World Council Hosts Polish Journalists

Madison, WI—A delegation of thirty Polish journalists and high level representatives from the Polish National Association of Cooperative Savings and Credit Unions (NACSCU) visited Madison, WI, from May 16-19, to learn about the credit union system in the United States and to collaborate with local journalists.

Grzegorz Bierecki, NACSCU president, and Grzegorz Buczkowski, CEO of NACSCU's Insurance Group accompanied the delegation of journalist as they meet with World Council of Credit Union, the Credit Union National Association, CUNA Mutual Group and the local media this week.

The delegation met with World Council's senior staff: Pete Crear, CEO; Brian Branch, COO and David Grace, Sr. Manager of Trade Association Services to discuss current activities, organizational structure, advocacy efforts and the importance of credit union development. Gary Plank, WOCCU board chairman and CEO of the Arizona Credit Union League shared the importance of state leagues to credit unions and how roles have changed over the years.

During the afternoon the delegation saw credit union operations first hand with how credit unions served members at the UW Credit Union. Paul Kundert, UW Credit Union CEO also gave a brief overview of his organization's successes, membership make up and products and services. "We were impressed with the advanced nature of the credit union's operations, how they served members and the size of the organization, said Daniel Dziewulski, a reporter from TVP- Poland.

CUNA's Mark Condon and Mike Schenk presented to the group on the credit union system in the U.S. They discussed the 'credit union difference' as manifested in the U.S., including its social mission and how the government supports credit unions. The delegation later met with Paul Thrienen and Sue Racine from CUNA Mutual and learned about the domestic and international work CUNA Mutual was currently involved in.

The journalists also had the opportunity to meet with some of the credit union press and to see local journalism in action at the Wisconsin State Journal, Capital Times and Channel 27 News.

World Council of Credit Unions is the global trade association and development agency for credit unions. World Council promotes the sustainable development of credit unions and other financial cooperatives around the world to empower people through access to high quality and affordable financial services. World Council advocates on behalf of the global credit union system before international organizations and works with national governments to improve legislation and regulation. Its technical assistance programs introduce new tools and technologies to strengthen credit unions' financial performance and increase their outreach.

World Council has implemented more than 290 technical assistance programs in 71 countries. Worldwide, 51,000 credit unions in 100 countries serve 196 million people. Learn more about World Council's impact around the world at www.woccu.org.