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A Perspective on Juneteenth

This past  week Joan and I shared varied experiences tied together by our new National Holiday, just two years old.

The events were not coordinated.  Rather they showed some of the many gifts of black Americans in our country’s ever evolving quest for democratic freedom.

A New Cantata

On Tuesday we participated in a summer sing of Adolphus Hailstork’s cantata I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes.  The third movement is based on the 23rd psalm.

A New Book

We attended a Thursday evening interview at the National Cathedral of author Jonathan Eig’s book King:  A Life.

The author believes that we have made King’s basic message too sanguine.  A gentle, romanticized  vision of  “I have dream.” Rather King sought a restructuring of America’s political and economic system.

He described King’s insights:  we can’t do everything, but we can all do something.  . .we don’t have to be perfect to make a difference. . . Progress will create a backlash . . . America does not have a deficit of resources, but of imagination. .. human progress is not inevitable; it requires the discipline of hope over cynicism. . .

Eig believes we have hallowed King and thus hollowed his message  of the fundamental change he sought.  To rediscover his vision we must  read his words, especially the last sermon he preached before his death: Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution.

The failure to achieve his goals in his lifetime, does not diminish King’s heroism in America’s long line  of citizens fighting for human freedom.

The Legacy of Birmingham

A CSPAN recorded talk by  Paul Kix reading from his book:  You have to Be Prepared to Die before You Can Begin to Live:  Ten weeks in Birmingham, That Changed America.  It is a detailed account of the SCLC’s Project Confrontation. He provides a five point  summary of  this incredible story of the courage required to break, once and for all, the city’s segregation in 1963.  The story  is both frightening in its cruelty and uplifting in the young people’s commitment to make historical change

Excerpts: Birmingham, in those days, wasn’t so much a city as a site of domestic terror. The Klan castrated Black men. The cops raped Black women. The city’s public safety commissioner, Bull Connor, gleefully and often publicly referred to Birmingham as Bombimgham, for all the Black businesses and residences that were dynamited. CBS’s Edward R Murrow reported from Birmingham prior to King’s arrival and told his producer he hadn’t seen anything like this place since Nazi Germany. . .

In early May 1963, Bevel (SCLC’s operations head) led a campaign within the Birmingham Campaign which he called, D-Day. It was thousands of children skipping school on May 2nd and 3rd and descending on Kelly Ingram Park, across from the 16th Street Baptist Church. The objective was to get to the white-owned and white-run downtown and stage massive protests for civil rights there.

But on May 2nd and 3rd, Bull Connor and the Birmingham Police Department stood with guns and German Shepherds and fire-hoses that could tear mortar from bricks or dislodge bark from trees at a distance of 100 feet. Bevel had children march right into those guns and dogs and firehoses anyway.

The result was savage, apocalyptic, the worst thing war photographers present that day had ever seen. Children were mauled by dogs, as if the dogs were feasting on them. Children backflipped in the air from the firehoses, their clothes just disintegrating on their bodies, their hair scalped as the firehoses hissed across their skulls.

The children knew this might happen. Bevel had prepared them for it. And because they had known they would likely suffer, they did not turn their suffering into victimhood. They did not stop marching. By the dozens and then hundreds and ultimately thousands the children continued to march in early May.

A Play of America’s Conflicting Ideals

The play is August Wilson’s, Radio Golf.   The two protagonists are both successful black leaders.  One is running for mayor of Pittsburg and the other, his partner in a redevelopment in which the goal is to revitalize a worn down section of the city.  And in doing so lift himself up to a spectacular level of financial success.

Both men have a vision for their community and lives.   The drama comes is the conflict of these competing views.  This is a story of every American trying to balance economic success and social equity in  their lives.

A Sunday Sermon

Senator Raphael Warnock’s sermon at the National Cathedral drew upon the familiar words from Isiah Chapter 40.4 we all know from Handel’s Messiah:

Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.

He used this familiar promise to describe what he called the moral topography for America.

Equity—the leveling of the hills  and valleys to have the same playing field for all.  Equity built on  integrity- the crooked shall be made straight.   Warnock said: We cannot have a criminal justice system with the rich and guilty alongside the poor and innocent.

Democracy is the necessary check and balance on the human capacity for injustice.    His vision is one where we will be  a country where “all people shall see it together.”

The  meaning of this  June Day  is that freedom is a blessing for all. . . no matter a person’s faith, gender, race, economic status, or lived heritage.  This gift can happen when all can see it together.

A Sunday Prayer

Lest we get too narrow on the history of emancipation, the prayer of confession reminds that evil corrupts  in other forms of personal bondage.  (See Radio Golf’s message of conflicting ambitions)

A Prayer for Juneteenth from the National Cathedral:

God of freedom, you have made your faithfulness known from generation to generation.  We celebrate Juneteenth which commemorates the announcement in Texas on June 19, 1865, of the end of the Civil War and the abolition of slavery, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation. 

Let us reflect on the jubilation that filled the hearts of women and men of African descent as they learned of their deliverance from the bondage of slavery, even as we mourn that the true promise of freedom has yet to be fulfilled.  We pray now for all whose lives have been traumatized  and remained threatened by the legacy of slavery and institutional racism in our country.

As people of hope, we know that the arc of history is long and that it bends towards justice.  Help us to commit to the work and ending racism by building he beloved community where all are judged not the color of their skin but by the content of their character, in Christ’s name. 

Amen

An American Spiritual Sung in the Current Quest for Freedom

From the Kiev National symphony and Chorus-Down by the Riverside.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJCI22_GDjI&list=RDGMEMMib4QpREwENw3_jAc0YgNw&start_radio=1&rv=OxnH8hrfnJE)

 

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A Milestone, or Turning Point, from the Past

The Lead: Almost all CU savings are now insured

“More than 99% of the total savings at CUs are now insured by either NCUA or a state share insurance fund, according to the 1983 State Share Insurance Yearbook.  That translates into about $75.5 billion.

“By mid-1983, the yearbook says, only about 200 CU’s in the entire U.S. will be without share insurance.  Only 319 of the almost 20,000 CUs in operation at the end of last year were not insured.  That number will decline this year as share insurance becomes mandatory in Indiana, Nebraska, and New Jersey.   Insurance  is now required of state CUs in 44 states and Puerto Rico. 

“NCUA insurance covered  all FCUs in 1982 (11,631 active charters)  and 5,036 state CUs, while 17 state insurance plans were provided for 3,121 state CUs  in 21 states and Puerto Rico.” (Total all insured credit unions 19,788)

Source:  Credit Union Magazine, June 1983, pg. 18.

An advertisement for one of the 17 state-chartered insurance funds.

Milestone or Turning Point?

Today, the NCUSIF is an insurance monopoly for all but a few state chartered credit unions.

The  insurer has become the regulator.   NCUA leaders routinely pronounce  their number one priority-“North Star”- is to protect the fund.

The NCUSIF approval is now the biggest entry barrier for new charters.

This prioritization of insurance  has changed the focus of many credit union leaders.   Instead of a social movement designing alternatives for members’ financial needs, credit unions have become me-too financial providers.

Credit unions are now fully entitled members of America’s financial system with access to governmental and market options similar to most banks.

Some continue to prioritize member well-being and their challenges of financial equity.   Others embrace the open-ended opportunities to pursue the market ambitions of their competitors.

A number of credit union leaders and academics have interpreted the insurance requirement (primarily NCUA) as the most important factor in the evolution of the cooperative financial system-for good or otherwise.

I will look at these assessments in later blogs.

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The Fruits of the Spirit: A Credit Union’s 74th Anniversary Celebration

The cooperative spirit is a financial super-power.  It is a passion that enables even small firms to have enormous impact.  Affinity Credit Union in Des Moines, IA is example of this capability  in action.

Chartered in 1949, its annual meeting is a celebration with members even as the required business items are covered.

This year’s meeting highlighted three vital Affinity success factors enabled by this spirit:

  • Respect for the member-owner;
  • Pride in the Affinity’s legacy and mission;
  • Exceptional leadership in the board and senior management.

All Are Invited

The credit union made special efforts to draw members to their annual meeting:

  • A reminder email was sent to all on the day of the meeting: “The 2023 Affinity annual meeting is tonight. We look forward to seeing you there!”
  • The announcement in the Members’ May Newsletter by the CEO: “Thank you to all who registered to attend our Annual Membership Meeting on May 9th at the Top of the Tower Ballroom. . .you can still register to attend.”
  • The sign taped to the front door of the main office when members came to be served:

When members arrived at the meeting they were given a 10-page Annual Report that included a 14 item agenda; the board’s “promises” and biographies; committee reports; financials for 2022: and pictures describing Affinity’s role in the community.

