California Delegates Visit Mexico

Letty Cordon-Hernandez

The California Credit Union League (CCUL) recently sent a delegation to Guanajuato, Mexico to visit Caja Popular Mexico (CPM), the country's largest credit union and CCUL's partner in the World Council of Credit Unions' (WOCCU) International Partnerships program. The purpose of the visit was to discuss matters such as the International Remittance Network (IRnet), marketing, ATM networks and shared branching. Development on these fronts is important for reducing the high number of unbanked Hispanic citizens on both sides of the border.

Delegates included Altura Credit Union CEO Mark Hawkins, and board members Cathy Nava and Ofelia Valdez-Yeagar; Arrowhead Credit Union board chairman Marie Alonzo, board member Alex Alonzo, and vice president branch manager Joe Hernandez; Family Federal Credit Union assistant manager Lourdes Ramirez; Food Processors Credit Union community development director Sandell McLaughlin; Mission Area Federal Credit Union CEO Salvador Duran; Pasadena Federal Credit Union CEO Shruti Miyashiro; Water & Power Community Credit Union CEO Carl Stewart; Wescom Credit Union CEO Darren Williams and vice president of business and government affairs Yesceni Ramirez; Xerox Federal Credit Union CEO Bill Cheney; and CCUL manager of international relations Letty Cordon- Hernandez.

During their visit, the delegates met with CPM CEO Ramón Imperial Zuniga, COO Cirilo Rivera Rivera, CFO David Torres Ramírez, regional manager Fermín Olalde Balderas, director of administrative services Alfonso Garcia Moreno, director of IT Rene Vasquez, marketing manager Lorena Susana Mendoza and WOCCU project director Mario Galaragga. They also toured CPM's central office, several of its branches and WOCCU's Mexico office. The trip proved a great success, strengthening an important partnership.

International Partnerships pairs credit unions in developing countries with those in developed countries to promote mutual knowledge exchange and growth. CCUL and CPM are unique in the Partnerships program because they have a third partner, the Texas Credit Union League (TCUL). The three partners share a unique relationship, culturally and geographically, that permits them to address issues affecting the Mexican and Mexican-American populations very effectively.

El Consejo Mundial de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito es la asociación gremial y agencia de desarrollo para el sistema internacional de cooperativas de ahorro y crédito. El Consejo Mundial promueve el crecimiento sustentable de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito y otras cooperativas financieras en todo el mundo a fin de facultar a las personas para que mejoren su calidad de vida a través del acceso a servicios financieros asequibles y de alta calidad. El Consejo Mundial realiza esfuerzos de defensa activa en representación del sistema global de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito ante organizaciones internacionales y trabaja con gobiernos nacionales para mejorar la legislación y la regulación. Sus programas de asistencia técnica introducen nuevas herramientas y tecnologías para fortalecer el desempeño financiero de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito y profundizar su alcance comunitario.

El Consejo Mundial ha implementado 290 programas de asistencia técnica en 71 países. A nivel mundial, 51,000 cooperativas de ahorro y crédito en 100 países atienden a 196 millones de personas. Obtenga más información sobre el impacto global del Consejo Mundial en www.woccu.org.