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NCUA's Hood announces culture council
NCUA Chairman Rodney Hood Wednesday announced the creation of the NCUA Culture Council to promote diversity, inclusion, and equity (DEI) within the agency during its Credit Union Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Summit. NAFCU Director of Regulatory Affairs Ann Kossachev attended the event and led a think-tank exercise to generate conversation and solutions to existing and emerging challenges related to advancing DEI.
The agency also demonstrated its credit union diversity self-assessment, "which helps credit unions identify opportunities to strengthen diversity and inclusion policies and practices within their organizations."
“When credit union people talk about diversity, inclusion, and equity, it’s with an understanding that those values are part of this industry’s genetic code,” said Hood in his speech at the summit. “We should take pride in our achievements at elevating the commitment to diversity and inclusion, but there is still a tremendous amount of work that needs to be done. Diversity, equity, and inclusion should be sources of enrichment, strength, and unity, not division.”
Additionally, summit attendees from NCUA Board Members Mark McWatters and Todd Harper, agency staff, and industry leaders on best practices and how the NCUA can support the credit unions in their efforts.
Credit unions continue to lead the charge as the NCUA and lawmakers work toward greater diversity in the financial services industry and NAFCU consistently works to ensure credit union can meet the needs of all members in their communities, supporting the NCUA's efforts to modernize field of membership rules. The association recently testified before a House Financial Services subcommittee on credit unions' commitment to diversity and serving communities in need.