In a record-attendance year, more than 100 industry leaders from over 30 credit unions and affiliates recently gathered for the 16th Annual Shapiro Summit in Anaheim, CA. This year’s summit provided a wealth of information for credit unions under $250 million in assets to solve real-life issues, including practical insights on leading change and turning problems into opportunities.
CEOs and other leaders from small credit unions across California came together for another successful year to hear sessions on collaboratively designing effective solutions, an inside look and roadmap on the future of the U.S. payments system, and effective answers in security, compliance, and equitable lending. Real-world scenarios and solutions for success were provided by a handful of interesting speakers this year — especially during the CEO Roundtable — including a range of technological-to-compliance and other topics in banking, current trends, disruption, and future opportunities.
“We are thankful the Shapiro Group Committee and the Leagues’ team were able to host another great Shapiro Summit, with leaders, partners, and experts collaborating to ensure our small credit union community thrives,” said Larry Palochik, executive vice president of the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues. “We are committed to continually leveraging the power of Shapiro Summit, the Shapiro Group, and our small credit unions to providing a unique forum geared toward their future success.”
Collaboration with credit union peers on hot topics and issues in serving members was in focus during this year’s summit, as well as the a special “what if” mindset keynote presentation by TEDx innovationist and speaker Mike Rayburn. Creating, innovating, reinventing, and seeing opportunities that others miss by “using a new mindset” was central to Rayburn’s discussion — using his world-class guitar and humor to create a transformational experience. In fact, the “What-If Interact Credit Union Game” was a popular hit, taking everything attendees learned and turning that into practical onsite application.
A stellar line-up of personalities and officials also engaged with credit union leaders on a variety of relevant topics, including state regulatory and compliance issues presented by California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) Commissioner Clothilde Hewlett, DFPI Deputy Commissioner of Credit Unions Purvi Patel, and DFPI Deputy Commissioner of the Office of Financial Technology Innovation Christina Tetreault. Their engagement and discussion came during a special CEO Roundtable hosted by Leagues President and CEO Diana Dykstra.
Attendees were also given a fresh taste of current and future small credit union strategies, the pulse of the local economy, strategic planning, compliance technology, artificial intelligence in lending, and peer-credit union insights from Glenn Wheeler (Catalyst Corporate), Michael Steinberger (Pomona College), Scott Fieber (Cook Solutions Group), Crystal Streeper (ViClarity), Eric Bruen (Desert Valleys FCU), Mike de Vere (Zest AI), and Jake Harbour (Santa Barbara County FCU).
“We want to thank leaders from small credit unions for taking the time to attend and engage with their peers during this year’s Shapiro Summit,” Dykstra said. “Year after year, small credit unions are the heartbeat of our movement across both states — supporting the industry, their communities, and the local households and members they serve.”
Attendees also enjoyed a beautiful welcome reception and raffle drawings, as well as a networking activity and competitive bowling at Splitsville Bowling Alley in Downtown Disney! Teams took to the lanes to see who was the top-bowler, with some fierce excitement, fun networking, and lots of engagement.
The Leagues would like to thank all corporate sponsors of this year’s Shapiro Summit:
