We would like to say a special thanks to our outgoing CUYLM committee members. Each of these individuals were instrumental in CUYLM’s success and we are thrilled they will be a part of our CUYLM Alumni.

• Lesia Gojan Klein – Carpathia Credit Union, Branch Manager & CUYLM Chair

• Tyler Booker – Catalyst Credit Union, Branch Manager & CUYLM Training and Development Subcommittee Chair

• Danika Zurbyk – Vanguard Credit Union, VIP Connect, Financial Services Team Lead, & CUYLM Events Subcommittee

These individuals are passionate about supporting and strengthening the credit union system. Over the past three years they have all worked hard to support and develop CUYLM initiatives and are strong leaders within their credit unions. As committee members, employees and supporters of the MB Credit Union system, they support cooperative values and are committed to continued personal and professional growth for themselves and those they have had the opportunity to work with. Thank you so much for your ongoing positive contribution, knowledge and ability to see the BIG picture! Your work will carry on for years to come and help continue to empower youth to grow and prosper in and for the credit union system.

Sincerely, CUYLM

Words from Leanne DeVliegere Associate Vice President, Member Solutions, Westoba Credit Union:

I had the outstanding opportunity to participate in the Credit Union Central of Canada National Young Leader Award competition in Banff this year! This has been one of my long-term goals realized, and the experience was more incredible than I could have imagined. It’s much bigger than the award itself…the learning process, connecting with others, discovering what you’re capable of…all of these are invaluable! The experience began long before heading to Banff…here are some highlights!

Westoba Credit Union nominated me for the national award after an internal competition among our young leaders

I wrote an essay as part of my submission package titled “Leadership is Influence”. For any young leaders who were at CUYLM’s Think Tank in 2014 we discussed creating a Circle of Influence and what that may look like. The concept is important to me, and I chose to write about the different pieces of my circle and how these help me to be an effective leader.

Once the five finalists were identified, we started meeting by conference call weekly to put a presentation together which we titled “What’s Your Story?”. We determined that each finalist would share a leadership experience and then as a group, put out a ‘call to action’ to our audience and encourage other young leaders to start thinking about their own stories, experiences, people to involve, etc.

In Banff, each finalist had the opportunity to meet with two CUCC Board of Director Members and the three most recent scholarship recipients who are members of the National Young Leader Committee.

The theme of CUCC’s conference was ‘Our Time is Now’. Through my CUYLM experience I’ve had the opportunity to meet a lot of fantastic young leaders who are doing great things in their credit unions and for the MB system. I encourage you to put your name forward, speak with your manager or coach

Thank you so much to all of you who attended the 2015 Ignite conference and for taking the time to complete the post conference survey. We CUYLM take your feedback and recommendations into consideration when planning events or preparing communications so thank you!

Your stand-out “favourite” take-away/activities from the conference:

• 4D-I Assessments

• Re-framing/keeping positive outlook

• Networking & Collaborating

• Solutions Box- Working through leadership challenges with advice from peers

Here are some of the things you said…

• “CUYLM made me proud to be a part of the MB Credit Union System”

• “I made lots of new contacts”

• “Lots of positive thinking and positive attitudes”

Thoughts for Young Leaders – Presented at Ignite 2015 CUYLM Conference by Garth Manness, CEO of Credit Union Central of Manitoba:

• Learn the business

• Make sure you understand the drivers

• Ask questions

• Seek first to understand – then to be understood

• Challenge what sets co-operatives apart

• Don’t let others create your perspective

• Let your energy infect

• Respect/positivity/energy/passion and hard work

• Identify problems – but offer solutions

• Vision/Action/Execution

The 2014 CUYLM Think Tank took place at Portage Credit Union Centre on June 11, and drew 67 young leaders from credit unions throughout Manitoba.

The objective of the Think Tank was to provide our Manitoba young leaders with an opportunity to learn from their peers, increase awareness of the ‘big picture’ credit union system, and to gather information during group discussions.

In the think tank portion of the event, participants broke into small groups and were given two hours to brainstorm and discuss ideas around six questions about the future of the credit union system and the role of young leaders in it, with self development as a key objective. Some of the questions the young leaders considered were “what do you think the Manitoba credit union system will look like in five years? 10? 20?”, and “how, as young leaders, can we add value to our teams, our credit unions, and the Manitoba system?”

Attendees were also given the opportunity to participate in a “human library” mentoring session, where they could spend time with 14 mentors and leaders in the system to ask questions and share ideas.

Twelve young leaders were also paired with members of the CUYLM Executive Committee to continue the conversation after the event, and help with their career and personal development.

The post-event survey indicated that participants really enjoyed their time at the think tank and saw great value in connecting with other young leaders facing the same challenges, and many expressed interest in participating in a similar event annual or semi-annually.

Participants generated many great ideas to take back to their credit unions, and were challenged to share what they had learned with a minimum of 3 people they work with.

“I met some great people and re-connected with ones I met at the (CUYLM) conference in Winnipeg. It’s very important to have an ‘it’s up to me’ attitude as a young leader. We are the future of our credit unions and the system. It’s taking these ideas that were presented and putting them into action. I plan to work with my manager and my team to build out action plans for the future s othat we have a clear goal in mind.” - Think Tank Participant

Credit Union Young Leaders of Manitoba held our inaugural conference in Winnipeg, MB on November 26 & 27, 2013. During the intensive two days, we had the opportunity to meet many other young leaders with the assistance of David Gouthro, the host of the event.

Bob Lafond spoke on behalf of CUCM and he gave us the opportunity to recommend changes to current and anticipated challenges facing the MB credit union system. The CUYLM committee will be presenting at the CUCM systems meeting on May 14, 2014.

Terry Brock presented on opportunities to leverage social media to build essential member relationships in the digital age.

CUYLM along with Terry Brock and David Gouthro hosted pre and post webinars on utilizing technology. Also a panel of leaders shared with us their experiences and the importance of developing young leaders in the credit union system.

We thank our sponsors and all our attendees for the success of our inaugural conference and we look forward to planning our 2015 conference so we can further develop and strengthen our young leaders.