“We are all just experimenting all the time." - Caroline Willard

Welcome to episode 20 of The CUInsight Experience podcast. Hosted by Randy Smith, co-founder and publisher of CUInsight.com. I’m excited to introduce Caroline Willard, the President and CEO of the Cornerstone Credit Union League, as today’s guest! She’s also a board member of CUNA and one of my scuba diving and travel buddies. We’ll dig into gender diversity and the need for inclusion, innovation and disruption in credit unions, and much more! (We’ll do our best not to get distracted by chatting about traveling and diving.)

Early in our conversation, Caroline talks about Ronaldo Hardy’s gumbo analogy. Diversity is having all of the right ingredients on your counter. Inclusion is making sure they all make it into the pot. Equity is making sure that the ratios are balanced so that the dish turns out well. After sharing this powerful point, she explains that the push for transformation has to happen at all three levels (individual, credit union, and national). With that said, we need to start now instead of waiting for broader change at the national level.

In addressing how credit unions respond to disruption, Caroline points out that they tend to adapt and lead with what’s important to their membership. She’ll give some specific examples of people and credit unions who are listening to their membership and responding by creating a different experience. 

We’ll also dig into the importance of having a safe space where people can share their opinions without holding back, the value of branching out to different disciplines, the difference between fearlessness and recklessness, and much more. Because we can’t resist, we’ll even touch on how traveling relates to Caroline’s professional life. Enjoy!

Full show notes on www.CUInsight.com.

How to find Caroline:
Caroline Willard
President and CEO, Cornerstone Credit Union League
[email protected]
www.cornerstoneleague.coop
Twitter | Linkedin 

Show notes from this episode:
Check out all the great work Caroline and her team are doing at the Cornerstone Credit Union League.
McKinsey & Company: Why Diversity Matters
Shout-out: Ronaldo Hardy
Conference mentioned: Women’s Leadership Conference
Caroline mentioned how they are doing executive searches at Credit Union Resources, Inc. Find out more here.
Shout-out: Marcus Cotton
Caroline was on the senior management team at CO-OP Financial Services in her previous life.
Shout-out: