The past few weeks have been unlike any we have seen in our lifetimes. Leaders are used to balancing trade-offs, but usually the stakes aren’t as high. Balancing health and physical wellbeing against economic and social wellbeing has led to gut-wrenching decisions around the world. Everyone is working with limited information, trying to make the best decisions they can that reflect their particular values and stakeholders. We won’t know for some time if these trade-offs were weighed properly.
It is becoming clear that whenever we get through this, and we will get through this, the world is going to need to come together and put ourselves back together. We need to stitch together economic solutions for individuals who have lost their jobs and small businesses that are struggling. Families are strained trying to figure out how to be parents, spouses, teachers, students, and employees at the same dining room table at the same time. As social beings, we need to rebuild the fabric of our communities and the support networks that are part of it.
Callahan & Associates believes credit unions have a meaningful role and responsibility to help with the rebuilding of our society. Our members and communities need us to be part of the solution. As cooperatives, we are designed to step towards, not away from, challenges such as this. It is why the Federal Credit Union Act was passed at the height of the Great Depression.
There are going to be unforeseen hurdles and more challenging conversations ahead. As disruptive as the past few weeks have been, we are likely only beginning to understand how this period will impact our stakeholders. As we navigate through this unprecedented environment, Callahan wants to create a place where leaders can come for hope, inspiration, and to see the impact of values-based leadership. By sharing the stories of credit unions work and impact, we hope to ignite a passion for doing more.
We are launching Purpose in Action to be a credit union community resource. Our objective is to curate examples of credit unions solving challenges, helping members, and rebuilding communities, with the hope that these stories inspire others to have an even greater vision of their future. Credit unions are going to be in a position to help transform and rebuild communities. The more passion and insight we can share with each other, the better we will all come out of this.