Conference Registration

Welcome Reception

Join us for cocktails, light dining, and great conversation. Registered guests are welcome to attend.

CU Conferences is grateful for the support of its sponsor, PARC Street Group, and would like to thank them for co-sponsoring the reception. 

Breakfast

Opening Remarks

What Keeps Us Up @ Night, Trends, & Key Initiatives

This kickoff session explores challenges we face, trends in consumer engagement and financial services, plus a discussion on key initiatives across multiple progressive and enterprising financial institutions.

Credit Union Compensation Philosophy: Rewarding & Retaining Key Executives

Parc Street Group Representative

Networking/Refreshment Break

The Board as a Growth Engine and Metrics

Transforming the board’s role from traditional oversight to true institutional capability enablement requires a deliberate focus on leadership depth, execution strength, and growth oriented performance metrics. At the core of this shift is the principle that elite boards do more than safeguard organizational value, they actively enable its expansion. To support this evolution, boards can anchor their governance around a set of forward looking dashboard metrics, including a CEO Bench Strength Index, succession readiness scores, strategic execution velocity, digital adoption growth rates, and member lifetime value growth, all of which provide a clearer view of the institution’s long term capacity to lead, adapt, and thrive.

Member Financial Solutions, Member Growth, Branding

In looking ahead to the next five years, we must consider what financial solutions and products we will offer and how financial wellness can serve as a differentiated value proposition for our members. This includes defining a clear member growth strategy, paired with a strong retention approach that keeps members engaged, active, and contributing to long term organizational health. We also need to determine how to deepen member relationships by increasing share of wallet and ensuring that our offerings remain relevant and compelling. Ultimately, our ability to stand out in a competitive landscape will depend on how effectively we differentiate our brand while delivering meaningful, personalized financial experiences that build trust and loyalty.

Sit-Down Luncheon

Strategic Foresight

Evaluating future operating environments requires ensuring the institution is intentionally building toward a position of long term strength, guided by an understanding of the structural forces reshaping financial services. These forces include the rise of AI-driven financial discovery, the rapid expansion of embedded finance, ongoing margin compression, increasing expectations for personalized experiences, and heightened demands around privacy, protection, and regulation. Together, they define the landscape the institution must prepare for and the capabilities it must develop to stay competitive and resilient.

Strategy Execution & Income Model Reinvention

Implementing structured execution cycles that tightly connect long‑term vision, funding decisions, and measurable delivery is essential for building a disciplined, future‑ready operating model. A Strategic Sprint Model helps achieve this by cascading a 10 year vision into a 3 year strategic direction, annual priorities, 90 day execution cycles, and monthly board reviews, ensuring that ambition, resources, and outcomes remain aligned and continuously reinforced.

At the same time, institutions must recognize the structural revenue pressures reshaping financial services and intentionally guide a shift toward advisory‑led growth and deeper member relationships. Boards can support this transition by monitoring a focused set of indicators, including non‑interest income trends, cross‑product penetration, cost to acquire members, share‑of‑wallet growth, and the performance of affiliate and non‑traditional revenue streams.

The Day in Review

Breakfast

Opening Remarks

Credit Union Resilience

Evaluating an institution’s preparedness for operational, cyber, and reputational threats is essential to strengthening overall crisis readiness in a rapidly evolving risk environment. A disciplined approach to resilience ensures that organizations can anticipate emerging vulnerabilities, maintain continuity during disruptions, and protect stakeholder trust when it matters most.

This level of preparedness is best supported by a focused set of resilience indicators that reflect the organization’s ability to detect issues early, respond effectively, and communicate with clarity during critical events. Key measures include incident detection speed, crisis response readiness, communication clarity, regulatory oversight, and governance visibility, together offering boards a concise, actionable view of institutional resilience.

Networking and Refreshment Break

Organization Structure & Sub-Brands

Determining the ideal organizational structure requires clarity on several foundational questions, including how many people should report directly to the CEO, which roles belong at that level, and what responsibilities the CEO should prioritize to maximize institutional effectiveness. This evaluation also extends to broader strategic considerations, such as whether the credit union should launch a sub brand to reach new segments or differentiate its offerings. Together, these questions shape how the organization aligns leadership, governance, and market strategy for long term success.

Daily Wrap-Up