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Education, employee resource groups and community outreach are key to the credit union’s efforts.
At VyStar Credit Union, we believe in the importance of standing up for what we believe in, dedicating ourselves to our members and supporting communities we have long called home.
Those beliefs are what drive us to embrace being more than a traditional financial institution, and they come from three simple words that form our organization’s one core value.
Lead by example.
As VyStar CU has grown and our members and communities have become more diverse, we have worked to better define and display what it means to lead by example. Nowhere is that truer than in the area of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Creating a strong workplace culture is integral to the success of our credit union. That’s why we empower our talented employees, who come from a wide variety of backgrounds, cultures and ethnicities. But if our DEI efforts were meant only to bring about internal progress, we would fall short in our aspirations and our commitments as a credit union.
Being more than a traditional financial institution requires the courage to step forward and become a trailblazer and to challenge others to do the same. It requires us to lead by example. At VyStar CU, we are doing just that.
Awareness and Acceptance
Like many other aspects of our credit union, which was founded in 1952 at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Jacksonville, Florida, and now serves over 800,000 members, our efforts to create a higher standard around DEI begin with education.
In 2021, our DEI team—a growing staff of five employees—developed and produced two first-of-their- kind educational conferences to advance the conversation around two critical DEI topics. In March, we presented the Women’s Summit on Intersectionality to discuss the roles that race and gender play in equity opportunities. We also examined the benefits of empowering and supporting women across all industries. This virtual, half-day conference featured a keynote presentation from author and diversity and inclusion expert Risha Grant. Through speaking engagements like this, Grant teaches and empowers attendees with diversity and inclusion tools. The inaugural event also included sessions with female leaders from VyStar CU, UF Health Jacksonville, the African-American Credit Union Coalition and more.
After the incredible success of our Women’s Summit, VyStar CU presented a second conference in October, the LGBTQ+ Empowerment Summit. This virtual, half-day summit discussed the challenges faced every day in the LGBTQ+ community and focused on how we can diminish these challenges through open conversations in the corporate environment. This summit featured keynote speaker Ashley Brundage, founder and president of Empowering Differences. Since she self-identified as a male-to-female transgender woman in 2008, Ashley has worked tirelessly to promote awareness and acceptance of gender identity and expression. She helped to educate and inspire attendees by sharing her story and sharing how others can help to create a welcoming, positive environment in the workplace. The Summit also showcased speakers from VyStar CU, Mayo Clinic, CU Pride, One Pulse and more.
Helping Others
In the VyStar CU spirit of giving back to the community, both Summits also raised money for nonprofit organizations. The Women’s Summit supported Rethreaded, a Jacksonville-based nonprofit that provides jobs to human trafficking survivors. This is an organization VyStar CU has long supported through partnerships to make employee gifts, efforts to sew masks for frontline healthcare workers during the pandemic and a recent gift to the organization’s capital campaign to build out its forever home.
The LGTBQ+ Empowerment Summit supported the onePULSE Foundation, a 501(c)3 established by the owner of the Pulse Nightclub to support a memorial that opens hearts, a museum that opens minds, educational programs that open eyes and legacy scholarships that open doors. The Summit also contributed to JASMYN, an organization that supports and empowers LGBTQ+ young people by creating safe space, providing health and wholeness services, and offering youth development opportunities. Another organization that VyStar CU has long supported through contributions to operating funds, support of their Coming Out Day Breakfast and Strides for Pride 5k, as well as a significant contribution to the SafePlaces capital campaign to expand JASMYN’s campus.
These summits have had attendees that included members, VyStar CU employees, leaders in the CU industry and the public totaling more than 90,000 viewing minutes. The events have challenged VyStar CU and community leaders to start difficult conversations that lead to progress and change in the world around us.
This bold approach has also helped to recruit top talent. After watching the Women’s Summit as an employee at a partnering organization, one of our team members felt so inspired by VyStar CU’s efforts to create a voice and a change in the community, she knew she needed to work for an organization that truly cared to make a difference and live out their purpose to lead by example.
This year, the DEI team is planning its next summit around Juneteenth to open conversations about why and how we celebrate. There will be community service events leading up to the summit to get more members, employees and community partners involved in the movement.
Growing Together
Another integral part of VyStar CU’s DEI efforts comes from the creation of more than 10 employee resource groups, called VyStar Resource Groups. VRGs empower employees to have productive conversations about how to effectively support and advocate for themselves and others. The VRGs include members of the LGBTQ+ community, veterans, differently abled individuals, those of African heritage, Hispanic heritage, Asian heritage, individuals over 50, women, parents and young leaders.
Our VRGs have grown by over 126% since launching in 2020. They have hosted activities to promote awareness, education and culture of belonging by inviting 31 speakers, hosting 20 cultural celebrations, hosting 15 social engagements and donating over $30,000 to community initiatives, and this is just the beginning. VyStar CU continues to add VRGs and grow our current membership—not only to make sure every employee feels like they have a community that understands them, but also so they can continue to bring about change in the world around them.
We are always proud to see our VRGs in action, such as when Shades of Success, our African heritage resource group, leads our credit union in the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Parade in downtown Jacksonville, or when VyAbility, our resource group for differently abled individuals, raises money to support local group homes and day programs.
Changing the Future
We are proud of our employees, but their efforts are just beginning. There is still much work to be done for all of us. Our credit union will continue to lead through conversations, through community support and through taking action. In doing so, we hope to inspire others to treat people with empathy, respect and foster an inclusive environment for everyone.
At VyStar, we’re going to continue to lead by example. Won’t you join us?
CUES member Allie Braswell Jr. is VP/culture, diversity, equity and inclusion at over $12 billion VyStar Credit Union, Jacksonville, Florida. Allie is an accomplished entrepreneur, author and civic leader with diverse experiences in business, public speaking and community engagement, as well as leadership in human resources. Allie leads VyStar CU’s efforts to be recognized by its members, employees, peer institutions and the community as a leading model for diversity, equity and inclusion. He holds a BS in information technology from AIU, a Master of Arts in human resource management from Webster University as well as an Advanced Diversity and Inclusion Certificate from Cornell University.
