By Brad J. Krueger
From the time I started my credit
union career as a front-line employee, to when I joined CUNA Mutual Group as an
intern 20 years ago; serving the greater good has given me a personal sense of pride. That’s something we talk a lot about in our industry: pride.
We’re proud to be different – the
financial movement that has always placed people before profit. We’re proud of
our legacy – one of social and financial equity. And, we’re proud of our founding
cooperative principles that enable us to collaborate in ways our competitors
cannot fathom.
In June, the word ‘pride’ will take
on an additional meaning for millions across the world. For countless credit
union colleagues and members, friends and family, it will symbolize authenticity,
dignity, and the inherent right LGBTQ people have to achieve their life ambitions
and pursuit of love and happiness.
Pride Month is an opportunity to come
together and honor our achievements in equity, rights and awareness, but also to
build momentum for the long journey ahead. We cannot confine accepting our
diversity and embracing the strength in our differences to only one summer
month each year. To create positive, lasting change, it’s something we must publicly
stand for every day.
At CUNA Mutual Group, we have a strong
set of values that shape our decision making, but we recognize that for us to
be the best employer for our people, and the best partner and provider for
those we work with, we must continually seek to improve.
An aspect we are actively working on
is how we support diversity and inclusion in the workplace. How we empower our
people to be who they truly are, not who they think we want them to be. One way
we do this is through our Employee Resource Groups (ERG) – teams of colleagues
advocating for specific interests, communities or needs. Of course, our ERGs
are as diverse as we are covering age, disabilities, gender, professional focus,
race and ethnicity, and, of course, sexual orientation and identity.
As the chair of Prism – our LGBTQ ERG – I’m personally very proud (there’s that word again) to work for a company
that values broad backgrounds and perspectives, and encourages its employees to
embrace them.
To mark the start of Pride Month, we raised a rainbow flag today (June 1) to publicly demonstrate our support for an
inclusive LGBTQ work environment. We will share information with our fellow
colleagues throughout June to increase awareness of both LGBT concerns and provide
our allies opportunities to visibly show their support for an inclusive work
environment. But further still, we will encourage our business leaders to better
understand LGBTQ consumers and think of the impact we could have in the
community with new products and services for credit unions and their members.
What are the challenges our LGBTQ
friends and loved ones are experiencing? What are the needs that traditional
financial institutions cannot, or unfortunately sometimes will not, provide?
I hope that throughout June, credit
union colleagues, nationwide, will ask themselves these same questions, and
challenge one another to seek an answer. Our credit union movement’s founders
sought to serve those who would not be served elsewhere. Let’s make them proud.
Note: This post originally published via CUInsight.com
Brad J. Krueger is the director of corporate ethics, compliance, and resilience for CUNA Mutual Group, the leading provider of insurance and financial services to credit unions and their members. He joined CUNA Mutual Group in 1997 as an intern in IT. Over the last 10 years, Brad has managed teams responsible for enterprise business resiliency, information security, and IT internal audit programs. In the past year, Brad earned a MBA degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and took on additional responsibility for leading the company’s ethics and compliance programs. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
CUNA Mutual Group is the marketing name for CUNA Mutual
Holding Company, a mutual insurance holding company, its subsidiaries and
affiliates. Corporate headquarters are located in Madison, Wis.
CORP-1804011.1-0517-0619
©2017 CUNA Mutual
Group, All Rights Reserved.
