The 2023 GAC Crashers for this year’s “Crash the GAC” at the annual Governmental Affairs Conference have been tapped from the largest applicant pool of rising leaders in credit unions within the program’s 14-year history, including two from California and one from Nevada!
Willis Chang, digital transformation officer for Kinecta FCU (California), Kat Fox, financial reporting manager for AltaOne FCU (California), and Megan Pieper, vice president of marketing for WestStar CU (Nevada), will join 55 of their peers at CUNA’s annual advocacy conference in Washington, D.C. from late February to early March — hosted by the Credit Union National Association (CUNA).
With 233 applications, the competition was tighter than ever before for these Crashers. The group represents 48 U.S. states and includes three World Young Credit Union Professionals (WYCUP) Scholarship winners from Africa, Australia, and Ukraine.
“Congratulations to this year’s class of GAC Crashers! We’re excited to welcome this engaged group of young credit union professionals to our movement’s premier advocacy event,” said CUNA President and CEO Jim Nussle. “They’ll have plenty to experience at the 2023 CUNA GAC, including amazing networking opportunities and the chance to advocate for the credit union difference to policymakers firsthand.”
Exclusive Crash content will be enhanced with new learning panels focused on leadership development, credit union history, community partnerships, engagement, and key advocacy topics. Programming has also been modified to include more time with the CUNA leadership and engagement teams and to allow learning to be actualized through Crash debriefs.
“The Cooperative Trust is thrilled to welcome the newest cohort of emerging leaders to ‘Crash the GAC’ in 2023,” said Filene Research Institute Community Development Director Cortney Arnold. “This group of rising professionals are the future of credit unions, and it is an honor to be part of history as we make space for them and where they will lead the industry in the decades to come. We know these Crashers will bring spirit, passion, and hopefully a little bit of good fun and disruption to CUNA GAC.”
Filene and The Cooperative Trust want to thank CUNA for enabling this group of emerging leaders to participate in the nation’s largest credit union event by covering the registration costs of 51 of this year’s Crashers.
“Crash the GAC” is Filene and The Cooperative Trust’s keystone Crash event. It is a non-stop, career-changing program for young professionals that gives them opportunities to build industry knowledge and connections in ways they would not otherwise likely have. The premier activity hosted by Crashers during CUNA’s GAC, Thunderpunch, will be held in partnership with SavvyMoney on Monday, Feb. 27.
The Cooperative Trust is the credit union industry’s largest young professional community. The Crash Program is designed to empower credit union young professionals through professional development and by finding and amplifying their voices to advocate for the role of young people in the industry. This year, The Cooperative Trust is launching the 2nd cohort of Crash Course: Filene’s Centers of Excellence to gain a holistic perspective on credit unions and how our industry can continue to serve members into the 21st century and beyond.
Crash the GAC is brought to you by The Cooperative Trust from Filene Research Institute and is made possible by the generous support of CUNA, and with help from state credit union league/association partners.
