Simpson: Storytelling humanizes the reason credit unions exist

Telling the credit union story is critical, incoming America’s Credit Unions President/CEO Scott Simpson shared in an interview with CU Daily. Simpson says credit unions deliver on the promise of cooperative finance in ways the movement’s founders couldn’t imagine, and it’s vital to ensure their profound impact on people is at the forefront. 

“It’s not just good storytelling, it’s us collectively as a system being very good at humanizing the reason we exist. Part of the challenge we have with our success is that it’s accelerated to the point where it can feel transactional,” he said. “The truth is, we let miracles go out the door of our branches every day, something the credit union business model allowed a person to accomplish in their life that’s transformational. We need to figure out how to industrialize the capture of those stories, then accelerate and amplify them so it the human element keeps up with the cosmetic observations of our credit unions’ success.”

Just as credit unions should evolve the way they tell their story, Simpson said America’s Credit Unions and leagues must evolve with the movement. 

“We owe it to our credit unions to evolve with intention, not accidentally, and getting together and having that conversation continually as a family is going to be really, really important,” he said, noting that many leagues were founded as a way to offer consolidated products and services, but have since evolved into advocacy organizations, and state and national associations need to excel at both. 

“The work that’s done in Washington does not work unless the machinery across the states are functioning…and if we can figure out how to get that all pointed in the same direction in Washington, we’re absolutely unstoppable,” Simpson said. 

Simpson, who currently leads California’s Credit Unions, Nevada’s Credit Unions, and Utah's Credit Unions, will join current President/CEO Jim Nussle onstage at this year’s Congressional Caucus for a fireside chat. 

See below for the complete interview: