Page 14 - Contact Q1 2016 - final

Left: Eric Feldman, left, chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, was awarded MCUL's Legislative Staffer of the Year Award at the 2015 CUNA GAC. He is seen here
with Lon Bone of Genisys CU0. Right: MCUL's Dave Adams, left, meets with U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) during the 2015 CUNA GAC.
“When you think about Metro East, we understand the importance
of advocacy, and the only way to get people involved is really to
bring it to their attention. So CEOs [within the chapter] agreed to
put some folks on that committee, and we continue to grow that.”
Foundation for the Future
Isaac further offered the idea that empowering employees can
help build a foundation for creating the next generation of
advocates at the credit union.
“As a CEO, if it’s not your passion, find someone who has that
passion,” she said. “If you can find an individual that is
passionate about politics, reward them by allowing them to go
to CUNA’s GAC or the MCUL GAC. When you talk about getting
people hooked into the movement, it’s amazing the stories
you hear at these events about what other credit unions are
doing in their communities. It’s inspiring and motivational to
go to these big events, because you get all these big ideas
and you come back and you want to implement them.”
KCCU’s Williams pointed out that smaller, less formal events
also build that foundation. She suggested that more credit
unions try to engage in events such as Pints and Politics.
14 First Quarter 2016 I Contact
“You can get people to show up by making it less formal and
more social,” she said. “Think outside the box on how you
want to do things.” The Battle Creek chapter also hosted an
event last year with George Franklin, president of Franklin
Public Affairs, LLC and former vice president of worldwide
government relations for the Kellogg Company. Although
Franklin isn’t a credit union insider, Williams stressed the
importance of interacting with professionals outside of the
credit union movement who may still have wisdom and
experience to share about interacting with lawmakers
and the importance of grassroots lobbying.
“Our voice is louder and we’re more relevant when we all speak
together,” reminded CCCU’s Cottle. “Credit unions that aren’t
joining the conversation with us are not giving everything
they could to the movement; they should be part of that
conversation. When we reach out to lawmakers with our
opinions and information, it makes them sit back and realize
that it’s not just one or two of us—it’s all of us speaking as
one. It’s important for us to stick together and continue to
push the credit union movement forward.”