Giakoumopoulos Receives Surprise Award at GWLN Forum in Stockholm
WYCUP also hosts summit for young professionals on eve of WCUC 2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Global Women’s Leadership Network (GWLN) Director Eleni Giakoumopoulos got a surprise reward for her hard work and dedication during Sunday morning’s GWLN Forum at the 2025 World Credit Union Conference.
Sue Mitchell, Founding Chair of GWLN and CEO of Mitchell, Stankovic and Associates, made the unexpected gesture by presenting Giakoumopoulos with a new award for her leadership of the organization.
"Lena, your leadership and commitment to Global Women's Leadership Network has created a strong, premier program. We would all like to say, 'thank you' by giving you a beautiful Global Women's Leadership (Network) first award, the first Pink Gem to the most outstanding woman leader," said Mitchell, who also serves as Vice Chair of Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions.
A clearly touched Giakoumopoulos credited others for the growth of GWLN during her tenure.
"This is a collective effort. I work with a lot of volunteers, a lot of leaders," said Giakoumopoulos. "This is a team effort, right? We're all together, so, thank you.”
A keynote address on the value of storytelling
A photojournalist who has built a career out of telling stories through images showed credit union women how they can unleash the power of visual storytelling in the GWLN Forum’s keynote address.
Tara Todras-Whitehill, Founder and CEO of TW Storytelling Agency, told Forum attendees that almost everything they produce can be a story, including presentations, website design, social media, texts and even grant applications.
“So, you can’t just have a visual, it has to have a story attached or else people’s brains are like, ‘what do I have to do today? What chores do I have to do? I have to pick up my kids, all these other things.' But if you give them a story, they’re engaged, they’re there, and that’s what we want is to give them your story,” said Todras-Whitehill.
Several credit union women in attendance also came to the stage to share some of their own storytelling examples to get expert feedback from Todras-Whitehall.
We for She
The Forum also featured a panel discussion on how women can find advocates and allies to help them in their leadership journeys. Dr. Michael Summers, EVP and Chief Culture Officer at Velera moderated the discussion and stressed that being an ally for women in the workplace is about more than just showing up.
“It isn’t just a spectator sport, it’s a team sport and it takes action. Just being in the room and saying you’re there isn’t enough,” said Summers. “Because as Head of Culture, if I’m not doing it, other people in the organization probably aren’t doing it.”
The panel also included contributions from:
- Denise Garfield, General Manager, Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions.
- Dr. Gisele Gomes, Founder and CEO, Paronima, and Sicredi Volunteer Delegate (Brazil).
- Carla Decker, President and CEO, SkyPoint Federal Credit Union (USA).
- Sibongile Prudence Vilakati, General Manager, Hlalawati SACCO (Eswatini).
Call to Action
Dr. Brandi Stankovic, Principal at Strategic Advisory Solutions and a longtime Champion of both GWLN and WYCUP, hosted the Forum and conducted a final session—calling on attendees to create action items based on what they learned and how they plan to follow up on them.
Many actions centered around creating ways to empower other women in the workplace, rather than competing with them.
Annie B. Andrews, a Board Director with Navy Federal Credit Union, echoed those sentiments.
“It’s all about empowerment, engaging and also helping each other to elevate to that next step, and that’s exactly what I’m all about,” said Andrews.
Scholars recognized
2025 GWLN Scholarship recipients attending the World Credit Union Conference were also honored on Sunday. Along with Sibongile Prudence Vilakati, the 2025 Scholars at WCUC 2025 include:
- Gaylene Quitadamo, EA to CEO and HR Manager, Customer Owned Banking Association (COBA) (Australia)
- Jo Ha, Former Interim General Manager, Community Savings Credit Union (Canada)
- Rosario Cañadido, Member Development and Services Officer, Philippine Federation of Credit Cooperatives - National Capital Region (Philippines)
“I was determined to prove that women are also good leaders and can do as well as our male counterparts. And I’ve been privileged to be exposed to women mentorship programs that have also helped me gain confidence to be a leader. I’m happy to be here and I’m looking forward to learning a lot from the great leaders who are here,” said Vilakati.
The 2025 GWLN Scholarships are sponsored by Origence and TruStage.
Velera sponsored the GWLN Forum.
Emerging Leaders learn about CUpreneurship
WYCUP took center stage on Sunday afternoon, hosting its Emerging Leaders’ Summit for the world’s young credit union professionals.
Erin Hancock, an ICUDE and Education Manager for the International Centre for Co-operative Management (Canada), first spoke to the WYCUP audience about employing what she calls “CUpreneurship”, defined by taking initiative, embracing the cooperative model and thinking like a social entrepreneur.
“For your credit union or your SACCO, your financial cooperative—you get to advance the mission. You get to make the most of the internal talent, yourself and those around you are probably sparked by the sparked by the energy you bring too,” said Hancock. “Where you are in the organization and your own perspective, your own history, has huge value. You may be the only one who sees things like that.”
Attendees also experienced an “Innovation Immersion” with Cortney Arnold, Community Development Manager with the Filene Research Institute (USA).
Her presentation focused on why being a creative problem solver is imperative to innovation.
“I think we’ve heard that theme that we don’t wake up and we’re an expert. We have to practice the things we want to be good at and innovation is no different. When we come together and collaborate, it becomes all that much easier,” said Arnold, who also conducted a breakout discussion on the topic.
Tyler Valentine, a former WYCUP Scholar and Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions’ Board Director, hosted the Emerging Leaders’ Summit.
He capped the event by recognizing the 2025 WYCUP Scholars attending WCUC 2025, including:
- Elizabeth Ayuso, Business Development Officer, Belize Credit Union League (Belize).
- Kefilwe Masalila, Chief Executive Officer, Botswana Savings and Credit Cooperative Association (Botswana).
- Kristin Tabin, Director, People and Planning, SaskCentral (Canada).
- Milena Parreira, Youth Leadership Development, Sicredi Youth Committee (Brazil).
- Vitor Cora, Cooperative Student President, Sicredi Youth Committee (Brazil).
TruStage sponsored the WYCUP Emerging Leaders’ Summit.
Still to come
The 2025 World Credit Union Conference officially begins on Monday morning at Stockholmsmässan with the opening ceremony and parade of flags, a full slate of breakout sessions and access to all the WCUC 2025 sponsors exhibiting their products and services in the Solution Center.
On Monday night, Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions will host its UnWind event at the famous Vasa Museum to honor its Champion donors.
Stay up to date on the latest news throughout the day on the WCUC 2025 Blog and see daily event photos and more on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and X with #WCUC2025.
The 2025 World Credit Union Conference runs through Wednesday, July 16.
World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) is the apex association for credit unions and other global financial cooperatives. 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 300+ technical assistance programs in 90 countries. Worldwide, 74,634 credit unions in 104 countries serve 411 million people. Learn more about World Council's impact around the world at www.woccu.org.
Organization: World Council of Credit Unions
E-mail: gneumann@woccu.org
Phone: +1 608-395-2048
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