At CFCU's annual membership meeting, members and staff came together to reflect on the year, celebrate accomplishments, share ideas for improvement, and renew their commitment to the cooperative’s mission of igniting Michiganders' impossible dreams through connection and community.
On the heels of Community Financial Credit Union's annual membership meeting, I am humbled and grateful to our board, members, and team, whom I am honored to serve. Last night, I shared a few reflections on 2023 at our new Center for Impossible Dreams in Plymouth’s Old Village to a sea of purple as our team showed their pride and enthusiasm for our brand, strategy, and culture. The electrifying energy felt last night can only be achieved through the power of connection and community.
We came together to share values, exude passion, gain understanding, celebrate accomplishments, cast a future vision, hear opportunities for improvement, and express differing opinions. This is what ownership in a financial cooperative looks like.
The desire to congregate is primal and core to our humanity. I remember, during COVID, longing to be in any setting surrounded by other humans. I yearned for connection during those isolating months. People have crafted and celebrated holidays, birthdays, milestones, and even cosmic occurrences (hello, vernal equinox, see you on March 21!) as they create opportunities for us to come together.
Credit unions have this opportunity annually through our annual member meetings. At Community Financial Credit Union’s annual meeting of members, we discussed the state of the credit union. This was not a one-sided affair where members sat and listened. They stood, they engaged, and they shared because they give a damn. Candor is an essential element of ownership. And interpersonal connection creates a two-way dialogue that we often miss behind our many screens.
By coming together annually, we have an opportunity to elevate the purpose of our cooperative and inspire those we serve to enthusiastically engage in our purpose of igniting Michiganders’ impossible dreams. Beyond the meeting's technical importance and business necessity, this annual gathering sparks a time for reconnection and pride in our rich history. It builds a bridge to an even brighter future.
We hear a lot about divisiveness, polarization, and our differences. In moments of gathering, how much we have in common becomes vivid. We may have differing views. Some of us may long for the past. Others of us may have our visions set boldly on the future. When we first started, we were founded on our differences, and those differences connected and unified us. Someone who had resources shared those resources with someone who needed resources, and those cooperative savers and borrowers bridged their distinct and unique experiences to bring credit unions to life.
At another recent credit union gathering, the Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC) hosted by America's Credit Unions, credit unions from across the country came together to advocate on behalf of our members with our legislators. For those of us who have served our industry for years, this gathering brings to life essential work ensuring our organizations can continue to make an impact, and it also represents a moment of community. It’s a reminder of our purpose to improve the financial lives of Americans, and it creates connection and time with leaders who share vision, passion, and a drive to change the world.
The traditions of gathering mean so much. These annual opportunities to spark joy, remember our purpose, celebrate our past, learn how we can improve, and, most importantly, connect on how even our differences unite us are among the many things that make credit unions unique and genuinely exceptional. Until next year, Huzzah!