BRIDGETON, Mo. -
Hubert Hoosman, treasurer and funding committee co-chair for the African-American Credit Union Coalition, and CEO of Vantage CU here, is pleased with the diversity growth among boards in the CU movement.
“I’m starting to see it more and more,” he said. “I’m seeing more color, more diversity…I see growth and diversity everywhere in credit unions boards, except for CUNA. Everyone is growing but CUNA, but I don’t feel any underlying message there.”
At Vantage CU, three of the seven board members are minorities. He said he is seeing numbers like that at other CUs, with the exceptions of states such as North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming, which he believes simply do not have a diverse population. “But everywhere else, I’m seeing more diversity on the boards,” he said. “I think we’re doing pretty good here in the Midwest.”
Hoosman credits the African-American Credit Union Coalition as the force behind the growth. “I do think the AACUC has served as an asset to the movement,” he said, of the organization that was established in 1999.
Allan Kemp McMorris, CUNA chairman and CEO of Oakland County CU, Waterford, Mich., said diversity among leadership is a goal to which any national group should aspire.
“To that end, CUNA has adopted a leadership selection and representation system that attempts to maximize every opportunity to foster and develop diversity among our national trade association’s leadership,” he said. “With our six regions and each region electing three representatives from asset-range groups of credit unions, and one representative from a state league in the region, the credit union movement has the prospect of selecting a broad representative group leadership from a very diverse group of credit unions.”
The opportunity may be there, but the numbers don’t reflect that (see related story above). “Can we elect a more diverse group of leaders?” McMorris continued. “Of course. Our system offers every chance for that result. At CUNA, we welcome and anticipate that development.”
Mark Hawkins, a CUES director and CEO of Altura CU, Riverside, Calif., said Altura’s board has been undertaking this for many years. The current board consists of five men, and four women–three are white, one is African-American, and five are Hispanic.
“Because we are in Southern California, I feel we should be reflective of that population,” he said. “Our board has always been of the mindset that this is what we need to do–to reflect ethnicity and gender is worthy.”
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