Each Report included two raffle tickets for the post- meeting drawing for cash prizes.  To kick off the event there was a free, full buffet meal for attendees before the speeches and business began.

I talked with members who had joined as far back as 1963 and an older couple, retired from state government, who joined just two years ago.   Several families brought their children.  One member brought a date, even though she was not yet a member.

The Speakers’ Messages

Outside speakers offered different aspects of Affinity’s impact.  Michelle Bock, President of the Food Bank of Iowa, presented the challenge of food insecurity that  10% of Iowans face each year.  Affinity’s CEO Jim Dean sits on the Bank’s board.

Katie Averill, Superintendent of Iowa Credit Unions, affirmed  the strength of the Iowa system in the wake of recent, large bank failures.  Of the 80 Iowa credit unions and $33 billion in assets, 72 are state charters holding 97% of the state’s total.  The system has grown by double digits over the past five years.

Five Iowa charters are over a billion dollars in assets.  Affinity at $145 million ranks number 22.  Averill summarized Affinity’s evolution since its 1949 chartering as  USW Local 301. Her listing of regulatory actions including FOM expansions, name changes, and mergers was a tribute to the credit union’s longterm standing in the community.

The respect for owners was shown when the Chair opened the meeting, under new business, for comments from members.  Multiple questions were raised from the floor.  Some were minor–will free movie tickets be restarted?  A number were substantive about the financials–unrealized losses on investments and loss reserves for loans shown in the  Report each attendee received.  All were answered openly.

Pride in the Cooperative’s Contributions

At the check-in desk for the meeting, the credit union’s founding story was shown in a display case. A lunch pail used in the early years to collect funds and make loans during shifts at the Firestone tire plant was included with the founding story:  “Here is a resource created by workers for workers that feeds families, futures and trust.”

A brief  video testimonial of long-time member James Reasoner was shown. His financial journey recovering from near bankruptcy two decades earlier was highlighted. He was also one of four  members elected to the board that evening.

Pride  is evident in the credit union’s physical presence.  The main office is still less than a half mile from the Firestone plant.  Photos of the Firestone facility are mounted throughout offices that have been remodeled surrounded by careful landscaping.

The board’s “promises” start with employee education. Wednesday mornings are late openings to accommodate training.  Three employees who had worked over 25 years for the credit union were recognized at the meeting.  Misty is the person who helped new board member James Reasoner in the video twenty years ago.

“Enrich our communities” is another board promise. Six seniors from different high schools were awarded  scholarships to further their eduction. Here’s one.

The program included multiple examples of Affinity volunteers in action.

Leadership by the Board and CEO

Few organizations can thrive, let alone survive, without dedicated leadership.

The four board members elected this meeting have  leadership responsibilities in their professional lives.  James Reasoner’s story is told in the video link above.  Bridget Neely is the CEO of Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Central Iowa.  Cara Harris is the Administrative Coordinator of Cortiva Agriscience in Johnston, Iowa.

Webster Kranto is a small business owner who was born in Liberia. It took three years as a refugee to gain immigration to the US where he graduated from Iowa State University.  In 2019 he was appointed by the governor to a 4-year term on the Iowa Board of Corrections.

Two continuing board members have worked at the Firestone plant for 22 and 23 years.  Both are members of USW Local 301L.  The board chair Cindi Summers is the Chief HR Officer at Baker Group. She earned  a Master’s Degree in Business Leadership, as well as a B.A. in Management and A.S. for Paralegal Studies.

Christian Quijano, Vice Chair, works  in Environmental Risk Management and was board President for the Environmental Professionals of Iowa from 2012-2018.

Their leadership terms begin with an oath administered to all directors at the annual meeting.  Standing and facing the members, they commit  to “faithfully, honestly and impartially perform the duties imposed upon me. . .”

The board’s most critical role is selecting the CEO.   Jim Dean came to the credit union after a long career in multiple leadership responsibilities in Illinois.   He has implemented the credit union’s vision of “building better lives” by demonstrating that small can have a big impact: “small but mighty.” He initiated a suit against Apple Pay’s  restrictions and joined in a program to lend $10 billion to facilitate  home ownership for  minorities in Iowa.

He asked that I come to the meeting to learn about the credit union.  I saw a genuine dedication to resolving  members’ financial challenges from those still in high school to retirees.  Over 50% of the 13,786 members live in low income areas. The credit union teaches the basics of savings and borrowing so members have skills to manage in any economy.

