BOISE, Idaho–The world has changed since the COVID pandemic, and credit union advocacy must change with it, according to one person.
Troy Stang, president and CEO of the Northwest Credit Union Association, told an opening session of the NWCUA’s MAXX Conference that that the association will be rolling out “advocacy 2.0” in the Spring of 2022.
“In 2022 we’re going to pour a little more gasoline on grassroots advocacy,” said Stang. “It’s no secret Northwest credit unions wrote the book on advocacy. That’s been known for years across the nation. Northwest credit unions show up in all the right conversations.”
But the way in which those conversations take place have been changing since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The world has changed,” said Stang. “We are connecting via Zoom and virtual presentations. Advocacy has changed and the way an industry communicates to elected officials has changed. We are going to reengineer grassroots advocacy. We have 30,000 employees and volunteers That’s at tool we can unleash if you have the proper tools, the proper training, the proper message points.”
Not Just for the Few
Stang said advocacy in credit unions can no longer be limited to a few members of senior management and the board.
“I think advocacy should be in every person’s job description,” he said. “In our grassroots advocacy reinvention I’m envisioning SWAT teams in every electoral district armed with the right facts and data and singing from the same song sheet. We believe once we light up the 30,000 people who work for credit unions we will have grassroots acceleration like we’ve never had before. It’s about more than just a day at the capitol. This is going to be needed to put a stake in the sand for our place in financial services.”