By Lisa Hochgraf
When I applied for my job at CUES back in (dare I type it?) 1995, the little I knew about credit unions included the fact that credit unions helped people around the world. I had attended a meeting of Rotary International and the speaker was from the World Council of Credit Unions. I was impressed, and excited about the prospect of joining the effort.
A few years later, I had the great pleasure to talk with credit union leaders in Valencia, Spain. CUES published the resulting article, "Cooperación," about credit cooperatives with agricultural roots in the July 1998 issue of Credit Union Management magazine. (If you want me to send you a PDF scan of it, please email me.)
More than a decade later, credit unions are still serving people around the world. To mark International CU Week, my colleague, Theresa Witham, and I have been learning about credit unions in the Baltic states and Africa, as we prepare two articles.
"Exploring Credit Unions Around the World" is about CUs in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia and how they actively promote education of their members and employees, along with the general public, and promote taking part in the democratic process.
"Hope for the Hopeless" is about a CU in Ghana that makes a difference in the lives of people who have little by taking its services out to members where they are--whether that's driving a taxi or tending a shop.
CUES is also part of the international-ness of credit unions, to my great pleasure. Regularly serving members in 14 countries, CUES announced today that it will collaborate with the Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions to offer the CCCU and CUES International Convention, next June 23-26 in Montego Bay, Jamaica. The event will give industry leaders the opportunity to network with a worldwide community of colleagues, and provide content focused on strategy, leadership and governance. I can only imagine how members will benefit.
The theme of the new CUES-CCCU convention is "Cooperative Enterprises Build a Better World." I couldn't agree more and it's great to be part of it.
