Advocacy needed at local, national, international level

Financial cooperatives around the world have a mission and structure in common and must advocate for themselves at every level. America’s Credit Unions Board Vice Chair Jim Morrell, who is also the president/CEO of Peninsula Credit Union in Shelton, Wash., and serves on the World Council of Credit Unions’ board, spoke with African Confederation of Co-operative Savings and Credit Association (ACCOSCA) Executive Director George Ombado recently for ACCOSCA’s podcast.

Morrell shared the importance of strong advocacy locally with his credit union, nationally as vice chair of America’s Credit Unions board, and internationally on WOCCU’s board.

“Policymakers and regulators are extremely busy people. So to compact multiple issues, sometimes as many as six or seven issues within a 10 to 15-minute meeting, you have to know your stuff. You have to know the topic, and you have to be able to bring the impact of how changes to that topic will positively impact our community,” he said, emphasizing that this is true at every level of policymaking.

Peninsula Credit Union is collecting “WOW stories” to illustrate the credit union difference for its 90th anniversary. Morell said collecting these stories requires credit unions to always listen to members, “so that we can better educate ourselves and other people to serve them in the best possible way.”

Watch the full interview below: