“Every employee, from the C-suite to the teller, has a role in advocacy.” – Jason Stverak
Thank you for tuning in to The CUInsight Network, with your host, Robbie Young, Vice President of Strategic Growth at CUInsight. In The CUInsight Network, we take a deeper dive with the thought leaders who support the credit union community. We discuss issues and challenges facing credit unions and identify best practices to learn and grow together.
My guests on today’s show are returning guest Jason Stverak, Chief Advocacy Officer at Defense Credit Union Council, and Elizabeth Eurgubian, Government Relations and Advocacy Consultant at Atlas Advocacy. They both join me for this episode for a conversation that cuts right to the heart of what credit unions need most right now: stronger advocacy, louder storytelling, and a clearer understanding of what sets us apart!
In our conversation, Elizabeth opens with something that she has witnessed from both sides of the table: policymakers are brilliant with statutes and frameworks, but they often have little sense of what day-to-day life looks like inside a credit union. She talks about the power of real-world examples and cautions that if we’re not bringing those stories forward, we’re leaving influence on the table.
Jason also jumps in with the compelling argument that advocacy isn’t a job title; it’s everybody—teller to CEO—every interaction with a member, every community touchpoint, every small moment of goodwill becomes part of what reaches Congress. He shares some incredible behind-the-scenes stories from the recent government shutdown and how lawmakers were reaching out because they’d noticed credit unions stepping up while others hesitated.
As we wrap up the episode, Elizabeth closes by previewing what’s coming from the NCUA in the year ahead—such as stablecoin and digital-asset rulemaking under the GENIUS Act, a much needed regulatory clean-up, and increased vigilance around cybersecurity. She also challenges all of us to think several years ahead about the skills we’ll need, not the ones that we’ve always relied on, as necessary skillsets are always evolving with the times. I hope that you enjoy my conversation with Jason and Elizabeth!
