The Wegner Awards: An aspiring change-maker’s North Star
The Foundation's Gigi Hyland onstage at the 2024 Wegner Awards. (CUInsight photo)
Earlier this month I, like many other credit union leaders, spent the week in D.C. for the annual Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC) hosted by America’s Credit Unions. Among the late nights and early mornings, I was astounded to realize it was my eighth year in attendance.
Each year I’ve gone, the speakers change, the sessions change, and the weather certainly changes (D.C. in the spring is unpredictable at best). Some things remain the same though: many of the same passionate leaders always roll through, coffee and conversation are always flowing, and the National Credit Union Foundation always hosts the Foundation Dinner presenting the Herb Wegner awards.
The first GAC I attended, a bright-eyed young professional fresh out of Alaska, I somehow found myself with a ticket to the Wegner dinner. Though I didn’t quite know what I’d signed up for, I eagerly donned my black-tie outfit.
As each award winner was announced that evening, I recall holding back a tear or two. The stories were poignant, evocative, and rooted in overcoming hardship. Though trying simply to solve problems for their communities in the spirit of credit unions, these women and men ended up on that stage that night because they’d changed the world.
Amid the red-carpet glamour shots and thunderous ovation for each winner runs a current deeper than a simple fundraiser. It’s the inexplicable call that binds our industry together with a cause greater than profits. It’s an energy, a buzz, a whisper that says, “I’m in the presence of giants and world-changers.”
Through its own work, the National Credit Union Foundation lives out the very mission that it honors each year. As the charitable arm of the U.S. credit union movement, the Foundation promotes financial well-being for all through credit unions.
With a three-pillar model, you’ll find the Foundation team at the heart of igniting our movement, inspiring change, and responding to crisis. Though the Wegner awards are one of the more high-profile events of the year, each and every element of their work is critical.
Changing the world takes all of us. Here are three ways to get started today.
- Engage in Financial Well-Being for All programs. Attend CU FinHealth or engage with the FinHealth Hub.
- Participate in Mission-based training with DE, Exploring Why, Empathy training, and Values.
- Give! As the philanthropic arm of the credit union system the Foundation can’t do the work without the support of the credit union system. You can help make the difference in people’s financial lives!
Almost a decade after my first GAC, I’m now an industry executive myself. As I’ve chosen the next steps along my journey, I’ve often come back to purpose and to impact, of the sort that has landed hundreds of humans on that ballroom stage over the last 35 years.
“Where am I making a difference?” I’ve mused. “Is this going to change the world? Or, change someone’s world?” Far from the trophy itself, it’s the passion, grit, empathy, and problem-solving displayed by each award winner that sets the standard for true achievement in our movement.
Are the choices you and I make today worthy of the example set by every Herb Wegner award winner that has come before? One thing I know for sure: getting involved with the National Credit Union Foundation is a definite path to living up to their legacy and changing the world together.
