Future of CA, NV, and UT Associations & Member Credit Unions

As the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues enter the planning stages of its partnership alliance with Utah’s Credit Unions, Leagues President and CEO Diana Dykstra recently hosted an online forum for incoming President and CEO Scott Simpson to provide updates, answer credit union CEO questions, and share details about the path forward.

Dykstra highlighted that to address the compression within the industry and ensure that state leagues and associations remain strong in representing and supporting credit unions, the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues’ respective boards of directors have been engaging in strategic planning to broaden partnerships with additional Leagues. After exploring this broader collaboration with various leaders, Dykstra and Simpson — together with the state league boards of California, Nevada, and Utah — began planning for a new alliance that would create an expanded collaboration, building on the success of the 28-year California and Nevada partnership model.

“The structure of the alliance is distinct from the mainstream approach of league evolution, which typically seeks scale through mergers,” Dykstra said. “The alliance model emphasizes partnership and collaboration, ensuring that control, voice, and affinity remain at the state level. This approach maintains a strong focus on advocacy while driving efficiency and leveraging resources for services and support.”

Simpson said the three organizations know that credit union advocacy is the foundation on which leagues are built, and the success going forward centers around maximizing focus and impact in the advocacy arena.

“It is critical to protect and amplify local affinity and culture in our respective state-and-federal legislative and regulatory advocacy efforts,” Simpson said. “Ensuring that each league is independently governed by its own board of directors provides a model that ensures strong local advocacy to meet the unique needs of our credit unions and marketplace in each state.”

Although each league remains independent, each will leverage new efficiencies, scale, and collaborative opportunities bringing numerous benefits that will enhance the resources dedicated to advocacy, maximizing effectiveness and impact.

This includes:

• Delivering top-tier support for Leagues and credit unions. This new alliance is an opportunity to strengthen the full suite of capabilities and expand upon value while driving efficiencies. By combining the support and services side of the business, the three leagues will operate at a new scale and leverage synergies to better support the leagues and member credit unions. Each leagues’ boards expect the integration to streamline processes, enhance efficiencies, and enable each association to serve the alliance and credit unions even more effectively.
• Managing organizational evaluations, budgets, and the transition period. The three leagues are currently assessing each organization, evaluating all resources, personnel, and the current business models. There will be some redundancies, and resources will be redeployed effectively and efficiently to support the future needs of the organizations and credit unions.
• Independently and jointly conducting planning sessions to foster a vision for the future state of the three organizations. Each league will establish budgets and an execution plan according to a joint management committee co-established by each state’s board. While the execution has begun, completion of this transformative alliance will likely extend into 2025. The timeline is fluid and allows for compression or expansion as needed. As planned, Dykstra will retire on July 1, 2024, and Simpson will assume the role of president and CEO of all three leagues. Credit unions will remain members of their state league. The joint support and services operations are meant to be seamless. Maintaining continuity of service is critical, and optimizing leadership and legacy for all member credit unions is a top priority.

“We are committed to helping California, Nevada, and Utah credit unions change people’s lives, creating a vibrant ecosystem tailored to meet their unique needs,” Dykstra added. “Safeguarding and enriching our operating environment remain paramount, where locally controlled credit union trade associations thrive and collaborate to empower growth and prosperity.”

“We appreciate our credit unions’ continued support and trust in the Leagues,” Simpson said. “We are here to address any issues or questions that may arise and will continue working diligently to ensure this alliance benefits all members. Thank you for your continued partnership and membership in the Leagues.”