Jim’s view of success is more than increasing the volume of financial transactions. He  united the credit union’s financial capabilities with partners to support the  community’s overall health and well being. The Iowa Food Bank is just one example of this outreach.

With the board he has instilled a timeless evolution of values and principles.  This special coop spirit can extend success forever, beyond generations lived and to be lived.  He honors the traditions that created the credit union.  He gave renewed meaning to the founders’ goal of an organization that “feeds families, futures and trust.”

Jim believes that the strongest credit union advantage is member loyalty.   This is not contingent on size, but service.  The only size criteria is to be big enough to care about members.

When a decision was made to end Saturday branch hours  because of low transaction volume, Jim called each of the members who used this service the most, to let them know of the change and other transaction options.

My Message

When speaking  to the annual meeting, I said the most precious gift each  has is our time.  This evening members gave several hours to learn about the credit union and participate in another anniversary.

My hope was that every member-attendee would expand their involvement to become owner-volunteers, sharing in the promotion, service and financial support of their credit union’s mission.

Affinity’s stability  is rooted in and led by community leaders.  These volunteers and professional staff demonstrate the potential from democratic  member ownership.  The Coop spirit enables members to serve the financial needs of others, not just one’s own.

The Importance of Leadership

Affinity is an example of what numerous other credit union leaders do to help members become who they aspire to be. Their coops invest time, energy, and resources supporting members’ ambitions and enabling personal opportunities.

Leaders take risks with decisions when they make members’ needs and dreams their own. The impact of their support and dedication is immeasurable.  For it is the members’ who are the foundation of every credit union’s resilience.

Affinity’s leaders love what they do, who they do it with and who they do it for.   Is there any higher standard for a life or a profession?

 

 

 

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Conversations: How the Best in a Good Person Lives On

Credit union stories remind us who we are and what we value.  Our shared history is sometimes best understood as a narrative strung together with anecdotes.

Joe Cugini (1930-2019) is one of the credit union community’s personal pillars on which we all stand today.  He was CEO of Westerly Community Credit union from 1959-2000.  In addition he  held leadership roles as President of the RI Credit Union League, Chair of CUNA, Presdent of the World Council and a member of the Federal Reserve’s Advisory Board.

His two-generation CEO tenure saw credit unions evolve from thousands of local startups to become the second largest depository system in the American financial marketplace.

Last week I called his wife Betty to see if there were any publications from his tenure as Chair of CUNA.  In that role he had introduced NCUA Chairman Ed Callahan at CUNA’s February GAC conference—were any records of that era left around, such as cassettes of GAC speeches?

The answer was no.  But she did share two stories that captured a time when credit unions were considered “family.”

A Dinner Before CUNA’s GAC

Betty was an active volunteer leader of the Girl Scouts of Rhode Island.  In that capacity she would attend the annual National Girl Scout Convention.  She believes the February 1982 meeting took place in Texas.

In the middle of the conference, she got a call from Joe, asking her to catch the next plane to Washington D.C. The event was an evening dinner with the new NCUA Chair Ed Callahan.  Wives were invited.  Sara Barr, wife of CUNA’s DC political affairs director Jim Barr, would meet her at the airport and take her directly to dinner-no time to change.

Betty arrived at the Iron Gate Restaurant, built within an old stable building in the heart of DC, in her Girl Scout leader’s uniform.  She only took off the sash with the scout badges.  She was seated next to Ed Callahan.

As they chatted, both learned they had been teachers–Betty in kindergarten, and Ed at  Boylan High School in Rockford, Illinois.  Ed remarked to Betty, “You welcomed them in and I said goodby to them.”

While sharing their  teaching careers, Ed related an event that occurred while principal at Boylan where his children attended. The shared concern among parents  was to make senior night a celebration that would avoid potential downsides-drinking, driving, out late after everything had closed and nowhere to go.

She said that Ed described how he approached the parents about this common worry and asked them to donate money to create a special “senior night out.”  From the donated funds he rented school buses to take all the seniors for the entire evening  to a local camp ground (it may have been a Y).  The location had food, basketball courts, a pool, and plenty of recreational options plus cabins for sleeping–just bring a sleeping bag.  Ed said all the kids were so tired by morning that  all they could do was go home and sleep.  Problems avoided-through a collaborative undertaking.

