Crashers Return in Person to CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference

Filene Research Institute Contact:
Holly Fearing | hollyf@filene.org | 608.661.3758

Credit Union National Association Contact:
Tiffany Niederwerfer | tniederwerfer@cuna.coop | 608.231.4284

January 31, 2022

51 Crashers from nearly every state join Filene to “crash” CUNA GAC in D.C.

Madison, WI – The 2022 class of GAC Crashers includes emerging credit union leaders representing diverse roles, experiences and backgrounds across 47 states, including Virginians Melissa Haston, a communications specialist and Matthew Hausknecht, a Loss Mitigation Manager, both with Chartway Federal Credit Union.

“Congratulations to this year’s class of GAC Crashers, an exciting and engaged group of young credit union professionals,” said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “They are the future of the credit union movement, our future leaders who will ensure we remain relevant to future generations, and they’ll have plenty to experience at CUNA GAC.”

Crashers are selected through a highly competitive process. Out of 147 applications, 51 were invited to Crash the GAC, all earning free registration to GAC, courtesy of CUNA.

"The Cooperative Trust is thrilled to welcome a new group of emerging leaders to Crash the GAC in 2022,” said Filene’s Community Development Director, Cortney Angeley. “This group of rising professionals are change leaders in our industry and it's an honor to witness the evolution of leadership and culture taking place. We know these Crashers will bring spirit, passion, and hopefully a little bit of good fun and disruption to CUNA GAC."

Crash the GAC is the largest Crash Filene organizes every year. It is a non-stop, career-changing program for young professionals that allows them to participate in the industry’s largest advocacy conference. This year’s speaker line-up includes Filene CEO Mark Meyer, National Credit Union Foundation Executive Director Gigi Hyland, CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle, authors Andy Janning and Antonio Neves, and an exclusive session with Chad Helminak and Leo Ardine on Building our Capacity for Empathy.

Just as the CUNA conference returns this year, so too does the famous Thunderpunch event hosted by the Crashers in partnership with SavvyMoney on Monday, February 28.

The Cooperative Trust is the credit union industry’s largest young professional community. The Crash Program is designed to empower credit union young professionals through professional development and by finding and amplifying their voices to advocate for the role of young people in the industry. This year, The Cooperative Trust is launching the 2nd cohort of Crash Course: Filene’s Centers of Excellence to gain a holistic perspective on credit unions and how our industry can continue to serve members into the 21st century and beyond.

Crash the GAC is brought to you by The Cooperative Trust from Filene Research Institute and is made possible by the generous support of CUNA, and with help from League partners.

See the full list of crashers here.

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About Filene: Filene Research Institute strengthens organizations through innovative research and incubation to improve consumer financial well-being. As an independent cooperative finance think tank, Filene’s membership network connects a community of leaders and bright minds to change lives through innovation, truth and cooperation. In addition to delivering cutting-edge, actionable academic research, Filene also provides incubators to test and scale solutions, events to spark organizations into action and advisory services to help accelerate and implement innovation. For more information, visit filene.org and @fileneresearch.

About the Cooperative Trust: The Cooperative Trust, with its award-winning Crash programming, is the international community of young credit union professionals, brought to you by Filene Research Institute and made possible by Credit Union National Association. The Cooperative Trust won the Herb Wegner Award for Outstanding Program in 2017. To learn more, visit cooperativetrust.com.

About CUNA: Credit Union National Association (CUNA) is the only national association that advocates on behalf of all of America’s credit unions, which are owned by 115 million consumer members. CUNA, along with its network of affiliated state credit union leagues, delivers unwavering advocacy, continuous professional growth and operational confidence to protect the best interests of all credit unions. For more information about CUNA, visit cuna.org. To find your nearest credit union, visit YourMoneyFurther.com.