Oscar Guzman, Chief of Party for World Council of Credit Unions’ Economic Inclusion Project (EIP), discusses how the USAID-funded activity in Peru and Ecuador connects Venezuelan migrants and low-income local residents to financial services, employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, and also works on the prevention of gender-based violence. At the two-year mark, the Economic Inclusion Project has had a tremendous impact in South America and provides some lessons on how to assist migrant and refugee populations around the world.

Robert Kelly, Chief Executive Officer of the Association of British Credit Unions Limited (ABCUL) is our guest for Episode 13 of the Global Credit Union Podcast.

ABCUL, World Council’s direct member credit union association in the United Kingdom, is co-hosting the 2022 World Credit Union Conference in Glasgow, Scotland with WOCCU from July 17-20. Along with being an expert on the UK credit union movement, Robert is also a Glasgow native. He talks about all the great things that await you in Scotland—both at the conference and outside of it. And if you’re still thinking about joining us in Glasgow this July – Robert will have some great reasons as to why you should register today.

You can register for the 2022 World Credit Union Conference, and find a list of keynote speakers, breakout sessions, hotels, day tours and more, by visiting https://wcuc.org.

Our guest on this edition of the Global Credit Union Podcast is “Aleksandr.” A liaison to the Ukrainian credit union movement, Aleksandr talks about the dire circumstances facing both the people of Ukraine and its credit unions. Aleksandr is not his real name. We chose to hide his identity for his safety, but the stories he shares about the devastating impacts of the Russian invasion of his country are very real.

Aleksandr discusses what life is like for credit union employees and their members in Russian-occupied areas of the country, where there is a lack of food, water, communications, electricity and heat. He also talks about what the country’s credit union associations and regulators are doing to make it easier for those credit unions that are still operational, and what the country might need to get all their credit unions back up and running once this conflict is over.

If you want to help the people of Ukraine in the short term—and Ukrainian credit unions and their members in the long-term—you can do that by making a donation to Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions’ Ukrainian Credit Union Displacement Fund. Click here to donate.

To learn more about how credit unions in Ukraine are overcoming the challenges they face and how the global credit union movement is working to assist them, follow updates on World Council’s Ukrainian Crisis Response blog.

Sustainable finance is one of the fastest growing areas of concerns for regulators and credit unions, which is why it is the focus of World Council of Credit Unions’ 2022 Global Regulatory Update for Credit Unions and Financial Cooperatives.

World Council Assistant General Counsel of International Advocacy Panya Monford and World Council Senior Vice President of International Advocacy and General Counsel Andy Price join Greg Neumann to discuss that and the other topics covered in their 2022 Global Regulatory Update. That includes how their efforts paved the way for credit unions to expect regulations that are more favorable to expanding financial inclusion, and how digitalization, cybersecurity and cryptocurrency will be more closely scrutinized by regulators in the months ahead.

Facundo Turconi, owner and CEO of Solven, a South American fintech, is featured on Episode Eight to discuss how his firm has helped credit unions in Peru offer digital credit options to their members in less than two months through World Council of Credit Unions’ Economic Inclusion Project. Funded by USAID, the Economic Inclusion Project seeks to expand financial inclusion to Venezuelan migrants and low-income local residents in Peru and Ecuador.

Facundo also talks about the obstacles preventing many credit unions in Latin America from offering digital services and why many of those roadblocks are common ones for credit unions throughout the world.

If you want to learn more about the work Solven is doing with the Economic Inclusion Project in Peru, you can read about our joint efforts on World Council’s Challenge 2025 blog.

Results of a first-time demographic survey of World Council of Credit Unions' member credit union associations showed women trail far behind men when it comes to credit union membership and leadership. The responses, from 34 credit union associations on five continents, also showed the average credit union member is far older than the average person in the general population. 

But two World Council and Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions' programs are actively trying to to reverse those trends. In this episode of the Global Credit Union Podcast, Host Greg Neumann talks with: 

- Mary Rose Gob, Knowledge Resource Center Head/Senior HR Advisor for the National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO-Philippines) and a member of the Global Women's Leadership Network (GWLN), and

- Vinicius Mattia, Sicredi (Brazil) Youth Committee member and a member of the World Council Young Credit Union Professionals (WYCUP) program. 

Gob gives her insights on the issues holding back more women from becoming credit union members and preventing women working in credit unions from ascending to leadership roles. She also discusses the role GWLN plays in reducing the inequities in both areas. 

Mattia talks about the obstacles credit unions must overcome to appeal to more young consumers and reduce the age of the average member. He talks about why WYCUP can be a powerful tool credit unions can tap to reach out to more young people worldwide.

You can learn more about WYCUP here. 

You can learn more about the Global Women's Leadership Network here. 

To find the report on Sicredi's Youth Committees referenced by Vinicius in this episode, click here. 

And to find the demographics survey data discussed in this episode of the podcast, click here and go to page six of the 2020 Statistical Report.

New World Council of Credit Unions' (WOCCU) President and CEO Elissa McCarter LaBorde is the featured guest. Elissa took over her new leadership role in August 2021, bringing more than 20 years of experience leading organizations in delivering financial services to underserved communities across the globe.

For the previous 12 years, Ms. LaBorde served as Chief Executive Officer of Vitas Group, a for-profit holding company she established under Global Communities, an international development and humanitarian aid organization that operates in 27 countries. Ms. LaBorde also served for 16 years as Global Communities’ Vice President of Development Finance, overseeing the non-profit organization’s strategy, investment and thought leadership in financial inclusion.

Greg Neumann talks to her about why she felt the time was right for a new challenge and why she thinks credit unions offer a huge opportunity to financial inclusion around the world through further digitization.