GREEN RIVER – Trona Valley Federal Credit Union’s Chief Operating Officer, Jeremy Gibson, was one of forty-three credit union professionals who became Credit Union Development Educators (CUDEs) through the intensive Credit Union Development Education (DE) Training from the National Credit Union Foundation (NCUF).
The Spring DE training was held April 23-30, 2014 at the Lowell Center on the University of Wisconsin campus in Madison, Wis. The graduating class included credit union representatives from across the United States, United Kingdom and Jamaica.
“I went to Madison not knowing what to expect,” said Gibson. “I left with a renewed pride for credit union history and the cooperative principles that serve as the foundation for what we do. Credit Union Development Educators are taught it’s all about people, not profit, and we shouldn’t ever lose sight of our purpose. When we stay true to our purpose, credit unions have a meaningful impact on our members and communities.”
Team Projects
DE Training provides critical lessons in cooperative principles and credit union philosophy while incorporating challenges credit unions face today. During the week-long program, participants were involved in group exercises, field trips, issue discussions with speakers from around the credit union system, and were required to complete team projects proposing solutions for credit unions to help alleviate or eliminate challenging situations in any given area. For this class’ final case studies, participants worked through and presented solutions to critical issues that included opening an Islamic banking center, board development and recruiting, credit union solutions to payday lending, microfinance to women in the Philippines, developing credit union awareness, and a small credit union merger dilemma.
About Trona Valley Federal Credit Union
Trona Valley Federal Credit Union serves any individual who lives, works, worships, or attends school in ten counties: Sweetwater, Sublette, Lincoln, Uinta, Carbon, and Teton Counties in Wyoming and Rich, Morgan, Summit, and Daggett Counties in Utah. In 1963, FMC Employees Federal Credit Union was formed. In 1989, a merger with Stauffer Big Island Federal Credit Union created Trona Valley Federal Credit Union. The member-owned, not-for-profit financial cooperative is committed to providing for the financial success of all members. We offer competitive products such as checking accounts, loans, mortgages, online banking and more. We are a part of the Shared Branching Network. For more information, visit http://www.tronavalley.com.
More about the DE Program:
The mission of the Credit Union Development Education (DE) program is to promote credit unions’ social responsibility and domestic and international development through interactive adult education and professional networking. By linking credit unions’ past and present, the DE program brings renewed relevance to credit unions’ seven cooperative principles and the philosophy of “People Helping People.”
Since 1982, more than 1,100 credit union advocates from over 34 countries have graduated from DE Training to become Credit Union Development Educators (CUDEs). Once they earn their CUDE designation, people return to their jobs with a sense of personal enrichment and renewed energy to share what they have learned. This growing corps of credit union advocates devotes professional and volunteer time to spreading the credit union message to audiences throughout the country. For more information on the DE program, visit http://www.ncuf.coop under Foundation Programs.
