ALEXANDRIA, Va.–When Monica Davy joined NCUA in 2015, she said she Googled “credit union diversity.” She didn’t come up with much.
“It was a little disheartening. But I also felt energized by the challenge of the blank slate in front of me,” said Davy, who is NCUA’s Director of the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI), during the agency’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Summit. “We didn’t turn down any invitation to talk about it. Now, if we were to answer every call today, we could be traveling once a week. So that’s awesome. I hope we can capitalize on that momentum to move things forward. If I was to google credit union diversity today I would come up with many results.”
Davy said there are now numerous credit unions that have put a strategic focus on diversity and inclusion.
Three Goals
Davy said she had three goals for the agency’s first ever DEI Summit:
- Everyone in attendance should become part of a DEI network. “And if we’re going to be purposeful about building that network, I ask that you make connections while you are here and be intentional about those connections,” she said, adding everyone should contact someone who is both ahead and behind them on the DEI journey in order to become both a mentor and mentee. “Commit to staying in touch with that person,” she urged.
- Use the DEI event as a platform to move the DEI needle in the industry. “The goal is for you become a champion of this and move the needle in your sphere of influence,” said Davy.
- To have each CU represented at the Summit commit to completing NCUA’s Credit Union Diversity Self-Assessment. “I would argue that this is of more benefit to you than it is to NCUA,” she said, stating a diverse membership helps drive growth at a credit union.
An Interesting Role
“NCUA as a regulatory agency has an interesting role in DEI,” said Davy. “We are a resource. We want you to see us as a resource. We can provide tools to you in this journey.”