Creating advocacy success is not something that one individual, one credit union, or even one state can do in isolation. It is something that is reliant upon the collective involvement of countless credit unions to generate the type of operational environment in which members can access the services they need (or even have access to credit unions themselves!). One of the methods credit unions utilize to create a positive environment is by shaping the opinions of both legislators and regulators – something Georgia credit unions engage in consistently. The most recent of these efforts was on June 15th when Associated CU, Atlanta Postal CU, CDC FCU, Georgia’s Own CU, MembersFirst CU, Peach State FCU, Pinnacle CU, and GCUA met with Myra Toeppe, NCUA Region III Director, and key regional leadership staff to discuss the industry. This roundtable meeting with the federal regulator was orchestrated specifically to discuss issues surrounding BSA, internal fraud, cyber security expectations, and other compliance issues. The meeting helped expand the regulators’ understanding of credit union concerns and create an open dialogue to foster continued growth.
In addition to the engagement with NCUA, on June 20th – 21st members of GCUA’s Advocacy Team sat down with more than 16 other state leagues and CUNA to discuss strategy on a federal level, emerging issues seen in other state legislatures, and grassroots initiatives. Much as it takes all of the credit unions in Georgia working together to create advocacy success in calls to action, PAC fundraising, and shaping the issues that impact how members access credit unions, it takes the various states across the country working together to generate collective intel for statewide issues and coordinate large scale advocacy successes on a federal level.
