by: Anne Legg
Over 3,000 cooperative thought leaders and policy makers from 93 countries convened upon Quebec to attend the2014 International Summit of Cooperativesin early October. The event, which was tagged as the “Davos” of cooperatives, focused on evaluating the current state of cooperatives and helping build a road map for its future.
Financial cooperatives (commonly called credit unions) make up a significant portion of cooperatives in the world and were the main attendees at the event. While there is obvious diversity across the world of the operating conditions in which financial cooperatives function, there are someuniversal tenets all credit unions share:
1. Rich history of perseverance
2. Foundation of cooperative principles
3. Critical role in creating successful communities
