By Ray Birch
WASHINGTON—There is only one way for credit unions to effectively increase efforts around diversity, equity and inclusion, according to Dr. Samira Salem: education.
With renewed attention to the issue, CUNA’s new vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) spoke with CUToday.info about what credit unions, and CUNA, need to do to do more than just talk about DEI.
“This is truly the moment to be doubling down on DEI and we know there's things that we can build upon,” said Salem. “We also know there are opportunities to do more to really firm up our commitment to this work.”
As CUToday.info reported, CUNA recently shared an initial DEI outline and implementation plan for itself and credit unions to follow.
“Number one is education. You cannot have a solution until you start really dealing with a problem,” Salem said. “Educating yourself and your staff about structural racism and oppression of blacks and other people of color in the U.S. is critical. CUNA has put together a comprehensive list of resources. And whether you are a large or small credit union you can do things like put together a book club, or just create opportunities to talk with your teams and delve into some of the fundamentals of diversity.”
Salem contends education will help get CUs to a “place of empathy where credit unions can actually begin to have heartfelt conversations and understand how systems—including financial systems—impact the lives of Black people,” she said.
Where to Begin?
Where should credit unions begin? According to Salem, a good place to start is by hiring a DEI specialist to lead the effort within the organization, or just tap people on the shoulder inside the credit who are interested in having meaningful conversations with employees.
As CUToday.info reported, among those taking such a step is UW Credit Union in Madison, Wis., which has created a new position, director of cultural competency and inclusion. UWCU President Paul Kundert told CUToday.info the credit union came to the conclusion such a position is needed after first trying to drive greater diversity, equity inside the credit union without any one person formally in charge of the effort.
Salem, as have many DEI experts shared with CUToday.info following the death of George Floyd, who was killed by Minneapolis police officers in May leading to protests across the country, emphasized leadership at the credit union must believe in and fully embrace DEI for any diversity efforts to ultimately succeed.
“I say all of this assuming there's a commitment to change in the organization,” said Salem. “Leadership and management teams must be willing to have these difficult conversations within their organizations. Also, change can only happen if you have staff who truly reflect the communities they're serving.”
Samira Salem
Examples to Watch
Salem said credit unions should also watch closely what the African American Credit Union Coalition (AACUC) is doing with its Commitment to Change initiative.
“The AACUC has some very good ideas for credit unions to drive DEI,” she said. “The DEI Collective, too, is another great resource.”
The Credit Union Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Collective is a group within the credit union movement devoted to furthering DEI. The collective launched Friday, June 19, or Juneteeth, the day commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S.
CUNA is a member of the Collective, along with the AACUC, the American Association of CU Leagues, Coopera, CO-OP Financial Services, CUNA Mutual Group, Filene, the National CU Foundation, humanidei, Inclusiv, the Network of Latino Credit Unions and Professionals, PSCU, and the World Council.
Turning to efforts within CUNA, Salem said, “I'm really thrilled about my new role. This work is incredibly meaningful to me personally, and I think to the credit union movement as well. Credit unions are uniquely positioned to further DEI because of our value proposition of people helping people.”
Getting to a Better Place
Salem said CUNA has been focusing on furthering DEI within the organization for many years.
“We are an organization that is committed to getting to an even better place,” she said. “Our board has taken steps to improve DEI within the governance of CUNA. DEI is embedded in our cooperative principles, but it needs to be elevated, and I think that took a lot of foresight and leadership on part of our board to do that. We recently passed a resolution that publicly acknowledges our stand against structural racism…We have been working on fostering a more diverse, more equitable, and inclusive organization…We want to ensure that all of our staff really embody DEI and take pride in our commitment to DEI.”
Salem said CUNA is reviewing all of its policies and procedures to ensure they are in line with driving greater DEI within the organization.
“We want to make sure we have people of diverse backgrounds and that they have a strong opportunity to thrive within our organization,” she said.
The Importance of Metrics
Asked if CUNA intends to measure its DEI efforts to ensure the organization achieves results, Salem said metrics are important to her.
“That's really an important question, and I'm a person who comes from a research background,” said Salem, who previously was senior policy analyst on the CUNA Research and Policy Analysis Team. “I think that ensuring that we have accountability, not only to ourselves, but also to the movement is absolutely going to be critical. So the answer is yes, metrics are going to be a part of this design.”
Asked whether CUNA’s board is diverse, and reflects the diversity of its credit unions and their membership—a matter addressed in a CUToday.info report late last year—Salem said: “We take very seriously our commitment to creating a more diverse equitable and inclusive system at every level with CUNA, and with the support of the board we continue to make a concerted effort. The last time there were a couple of board seats that were open, diversity was one of the key criteria we were looking for in potential candidates.”