I've always been amazed at the passion and support for this unique form of credit union education that has seen over 4,500 credit union employees, volunteers, directors and supporters attending over the years. The EU version has been running several years, with events usually based in the UK. The US version, of the DE event, has been around for almost 40 years.
The main purpose of the DE programmes is to "..... is to help established and emerging leaders within the credit union movement understand and leverage credit unions’ unique business model to serve members and communities in new and better ways".
Listen to Lois Kitsch, the former National Programme Director for the National Credit Union Foundation (USA) responsible for the Development Education Programme, explain the impact of this type of immersive education.
Listen to Marlene Shiels, CEO Capital Credit Union (Scotland), explain the power of the events so far and the successes with many individuals.
Andy Davey, Operations Manager, Co-op Credit Union(UK), describes his DE journey, as a graduate, with both the EU and USA DE programmes.
For information about the EU DE events contact Carole Philbin: Carol.Phibin@partnerscreditunion.co.uk
and for the USA events contact Maggie Wolff, Development Education Manager
Website: The Development Education (DE) Program (ncuf.coop)
Talking Credit Unions with Chris Smith is a regular podcast dedicated to informing credit union practitioners, leaders and opinion formers on variety of industry topics. To contact Chris Smith, smithowls@gmail.com