Joe’s Personal Legacy

As Betty told of her conversation with  Ed, she related one of Joe’s proudest initiatives.  During a post-Christmas holiday their children had exhausted all the local entertainment options (films, concerts, shopping for presents) and were looking for something to do the rest of the vacation.

In high school Joe had twice won the Rhode Island high school basketball championship.  As CEO of Westerly CU, he offered to sponsor a local Holiday Basketball Tournament to be a center of activity to fill this vacation activity gap.  Today the WCCU Holiday Tournament is ongoing.  Here is a current  description of the event:

This tournament was created in 1984 as a way to bring together local school communities in a competitive way to collaboratively raise funds for their sports boosters. This event has become and continues to be a community tradition. This year, WCCU welcomes back the teams from Chariho, South Kingstown, Stonington, and Westerly High Schools.

As the sole sponsor since its inception, Westerly Community Credit Union underwrites all expenses of the Holiday Basketball Tournament and as always, donates every dollar of the gate proceeds directly to the participating schools’ sports boosters. Last year each of the four participating schools received $2,000.00! To date, this tournament has raised over $258,577!

How important was this event in Joe’s mind?  The following is from his obituary: In lieu of flowers, donations in Joe’s memory may be made to the Joseph N. Cugini WCCU Holiday Basketball Tournament Fund c/o Westerly Community Credit Union – 122 Granite Street, Westerly, RI 0289.

The “Best” Lives On As  Stories Are Told

The dinner conversation and Holiday Basketball tournament are events which occurred four decades ago.  The tournament continues.   The details of Betty’s evening dialogue with Ed are recalled today, almost verbatim.

This story about Ed illustrates his special ability to create a “comfort zone” when meeting others.  Credit union events often had this feeling of “family get togethers.”

Betty and Sara still remember the evening today. As the lead actors leave the stage, these women’s stories remind us what we value in human character.

The  “best” in each of us continues through relationships.  Not just relationships dependent on professional roles, but the more special moments such as an evening meal with coop “family.”

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How a Black Barber in Little Rock, AR Started a Credit Union

The first new charter in Arkansas in over a quarter of a century is the focus of a new podcast.

Arlo Washington is a barber, a self-made man who turned his entrepreneurial instincts into helping his community.

The story of People Trust Community FCU, chartered in September 2022 is told in this 30 minute podcast by the reporter Oscar Abello from Next City and Arlo Washington the credit union’s founder.

Hearing the story in their own voices, brings to life the challenges and promise of a new credit union.

The context matters.  Payday lenders were shut down by Arkansas in 2010.  Arlo had started a barber college and by necessity and local tradition became a lender to his customers.

The reporter states there have been just 25 new charters in the last ten years. He points out in the 1970’s there were hundreds of new charters  granted per year.

Today Arlo describes the chartering effort as “intimidating, scary and tedious.”  The endgame was to have “local ownership in the banking system.”

“If we’re ever going to close the racial wealth gap, we need financial institutions that understand neighborhoods and can meet their community members where they are in the process of building their financial well-being,” says Washington.

This example of a small lending enterprise adding a credit union is a model that could be replicated many times in other underserved communities across the country.

 Seeds of Hope at the Grassroots

Planting seeds  whether in a garden or in our communities’ choices is the practice of hope.   Seeds that will grow and flourish to make lives more colorful and abundant.

There are more Arlo Washingtons throughout America who want to become gardeners for their community.  How do we reach out to them?  And grow our grassroots?

 

 

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Credit Union CEO Joins Iowa Bank Board

Iowa is home to a very  rambunctious  credit union system.  A total of 80 credit unions manage over $33 billion in assets growing at double digit rates.

Several larger Iowa coops have bought banks to expand their franchises faster.  63 are suing NCUA over the agency’s failure to honor the plain language on its Corporate Claims Certificates.

Then there is a relatively small credit union who is currently suing Apple for restrictions in its Apple Pay product.  This same CEO has joined the board of a local bank.

The bank has two major centers in Des Moines and Ottumwa from which it serves affiliates in 55 counties throughout the state.

The board director is Jim Dean. CEO of Affinity Credit Union.  The bank is Food Bank of Iowa, a 501 C 3.  It reaches over 300,000 children, seniors, veterans and persons who experience food insecurity during the year.  In 2022 it distributed over 1.2 million pounds of food per month through 700 frontline partners.

