By Ray Birch
PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil —To spread the word about credit unions, and to bolster young leaders within the CU movement in Brazil, Gisele Gomes had been bringing young credit union members to the annual World Council Young Credit Union Professionals (WYCUP) meetings.
It’s a practice she plans to continue when the coronavirus pandemic has been brought under control, and it’s just one example of how another country is developing leaders within CUs that could be a model for the U.S.
The practice with the young Brazilian credit union professionals is very different from what other countries and credit unions had been doing, explained Brandi Stankovic, chief strategy officer with Michigan-based CU Solutions Group and WYCUP chair, noting CUs generally bring only board members or staff to WYCUP events.
“What Gisele is doing is very groundbreaking,” Stankovic said.
A Global Women’s Leadership Network and World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) ambassador in Brazil, Gomes serves as a member of the WYCUP/WOCCU steering committee. Gomes said she worked to bring credit union members to the events as a means to engage more youth in the movement in her country.
“One of the big challenges that CUs around the world have is to grow the youth membership, thinking about the sustainability of our credit unions,” she said. “I see the youth committees as a strategy to attract, engage, and retain the young generation. It is a way to connect the young people to our mission and vision.
Gomes is also founder of Gisele Gomes Co., a consultancy focused on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and cross-culture initiatives. She is among a number of young credit union professionals from across the globe CUToday.info has been profiling as part of a regular series.
A Common Brand
The move to bring young members to WYCUP meetings began after the Brazilian CU system, known as Sicredi, established Young Professionals Committees within Sicredi credit unions. Sicredi CUs all carry the same branding. Sicredi has created a network of 116 credit unions serving four-million members through 1,575 points of service under a common brand and through common operating systems. Sicredi is one of the fastest-growing CU systems globally.
“The CU members are the committee members, and the staff act as supporters, connecting the dots,” explained Gomes. “Inspired by the Global Women’s Leadership Network model and the Sister Societies, we have started to establish these committees to engage the next generation of young people in the CU movement. Through our data, we know that we should increase our youth membership growth, thinking about global financial inclusion and also the sustainability of credit unions.”
Changing the Face
The benefit of the decision to launch Youth Committees in 2017, explained Gomes, is they are changing the face of credit unions in Brazil.
“This initiative is changing lives and giving new perspectives to many people,” she said. “For me, it is all about the stories, the stories of their lives, authentic experiences, and opportunities that these young people share. They have been tasked to create projects within their communities to create a wave of good feelings about credit unions.”
Gomes contends the stories the young members share within their communities and the projects they undertake draw credit unions much closer to consumers within her country.
“We, too, are attracting, retaining, and developing young leaders this way,” Gomes said. “We want to have this young generation within our credit unions and give them opportunities to develop their careers and personal lives.”
New Leaders Developed
Driving greater youth engagement in credit unions in Brazil has already produced a few new, young CU leaders, according to Gomes, who that the youth in Brazil are receptive to working with credit unions. She explained the effort to recruit young people is typically led by credit union branch managers.
Gisele Gomes
“We have the sponsorship of the Sicredi chair, board of directors, and they spread the word of the importance of the program. The branch managers have an essential role in connecting the community to the program,” Gomes said. “They are responsible for inviting and presenting the initial idea of the program. Then, the CU will organize an agenda of events and training that last about two years. These members act as volunteers and get involved in many activities, including financial literacy events, International Credit Union Day and others. They also learn a lot about different topics and create a network.”
The Youth Movement
Gomes said the youth movement in Brazil really began in 2017.
“We have more than 700 young professionals directly involved,” she said. “But the actions—such as lectures, training and workshops—have impacted more than 10,000 people so far.”
Gomes, who is 40, is currently a member of Sicredi União Metropolitana in Porto Alegre.
“Since the beginning I felt that my values and my purpose in life were connected to the CU culture and values,” she said. “I am proud to belong to a credit union.”
Sicredi has 4.4 million members, and Gomes attributes that number to a “unique strategy.”
“Each credit union operates within a specific geographic area, and they do not compete with each other,” she said. “We have the same brand and the same operational pattern and standards. We also have a good relationship with the Senate and the Central Bank of Brazil.”
A Long Way to Go
Still, a big obstacle remains, Gomes said.
“Our biggest challenge is also our biggest opportunity—to become well known by everyone,” Gomes said. “According to World Council 2018 statistics, Brazilian CUs have a 6.9% market share, which means we still have a long way to go.”