Yesterday I wrote about the need for disruptive leaders to regain the unique advantage of cooperative memer-owner design.
Ancin Cooley is a former OCC bank examiner and long-time credit union consultant. He has a working knowledge of almost all areas of credit union operations and regulatory issues.
He is creating a new collaborative initiative for credit union professionals who want to focus their leadersip on enhancing the member-owner elationship.
Ancin’s initiative is outlined below. It is a combination of teaching and mentoring for only $8 per month. He describes several unusual design featues in the resources he has assembled.
His contact information for his newsletter is at the end of this outlne.
From Ancin Cooley:
CU Communities: What We’re Building and Why It Matters
In July 2025, we’re launching CUCommunities.org — a subscription-based online learning and mentoring platform created for credit union professionals and volunteers. But more than a platform, this is a response to a real need in our movement.
My own background is in regulatory examination, governance, enterprise risk management, internal audit, and strategic planning. And after working with hundreds of credit unions across the country, I kept seeing the same gap, not in the talent, but in support.
Credit union professionals — especially those at smaller institutions — are often under-resourced and over-expected. They’re tasked with solving complex, high-stakes challenges with limited tools and limited time. And too often, their development is tied to someone else’s permission, budget, or bias.
People ask:
“Where can I privately and on my own time get step-by-step guidance?”
“Where can I get mentorship?”
“Where can I ask questions without being judged for what I don’t know?”
“Where can I learn how to actually execute my strategy?”
CU Communities is designed to answer all of that — with practical, consistent, and role-specific learning delivered at a price an individual can afford and an institution can support.
What CU Communities Offers
This isn’t just a content library. It’s a community of practice.
Subscribers will have access to:
- Tools, policies, job aids, and micro-videos
- Guided learning experiences that empower, not overwhelm
- Conversations with people who’ve actually done the work — not just studied it
What makes us different is how deep we’re willing to go. Without the overhead of a traditional association or vendor model, we can focus on the real work: BSA risk assessments, ALM modeling, look-to-book ratios, member business lending concentration thresholds — the things professionals actually need to understand.
Districts and Neighborhoods
We’re organizing CU Communities into two layers:
- Districts — Topical learning areas like Credit, ALM, Compliance, Lending, and Collections. Every member gets access.
- Neighborhoods — Curated forums and micro-communities organized by role and region, like “Louisiana CEOs” or “Small CU Lending Teams.”
Over time, more districts and neighborhoods will be added based on demand and input from the community.
A Pricing Model That Empowers
The first phase of our rollout gives individual subscribers access to every district for just $8/month. That price point is personal. It reflects a core belief:
Graduate-level insight shouldn’t be gatekept.
This subscription allows anyone — even those further down the org chart — to access the kind of content, coaching, and perspective usually reserved for senior staff or conference attendees.
It’s for the teller who wants to understand ALM.
For the collector who dreams of becoming a CLO.
For the new lending manager who needs to build confidence before speaking in front of the board.
If they’re willing to invest in themselves — even quietly — they can grow.
No permission slip required. No budget approval needed.
Just initiative, access, and a community that sees their potential.
Additional subscription tiers ($15/month) will unlock neighborhood-level access, including peer mentoring and facilitated conversations.
For credit unions, teams of up to 10 employees can join for $80/month, with additional seats available upon request.
More Value. Less Cost.
We’ve set a bold three-year strategic goal:
To create and distribute more courses, policies, tools, and mentorship hours than all the leagues combined — at a fraction of the cost.
Why? Because education in our space should be:
- Practical
- Affordable
- Always available
Whether you’re a volunteer trying to understand ALM or a VP preparing for the CEO seat, we want you to feel something rare:
That you’re finally getting more for less.
Built by Practitioners — For Practitioners
CUCommunities.com isn’t driven by theorists, consultants, or vendors. It’s built by people who’ve lived the work — and who want to pass that wisdom forward.
That includes:
- Retired CEOs, CLOs, and CFOs
- Current practitioners solving today’s problems
- Underrated experts within our industry — the operations lead, the branch supervisor, the marketing director quietly driving 8% organic membership growth
And here’s where we’re doing something revolutionary:
Everyone who contributes content — from workshop instructors to mini-course creators — retains ownership and receives revenue in perpetuity.
Most webinar houses pay $500 and own your content forever.
Not here.
We’re building a cooperative economy inside a cooperative industry.
Guardrails That Protect the Mission
To remain independent and principled, CU Communities has codified a structural safeguard:
No single revenue source — sponsor, vendor, or institution — will exceed 25% of total funding.
This isn’t just financial policy.
It’s governance by design.
It’s how we protect our integrity — and yours.
The Bottom Line
CU Communities is for people who want to get better. Who want to lead better. Who want to build better.
This isn’t a one-time launch. It’s a growing, breathing, member-driven network.
And it’s here for you.
Join the newsletter here: CUcommunities.org
Questions or media inquiries: acooley@syncuc.com