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35th Annual Conference Presentations Coming Soon!
Top Headlines
CDFI Fund Awards Over $17 million to CDCUs for Economic Recovery
(June 29, 2009 – Bronx, NY) Nine community development credit unions (CDCUs) today were awarded a total of $17.15 million in capital from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. The awards were announced at a ceremony in the Bronx, New York, by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. The nine CDCUs accounted for approximately 19% of the total $90 million awarded to 59 organizations. All are members of the National Federation of CDCUs.
The historically large award round was made possible by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“Recovery Act”), or “stimulus,” funding of $100 million made available to the CDFI Fund this spring. An additional round of funding is projected for September.
To read the full press release, and for a breakdown of awards to CDCUs, please click here.
CDCU Youth Gather in Phoenix for Federation’s "Underserved" Conference
Learn Financial Responsibility, Continue Tradition of Volunteerism
(June 23, 2009 – Phoenix, AZ) Twenty three youth from community development credit unions (CDCUs) from across the nation gathered in Phoenix, AZ at the Federation’s 35th Annual Conference on Serving the Underserved, held June 11-13. These young people travelled to Phoenix to meet their peers from around the country and to advance their skills in financial education, community economic development, and in the management and operation of youth credit union programs.
As in past years, the Federation’s Youth Credit Union Conference began with a service-learning project. This year, the project was held at De Colores, a monolingual-Spanish safe space for women and children forced to flee their homes due to domestic violence. During the volunteering opportunity, youth participants toured the site and learned about the importance of the shelter. Afterwards the youth gave back to the project by volunteering their time to repaint the center.
A highlight for many at the conference was a special musical performance by Pascua Yaqui, Native American musician and artist, Alex Maldonado, during the opening ceremonies of the 35th Annual Conference on Serving the Underserved. During his performance, Maldonado blessed the attendees of the Federation’s conference with traditional song and music. In addition to performing for conference attendees, Maldonado, who makes his own native flutes and drums, generously donated a hand-made drum to support scholarships for next year’s youth conference attendees. A drawing held for the drum, raised more than $1,000 for next year’s conference in Pittsburgh, PA.
To read the full press release, please click here.
Federation Welcomes New Board, Transitions Leadership
Self-Help’s Randy Chambers Elected as New Chairman
(June 23, 2009 – Phoenix, AZ) On Friday June 12, during its recent 35th Annual Conference on Serving the Underserved, the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions (Federation) completed the elections for its Board of Directors. The elections resulted in a new director in two of the Federation’s regions, and re-election of incumbents in the remaining two regions and in the at-large (nationwide) category.
The Federation’s Board of Directors continues to be one of the most diverse in the credit union movement by gender, race, institution type and size, with 8 females and 7 males on the Board of Directors; 8 of whom are African-American, 1 is Asian, 1 is Latino, and 5 are White/Anglo. Directors represent community development credit unions (CDCUs) ranging in size from less than $1 million in assets, to one of the nation’s largest CDCUs, with $346 million in assets.
This year’s elections also marked a transition of leadership, with Eunice J. Rogers retiring as Chairman, per established term limits. Rogers is succeeded by Self-Help CU (Durham, NC) CFO Randy Chambers, who has been serving as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors for the past three years.
To read the full press release, please click here.
CDFI Advocate, Seidman, Addresses Federation Conference
Calls Current Environment “Spectacular Opportunity” for CDFIs
(June 22, 2009 - Phoenix, AZ) On Friday, June 12, Ellen Seidman, an ardent advocate for community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and Senior Policy Advisor at ShoreBank, the nation’s leading community development bank, adressed more than 250 community development credit union (CDCU) representatives, credit union organizers, credit union regulators, and government officials during a plenary session at the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions’ (Federation’s) 35th Annual Conference on Serving the Underserved, held June 11-13 in Phoenix, Arizona.
During her remarks, Seidman discussed the importance of local financial institutions in addessing the current economic environment, as well as emerging opportunities for CDFIs under the new Administration. Despite those opportunities, Seidman acknowledged the challenges that CDFIs and nonprofit institutions across the nation are facing and provided some recommendations to address those challenges and strengthen those institutions. Seidman concluded her presentation with an explanation of why credit unions do not want to become banks.
To read the full press release, please click here.
NCUA’s Hyland Addresses Federation “Underserved” Conference
Rejects “No Future for Small CUs”
(June 16, 2009 – Phoenix, AZ) On Friday, June 12, during its recent 35th Annual Conference on Serving the Underserved in Phoenix, Arizona, the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions (Federation) presented a recorded interview with NCUA Board Member Gigi Hyland to an assembled gathering of more than 250 community development credit union (CDCU) representatives and organizers from across the nation, credit union regulators, and government officials.
Ms. Hyland, who was originally scheduled to speak in person at the event, was unable to travel to the event. However, rather than cancelling her speaking engagement entirely, she agreed to a live interview on June 8 with Federation President/CEO Cliff Rosenthal in her Alexandria, VA offices.
During the interview, Hyand addressed a variety of CDCU concerns, including:
- The impact of Corporate Stabilization & Prompt Corrective Action on CDCUs
- CDCU Examinations
- Secondary Capital and the Community Development Revolving Loan Fund (CDRLF)
To read the full press release please click here.
Federation Hails Fair Mortgage Initiative
(June 12, 2009 – Washington, DC) The Fair Mortgage Collaborative (FMC), a joint effort of major national nonprofits, community lenders, foundations, and advocacy organizations was publicly launched at a press event in Washington, DC on June 10 at the offices of the National Council of La Raza. The National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions (Federation), a co-founder and executive committee member of the collaborative, hailed the launch as an important step forward in “providing low- and moderate-income and minority homeowners and homebuyers access to mortgages with the consumers’ best interests at its heart and a fair rate of compensation.”
Cliff Rosenthal, President/CEO of the Federation and Treasurer of the FMC, said “It is extremely gratifying to see this initiative, which the Federation has worked on for four years, become fully operational. This is an important building block in another ambitious initiative the Federation began last year: certifying credit unions as equitable, trusted, and sustainable providers of financial products for consumers.”
To read the full press release, please click here.
NCUF and Federation Sign Collaboration Agreement
(June 8, 2009 - Washington, DC) Building on their successful joint initiative Helping Members Avoid or Survive Foreclosure, the National Credit Union Foundation (NCUF) and the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions (Federation) have signed a collaboration agreement.
“The Foundation and the Federation share a deep commitment to helping the credit union movement fulfill its historic mission of serving people of modest means,” begins the newly signed memorandum of understanding (MOU). “This MOU establishes a framework for the Foundation and the Federation to collaborate effectively and make the most efficient use of scarce resources in order to achieve the greatest positive impact in areas of common interest.”
A recently released joint report, Helping Members Avoid or Survive Foreclosure, is available free of cost on the REAL Solutions Impact Center at http://realsolutions.coop, and on this website by clicking here.
To read the full press release, please click here.
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