Summit explores role of leadership, sustainability in DEI work
From left, CUNA VP of DEI Samira Salem, Inclusiv Network EVP Pablo DeFilippi, Local Government FCU CEO Maurice Smith, Tarrant County's Credit Union President/CEO Lily Newfarmer, and Coopera CEO Victor Corro discuss sustainable DEI practices at a panel Wednesday. (CUNA photo)
Credit union diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts are part of the credit union movement, whether internally, or how credit unions serve communities, panelists said Wednesday at NCUA’s DEI Summit. CUNA Vice President of DEI Samira Salem participated in a panel on sustainable DEI in the credit union movement, and moderated a panel on DEI in leadership later in the summit.
Salem was joined on the sustainable DEI panel by Pablo DeFilippi, executive vice president of Inclusiv Network, Lily Newfarmer, president/CEO of Tarrant County’s Credit Union, and Maurice Smith, CEO of Local Government Credit Union and former CUNA board chair.
Smith, whose 43-year credit union career has seen five recessions and almost every other economic development, said the same vulnerable communities are the ones hurt in each economic downturn, and they’ll be the ones hurt in the next one.
“No one has the moral authority to serve these communities like credit unions do,” he said. “And if we don’t, no one else will. DEI is at the center of those efforts.”
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