2017 CUYLM Conference - Be the Change
On April 6 & 7, 2017, 80 Young Leaders from credit unions across Manitoba gathered for the 3rd Credit Union Young Leaders of Manitoba Conference at the Holiday Inn Airport West in Winnipeg. Attendees were invited to “Be the Change” – to learn to lead self, and in turn inspire others.
The conference kicked off with a keynote session from Stephanie Staples, a local motivational speaker who challenged us to “Bring Your ‘A’ Game to Work and Life”. She emphasized the importance of self-care leading to success, striving to make small continuous improvements in life, and learning that positivity is infectious.
Garth Manness, CEO of Credit Union Central of Manitoba, spoke about the state of the credit union system provincially and federally, including the good health of Manitoba’s credit unions, the importance of keeping up with technology, and the importance of reaching millennials as we seek to grow our membership base. He also discussed trends in the financial services industry, and upcoming system challenges that we as credit unions will need to collaborate on.
On Thursday evening we heard from a panel of four credit union senior leaders on their “Leadership Perspectives on Change”. The panel consisted of Lesia Gojan-Klein, former CUYLM Chair and Branch Manager at Carpathia Credit Union, Richard Derenewski, President of the Board of Directors at Catalyst Credit Union, Christina Semaniuk, Vice-President, Human Resources at Cambrian Credit Union, and Martin Trudeau, CEO of Belgian-Alliance Credit Union. We thank our four panelists for sharing their wisdom with us!
Rounding out Thursday evening was a fun, interactive networking event of team trivia challenges provided by Canadian Outback Adventures. The event was a great way to meet other young leaders and decompress from a day full of learning.
Friday was an opportunity to learn from Sandra McDowell, author, speaker, and VP of Communications and Culture for First Credit Union. Sandra led two workshops focused on “Building Leadership Strength from the Inside Out” by focusing on neuroleadership principles, emotional intelligence, and leadership best practices.
Finally, participants worked in functional area groups to brainstorm ways to move their roles from “transactional” to “transformational”, so we can apply our learning at our credit unions when we return to work.
Thank-you to our emcee Julene Toews-Dewis who facilitated those discussions, and did an amazing job in leading us through the conference. Thank you to our sponsors, our speakers, the CUYLM Committee for all your hard work, each attendee for your participation, and the credit unions who sent you, for your support.
Stay tuned for ways to continue learning and growing from CUYLM! Did you miss our “Be the Change” Conference? Not to worry – we will be hearing from Sandra McDowell in a two-part webinar series this fall, and everyone is invited to attend!
