Pre-event also planned to toast Shreveport Federal Credit Union’s President/CEO Helen Godfrey-Smith for her credit union’s financial service efforts to low-income areas throughout the Mississippi Delta.
WASHINGTON, DC (February 19, 2013)
| What: | Reception honoring Pelican State Credit Union Chief Executive Officer Jeff Conrad for achieving full participation of staff in the Community Development Certified Financial Counseling program |
| Who: |
National Cooperative Business Association and CU Strategic Planning |
| When: | Tuesday, Feb. 26, from 6 until 8 p.m., Eastern time |
| Where: | NCBA Headquarters
1401 New York Avenue, NW |
| Why: |
|
Pre-event: NCBA honors Shreveport Federal Credit Union President/CEO Helen Godfrey-Smith for her credit union’s consistent efforts serving the underserved and improving low-income communities in and around Shreveport, La., and the Mississippi Delta.
Who: NCBA, CU Strategic Planning, and Shreveport FCU
When: Tuesday, Feb. 26, from 5:30 until 6 p.m., Eastern time
Where: NCBA Headquarters (see address above)
Why: Among its many services to the low-income areas of Louisiana and the Mississippi Delta, Shreveport FCU has always been a financial institution providing second chances to its members and prospective members. A couple of the credit union’s many initiatives that exemplify its generous, yet risky, efforts include:
- Shreveport FCU assists soon-to-be-released, local prison inmates to ensure their integration and access to financial services results in a positive re-start.
- Shreveport FCU boasts a loan portfolio that is predominately low-income D and E borrowers – and some with no credit score at all.
The National Cooperative Business Association will host a reception at its Washington, DC headquarters with Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) grant writing and consulting firm CU Strategic Planning to launch NCBA’s community development initiative and to recognize Pelican State Credit Union for achieving full staff participation in the Community Development Certified Financial Counseling program. The CDCFC program trains credit union staff to identify financial distress and work directly with members to prevent financial catastrophe. NCBA is the certifying body for CDCFC, which is administered by CU Strategic Planning.
During the event, NCBA President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Beall will recognize Pelican State Credit Union ($200 million: 33,530 members; Baton Rouge, LA) as the nation’s first financial institution to certify its entire staff through the CDCFC training program. Essential for credit unions serving moderate-to-low-income populations, the CDCFC training, testing, and certification ensures credit unions like Pelican State can better serve its members who are experiencing financial challenges.
Pelican CEO Jeff Conrad was moved to empower his staff to assist Pelican’s members on noting that over the last five year their credit scores had dropped, sometimes leaving them ineligible for loans for which they formerly qualified. By certifying all staff as financial counselors through the CDCFC, the credit union seeks to help its members build wealth and improve their financial state.
Conrad discusses how the CDCFC certification will assist Pelican members in a video available on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dp26VL6Kp0).
About National Cooperative Business Association (www.ncba.coop)
Founded in 1916, NCBA’s mission is to develop, advance and protect cooperative businesses and to demonstrate the power of the cooperative business model to achieve economic and social impacts. As the national organization representing the interests of the US cooperative community, NCBA’s portfolio includes programs and services that meet the shared advocacy, education and communications needs of a cross-sector US cooperative community that includes agriculture, child and home care, energy and telecommunications, insurance and financial services, food distribution, healthcare, housing, and wholesale and retail purchasing and distribution. In addition to its work domestically, NCBA’s CLUSA International program has been engaged in cooperative and sustainable business development in over 100 countries for close to 60 years. The CLUSA portfolio includes over 20 development projects in 15 countries.
About CU Strategic Planning (www.creditunionstrategicplanning.com)
Headquartered in Tacoma, WA, with satellite offices in San Diego and Boston, CU Strategic Planning is the only strategic planning facilitator in the United States with the mission to help credit unions realize their potential through the International Credit Union Operating Principles. It is widely considered the #1 writer of credit union Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) grant applications. No firm serving credit unions writes and wins more CDFI awards than CU Strategic Planning. Its “Miracle Makers” have 100 percent success with CDFI certification.