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Co-operative, Credit Union Directors
Getting on Board
By: Megan Fitzgerald - Atlantic Co-operator
It’s amazing what a difference three and a half days can make in your life.
About eight years ago, I was selected by “Dad’s bank” to go to a leadership camp. Little did I know at that point that “Dad’s bank” was actually Reddy Kilowatt Credit Union, and this camp would not only excite me about co-ops enough to join the credit union, but also give me the leadership skills and confidence I needed to become it’s FIRST EVER youth member board representative.
Opportunities like this have been popping up all over the place for ACYL (Atlantic Cooperative Youth Leadership) participants all over Atlantic Canada.
At my second camp, about three years ago, I met Briana Williams and Bethany Mayne. As I was on staff, and they were creative directors, we worked closely together in a team atmosphere to make the camp happen for other young people.
Since their first camp, Briana and Bethany have also been fortunate enough to use their co-op knowledge and passion to be on boards as well.
Bethany has recently attained the position of Youth Director on the Prince Edward Island Cooperative Council board of directors, and Brianna has been selected to sit as a Youth Representative on the Nova Scotia Cooperative Council board.
Amazing Opportunity
For three of us, this is an amazing opportunity, and we attribute a large piece of our success to ACYL. Our three roles are very similar. We are chosen as youth representatives and directors to give a voice to the young people that are members of our co-ops and credit unions.
We can take part in many of the different functions of the board, but most importantly we are there in the hopes that because of us, and what we have to say more young people will become involved in the co-operative system, and help to shape its future.
The link between ACYL and our respective positions is a strong one. Not only did we all learn the leadership skills and abilities we needed to succeed at the board table, but for some of us before ACYL, the co-op system wasn’t even clearly defined in our minds.
Briana, who is also founding member of the Nova Scotia Co-operative Youth Alliance, says “There was a time when I didn’t understand to the full extent what being a member of a co-op was, I didn’t know the things I was a member of, were in fact co-ops.”
Attending ACYL also gave us the co-op knowledge that we need to start out our lives as members of co-ops. Because the cooperative system is about each individual member working together to attain the cooperatives goals, the more you know, the more you can help.
At my first board meeting, I sat around with a table full of extremely well-educated, well-experienced members of Reddy Kilowatt Credit Union. At this meeting, I may not have known a lot about the numbers, or what the policy manuals were saying, but I did know all the cooperative principles and that the Credit Union was working on a mission to be a great part of the cooperative community.
Since then, I have learned a lot about what the numbers mean, and this past year, I was even appointed to sit as a member of the Governance Committee.
Co-operative Future
Bethany agrees that being a young person on a board of directors can at first be fairly intimidating but, she says “ACYL helps us to believe that we CAN BE the cooperative future”.
As a youth rep for RKCU I no longer feel intimidated, and am often encouraged to share my ideas and perspectives. I feel as though someone wants to hear what I have to say. I am now in my third year, and hope to even run for an elected directors position in the future.
Attending ACYL has brought us pretty far from being three passionate, but fairly shy young teens. Now, through the great work that ACYL has done, we are able to present ourselves as extremely effective and integral parts to our respective co-op communities.
It is really important to have young people involved in the decision making for co-ops and credit unions. RKCU is no different than most credit unions and has an aging demographic, they recognized several years ago the importance of attracting young members, the value of supporting ACYL participation, and having a youth member on the board.
We all think it is extremely important for youth to be a part of co-op movements on a higher level. By being on the board we are making decisions that will affect our co-ops right away. Our experience at ACYL has given us a great opportunity, to be a face and a voice for young people involved in co-ops in Atlantic Canada.
Bethany says “Because the PEICC is about development and awareness, about moving forward with cooperatives, I think it was important to them to find a young person for this position who really believes in cooperatives and wants to see them grow more on PEI.”
We all feel as though we have been given a great opportunity, and hope that our ACYL experience can continue to bring us through our cooperative lives! We are the future of co-ops, and it is important that we use this opportunity to make a difference for the youth involved in cooperatives all over Atlantic Canada.
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