The administrative offices, warehouse, and distribution-delivery capabilities are supported by volunteers who come daily to prepare boxes for local delivery.  To carry out its mission, the Food Bank relies on almost 10,000 persons who freely give their time and labor.

A Common Cause

On factor in food insecurity is the inability of many to earn a living wage. The issue “comes and goes” for individuals as economic circumstances affect individuals’ opportunities.

When asked why the Food Bank  partnered with Affinity Credit Union, Vice President  Bergetta Beardsley, who is responsible for fund raising, replied simply, “There is a natural relationship with those we both serve.”

Why Is Affinity Involved?

Food banks have been an important part of Jim’s volunteer work during his credit union career. In addition to the overlaps of those facing financial and/or food insecurity, these two organizations share the same values.

Volunteer activity is part of Affinity’s culture. The credit union provides employees with two days paid leave per year to serve their community. The CEO’s participation raises awareness with staff about the Food Bank’s multiple roles.

The credit union promotes the Food Bank with special 30 second radio spots and ads on their delivery  trucks.  In some instances, the credit union has assisted with food pantries for schools in their communities.

Even more strategic isAffinity’s example.  It connects the financial reach and capacity of the coop system to this critical organization serving over 10% (300,000) of Iowa residents with food.

An Ever-Expanding Effort

Credit unions, like individuals, are known by the company they keep.  Two nonprofits, Affinity and Food Bank of Iowa, are joined in a common purpose of service and personal well being.

Across the country today, many families help their local communities with food drives.  Schools arrange canned food collections for holidays; there are special hunger offerings and food drop-offs at churches and community centers.

But experiencing the scale and scope of this central wholesale operation  (55,000 square feet) is an eye opener.  It provides food to schools, day care centers, senior and community commons, church pantries and other institutions.  The operating budget is approximately $30 million.

A Visit in Photos

Here are some of the pictures from my visit to the Food Bank’s Des Moines’ office, volunteer center and warehouse.  Our guide was Bergetta.

The volunteer reception area with mission, vision and values:

A wholesale delivery of potatoes to be repackaged.

Converted to individual sized quantities..

Just one of several volunteer groups for the day who helped pack boxes for delivery.

Pallet being loaded for delivery to a Day Care.

Bergetta showing pasta provided in bulk from a corporate donor.

Another pallet ready for delivery.

Part of the massive warehouse.  Storage racks with supplies and  shrink-wrapped deliveries.

Food delivery trucks backed into loading dock.

Affinity Credit Unions adds its support on the back of the delivery trucks.

Even if an individual stops by the head office needing  food, a box is always ready.

Organizations write thanking Affinity volunteers.

Isn’t this a Bank we all might like to join?

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U.S. Treasury’s Payday Loan Rate

 

From Yahoo Finance:

“The Treasury Department auctioned $15 billion in one-day cash management bills on Friday as its cash balance remains under pressure.

The bills, which carry a 5.145% investment rate, will be issued Monday (June 6) and mature on Tuesday, according to the Treasury. Bids totaling $61.6 billion were tendered.

This is the first time since 2007 that one-day bills were auctioned, according to CNN.”

Moral of the story:   When liquidity is tight, everybody has to pay up. even Uncle Sam.

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Why an Oath for Credit Union Directors and Officers is Desirable

Boy Scouts have a pledge.  Couples exchange wedding vows.  Deacons, elders and lay ministers all affirm belief before the laying on of hands and becoming church officers. Naturalized American citizens take an oath-even agreeing to bear arms.

These ceremonies signify individual commitment in a public setting for the people they serve or community they join.  There are responsibilities in an oath, whether occasioned by election, by appointment or by personal choice.

Faithfully Discharge the Duties:NCUA’s Oath for Employees

All NCUA employees are required to take an oath upon accepting their positions.

This oath is administered by an NCUA employee, usually in the HR division, during new employee orientation on an employee’s first official day. Here is the text:

I, [state your name] do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;  that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.  (emphasis added)

Duties, faithfully carried out.  Faithful performance is itself one aspect of the standard liability bond for credit union coverage.

A State Example:  OATH OF A CREDIT UNION DIRECTOR

Pursuant to Revised Code 1733.10, I, the undersigned director of NAME Credit Union, located in City, Ohio, do solemnly swear/affirm that I will diligently and honestly administer the duties of the office of director and that I will not knowingly violate, or permit to be violated, any law applicable to the Credit Union.

