National Credit Union Administration Board Member Rodney E. Hood said today that as federally insured credit unions embrace diversity and inclusion, they should go further and bridge society’s divides to better serve their members and communities and foster greater financial inclusion.

“We live in a highly diverse and changing society, and historical inequities and inequalities persist among far too many American communities,” Board Member Hood said. “Addressing those inequities and inequalities, make it possible for everyone to participate more fully in the workplace and in society, is simply the right thing to do.”

Board Member Hood delivered these remarks at the start of his panel discussion, “The Benefits of Equity and Equality,” at the NCUA’s 2022 DEI ACCESS Summit. The panel featured leading experts that discussed the benefits of equity and equality in building an inclusive society with a focus on spurring financial inclusion, digital literacy, minority procurement, diversity hiring and retention, and economic development.

The panelists that took part in the discussion were:

• Chantalle Couba, Partner, Korn Ferry

• Tawanda Sibanda, Partner, McKinsey & Company

• Tom Ferree, Chairman & CEO, Connected Nation

“The compelling need for a commitment to DEI isn’t simply a moral imperative. It is also good for business, as we’ve seen from any number of high-quality studies,” Hood said. “All of that adds up to stronger, more effective organizations that are better suited to the challenge of meeting their mission goals in a competitive marketplace and a changing world. And this lesson doesn’t apply only in the for-profit private sector. While credit unions are non-profit cooperative institutions, they still need to compete in the marketplace when it comes to recruiting workforce talent and appealing to the next generation of credit union members.”

The NCUA’s 2022 DEI & ACCESS Summit is a hybrid event taking place November 2–4 that is bringing together professionals from credit unions and other stakeholders to promote the value proposition of diversity, equity, and inclusion for the credit union industry; share DEI and financial inclusion best practices; develop solutions to industry-specific challenges; and network with one another. The theme of this year’s summit is All-In on DEI & ACCESS. ACCESSrepresents the NCUA’s initiative for Advancing Communities through Credit, Education, Stability, and Support.

To learn more about the 2022 DEI & ACCESS Summit, go to https://www.ncua.gov/news/dei-access-summit-2022.