolution in a relationship spanning approximately 10 years. UW Credit Union initially became involved during Operation Fresh Start's capital campaign around 2015, helping fund the nonprofit's facility expansion that opened in 2019. The partnership deepened when Operation Fresh Start construction crews physically built portions of the credit union's new Madison headquarters.

CareerPoint emerged as the newest dimension of this sustained partnership, building on years of financial education programming and community investment that established mutual trust and a shared vision for community development.

_{^{UW Credit Union received the Community Collaboration Award at the 2024 Building Transformational Relationships Gala hosted by Operation Fresh Start.}}

Individual success, systemic impact

The partnership's effectiveness shows in individual transformations like the young woman UW Credit Union hired from CareerPoint's first six-person class. Initially employed as a part-time teller, she quickly advanced to a near full-time role when her supervisor noted she "took on extra shifts and showed ambition to expand her knowledge base so she can be a better resource to others." The progression from completing Operation Fresh Start's Legacy program to earning her high school diploma, then entering CareerPoint and ultimately securing career-track employment, demonstrates how thoughtful partnerships like these create lasting change.

Beyond individual success stories, there are broader community benefits. "The credit union also gains new members as Operation Fresh Start participants open accounts, even though membership is not required for program participation," Harrill Kyle noted. But this is really the icing on the cake. The relationship extends far beyond transactional employment.

"They're taking the time to build relationships with our young people that are lifelong lasting," said Jasmine Banks, deputy director for strategic initiatives and the empowerment programs at Operation Fresh Start. The depth of that commitment moves her to emotion. "If I get into it, I'm going to start to cry, right? Because again, it's incredibly important to see the value that these young people contribute to this community."

Mission-driven approach to community investment

All of this reflects UW Credit Union's philosophy that community investment should align with cooperative principles rather than chase short-term returns. "When we collaborate with nonprofit partners, the goal is not short-term ROI or business development but rather the long-game approach of building trusting, long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships that create lasting, sustainable change in our communities," Harrill Kyle explained.

This approach works because the credit union's mission is "so deeply ingrained in our business practices and who we are as an employer, it multiplies the ways we can bring benefit to the communities in which we live and work," she continued. The integration enables comprehensive community engagement that extends beyond traditional philanthropy.

"My team often says one of the best ways we can help people is for them to become members of UW Credit Union because of the way we live our mission," Harrill Kyle added.

UW Credit Union will participate in interviews for CareerPoint's next class in late September, continuing their investment in what Harrill Kyle calls "a worthwhile investment for our members into our community." The partnership demonstrates how credit unions can maximize community assets by providing pathways to economic mobility while authentically living their cooperative values.

"It's so refreshing and incredibly important to be able to find a collaborator and a partner that sees value in our young people," said Banks. "That's not everybody. ... UW Credit Union sees the value of the young people that we serve, not just as young people of Operation Fresh Start, but as community members. These young people live in our community, and so really everybody should see the value in them."

"I wish that more people showed up for young people in the same way that UW Credit Union shows up for young people," she said.