As a director, I have a legal responsibility and a fiduciary duty to credit union members to administer the Credit Union’s affairs faithfully and to oversee its management.  In carrying out my duties and responsibilities, I shall exercise reasonable care and place the interests of the Credit Union before my own interests.  I shall fulfill my duties of loyalty and care to the above named Credit Union.

I shall ensure that I learn of changes in statutes, regulations and policies of the Division of Financial Institutions and other applicable regulatory agencies affecting the Credit Union which affect my duties, responsibilities or obligations as a director and regulated person of the Credit Union.

I understand it is my responsibility to attend meetings of the Board of Directors and participate fully on all committees of the Board to which I am appointed.  I understand it is my responsibility to review the examination reports of the supervisory authorities at the next succeeding board meeting after the receipt of the reports.

Signed and notarized by each director.

The Current Status of an FCU Oath

The following was the response when I asked NCUA if FCU directors were required to have an oath:

The answer is no. There isn’t a required oath of office for federal credit union boards of directors in the Federal Credit Union Act or Federal Credit Union Bylaws.

Our legal team reviewed the current bylaws, the previous version (Timeframe of the mid to late 1990s, with amendments), and even earlier versions of the Bylaws from the 1930s to 1940s. None of these documents require an oath of office.

Also, an oath of office is not something we track in regulatory reporting like the Call Report or Profiles. As such, I don’t have any information on which federal credit unions, if any, administer an oath of office.

While we don’t have specific rules on this topic, the NCUA has received and considered the question of an oath of office before. The attached 1985 NCUA legal opinion says an oath of office is allowed because it would not conflict with the Federal Credit Union Act or Bylaws for a federal credit union to require directors to take an oath of office. 

Why An Oath is Desirable

Leadership of a credit union is a responsibility to  members, the community and those who in generations past created the cooperative as an enduring organization to pass forward its legacy of wealth and service.

Sometimes the concept of a “volunteer” has connotations of a position that can be taken or left at will.   Duty is voluntary.  Anyone can step up.  The responsibility is institutional and collective, not individual.   Except for a number of state charters, directors are not paid, which is sometimes interpreted as an absence of individual accountability.

Cooperative board leadership now involves oversight of trillions of dollars member-owned assets.  The directors’ roles are becoming more consequential for members and communities.

Moreover there are unique aspects in cooperative leadership:

  • Awareness and implementation of cooperative principles;
  • Recognition and respect for democratic member governance;
  • Adherence to bylaws and numerous regulations specific to credit unions;
  • The absence of any federal tax liability.

Moreover, the traditional director duties also still pertain including the standards of loyalty, care and the fiduciary obligation to act in good faith.

An Oath as Promise

An oath ideally in public at the annual meeting would be an act of honor and commitment.  It signifies both responsibility and accountability even as volunteers.

Credit unions are a part of a society that at times has differences about the priorities of their leaders.   Oaths remind all of our common obligations.

An oath is a promise.  In the NCUA’s example it comes with a sacred commitment-so help me God.  It would elevate the moral and communal character of cooperatives.

A person when taking an oath acknowledges the responsibility, not merely the public honor,  of their role.  The commitment is elevated beyond the routine director tasks of attendance and oversight.

All oaths remind us of who we are and what we want to be.

They show a solemn undertaking with commitments to the past and future, not just today’s agenda.  It is another way to show how the cooperative model stands apart from for-profits.

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Two Trends Deserving Debate

At the NCUA’s May board meeting, one trend jumped out at me.  Not new, but accelerating and read without comment.

In the first 90 days of 2023 there were 59 NCUSIF charter cancellations.  That is a rate of almost 5 per week, one every business day.  Without exception these charters are decades old, some surviving and most thriving.   Why?

These charters are the handiwork of generations of volunteers, whose current leadership have decided to give up.  It is a morale and ethical problem.   For it undercuts the coop premise that pays forward the members’ collective legacy for which the present leaders are  now the steward.

Many will suggest that the credit unions members are in better hands.  However these hands are not the leaders they know or elected, nor the organization that created their collective reserves.  Every charter cancellation eliminates an example of economic self help, self finance and self governance.

In most cases these are locally focused institutions which created unique relationships with their communities.   Financial services may continue, but not from the same roots.   Another civic organization so essential to a vibrant democratic political economy is no more.

