A Common Thread at ACE26

Last week, many of you joined us in Grand Rapids for MCUL's ACE26, where more than 1,300 credit union professionals and partners gathered to learn, connect and share ideas. Before the conference, I found myself counting and realized it was my 27th annual convention! 

But what struck me after the event ended was that even after 27 ACEs, I still look at our movement through a slightly different lens each year. There's always something that stays with me that I wasn't expecting when the week began. This year, that was the concept of empathy, and how that simple but profound concept seemed to pop up everywhere. 

Whether we were talking about innovation, leadership, financial well-being or emerging technologies, there was a common focus on understanding people's experiences first and then finding the best ways to serve them. 

That commitment to helping others is always reflected in our fundraising efforts, and this year, attendees raised about $155,000 for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. That generosity will help children and families facing some of life's most difficult challenges, and it says a lot about the values that continue to guide our movement. 

But I really started to notice this theme during our second annual CU Spark Tank Finale, where young professionals competed by pitching innovative ideas designed to address real-world challenges. 

Alexa Irvine, from TRUE Community Credit Union, ultimately took home the top prize with her concept, Compass. Her idea is to take app-based communication further so we can better understand members and guide them to tools and resources uniquely suited to their situation. The other finalists brought ideas ranging from addressing hunger in food deserts through local farming, to creating a financial safety net for gig workers, to helping make homeownership more attainable through a blended mortgage rate program. And as I listened to the presentations, I started to notice how each and every one of these solutions came from a place of empathy. They were rooted in a clear understanding of the challenges people face and a genuine desire to help solve them. 

This is one of the things that makes CU Spark Tank so special, and something I hadn't necessarily thought about before. The goal has always been to encourage new ideas, inspire young professionals, give them an opportunity to spread their wings and ultimately help strengthen credit unions along the way. 

But part of empowering young people is creating space for perspectives that may be different from those of us who came before them. They're interacting with different populations, they're closer to emerging challenges and they're experiencing many of the same issues their peers and members are facing in their own lives. And you would be hard-pressed to find a better example of the value of investing in our YPs than this year's CU Spark Tank Finale. 

Kassandra Schroeder of the Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions touched on something similar during the Global Women's Leadership Network meeting. She spoke about the importance of investing in team members when they join your credit union and helping them immediately connect to the larger mission of the credit union movement. 

Sometimes that investment is introducing someone to a new resource or development opportunity. Sometimes it’s encouraging participation in programs like CUDE, where people can deepen their understanding of our history, philosophy and purpose. Whatever form it takes, those investments matter, because when people understand the "why" behind their work, they tend to bring more ideas, more curiosity and a stronger commitment to things like advocacy and financial education. 

Another moment of empathy that stayed with me was our keynote session with Virginia Commonwealth University's Carolyn E. Hawley. She shared her research on gambling addiction and the growing impact of mobile betting platforms. What struck me was how our attendees responded to Carolyn’s stories. As she described the financial and personal toll gambling addiction is having on individuals, the tone in the room quickly turned to, “How can we help?” People wanted to know how credit unions can identify warning signs and how to properly respond to members in ways that start with a level of support and understanding.  

During a conversation I had on stage with futurist Jonathan Brill, we talked about how AI will continue to change the way organizations operate. One point he kept coming back to was that credit unions shouldn't think about AI primarily as a tool for efficiency. Instead, he encouraged us to think about how it can create more space for us to strengthen member relationships. 

I found that perspective reassuring. Even as someone whose job is to think about the future, Jonathan recognized that credit unions' greatest differentiator remains our human touch. AI can help us streamline processes and identify trends, but it can also create more time for the conversations and personal interactions that have always been at the heart of what credit unions do. Understanding what someone needs, listening to their current struggles and helping them navigate them is still deeply human work, and I suspect it will remain that way for a long time. 

And speaking of the future, we celebrated a milestone at ACE26 that was all about preparing for our CUSO’s (formerly CUSG's) next chapter. 

After more than a year in the making, we finally unveiled Navari. 

This rebrand of our CUSO has been more than a year in the making, and it was incredibly rewarding to unveil it on center stage. A tremendous amount of thought and work went into developing a name and identity that better reflects who we are today and where we're headed in the future. 

If you'd like to learn more about the story behind Navari and what it means moving forward, I encourage you to visit Navari.com. 

Thanks for reading.

« Return to "Patty's Desk"