What Can Be Done

Regulators should put the same time and effort into requests to cancel charters that  they extend to new charters.  If a merger is the strategy, show us the plan.  If the volunteer leadership is giving up, ask members for new volunteers.  If the sponsor has moved away, then seek a new group for re-energizing the charter.

Today the regulators have endorsed an exit strategy that benefits only the senior leaders who leave the membership in the lurch.  And retiring CEO’s especially, are taking advantage by transferring their legacy to another credit union, often for just a few more silver coins.

When quitting a business or long standing effort is easier than getting in, the movement will continue to close future growth options, create higher concentrations of risk, and remove financial services away from their local connections and knowledge.

No charter should be cancelled without an effort to find others who are willing to pick up the opportunity.

A Second Trend to Be Re-energized

No brand, business or opportunity can continue without the support of the next generation of consumers.

Student run and led credit unions have been part of the educational and financial services of cooperatives from the beginning.

Yesterday I learned about a scholarship program to identify young persons often from disadvantaged backgrounds (poverty, refugees, disabled) who are given the opportunity to become part of a special education effort.

The premise is that brilliance is equally distributed in persons,  but opportunity is not.  The focus is on 15-17 years old.  This is an age when  “ideation,” the willingness to consider new ideas and become doers is formed.

This educational support is for four years.   The time frame for measuring success is in decades.  It may take ten years or more to see if those chosen in the program will become leaders in their chosen professions.

The program called Rise recognizes that leadership will be manifested in many different ways but over time.  But the investment in this generation must be made now.

The cooperative model is designed to attract this kind of self starter.  But today again, the regulatory community discourages new charters.  The application has become a compliance drill, not support for people with passion to serve a community.  The next student chartered credit union will be the first since the 1980’s.

In the meantime these young change makers are engaging their start up  fervor elsewhere sometimes in other innovative finance-related endeavors.

The Common Thread

Credit union leaders, regulators and professional staffs, have become captured by the short term focus that drives most performance reporting.   What are the latest quarterly numbers?  How will we expand the market reach of our FOM?   What Fintech partner will give us short erm lead on innovation?

All these efforts while necessary overlook the longer term outcomes.   Without  this awareness, the movement will become just another increasingly concentrated, and limited,  financial service option in ten years.  The number of active charters will be halved.

Tomorrow’s  innovative financial models will have been created by the high school and college generation outside the movement. Credit unions will be seen as  old fashioned “banking” firms just tending to their own, stand alone, self interests.

Both of these trends today are shaping what the movement will be a decade from now. There will be other cooperative solutions designed to serve consumers’ financial needs; however they may not be called credit unions.

 

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A Perspective On Credit Union Leadership & Human Nature

“It’s probably been happening in the ranks of American business since the first corner office was built, the first board was elected and the first regulatory body was created.  But the unceremonious departure of well-known chief executives is also occurring a lot more frequently in the CU movement, lately.

“These are people you know, or at least know something about.  You see them at national credit union conferences.  They are the ones who have their photos in the program book because they are on the board of the sponsoring group or are speakers.  They are the first ones to the floor microphones to challenges speakers.  They write articles and have articles written about them.  Their credit unions are also in the press a lot for innovations and achievement.

But they are gone.  Not because they wanted to leave, either.  Boards asked them to resign or fired them.  Regulators asked them to sept down.  Officers of the law escorted them into custody.  Staff pressures forced them out.  Some simply couldn’t cut it any more.  Some left kicking and screaming.  Others left quietly, never to be seen or heard from again.

“It seems a shame that a long and apparently successful career ends with a headline, factual story and mug shot in the press.  It happens to corporate titans all the time. But we’re talking about credit union people here.   They’re supposed to be different, but I guess they really aren’t. . . Although the reasons for departure vary greatly, it is apparent that one more sign of the growth and maturity of the credit union industry is that the “here today and gone tomorrow” syndrome is alive and well. . .

“Collectively the moral of their stories should be to acknowledge when you are doing something that could be viewed as a questionable business practice and stop it immediately.  CU CEO’s and for that matter their boards, don’t have to be rocket scientists to understand that eventually, hefty insider loans, conflict of interest . . . transactions, or sweetheart compensation packages are going to get them in trouble and into the unemployment line at beast and the appropriate jailhouse at worst.  . .

“Who’ll be next?  I suspect some out there already know who and why, too!”

 

(Source:  by Mike Welch, Editor and Publisher, Credit Union Times, April 22, 1992, Page 6)