Bring the most relevant topics of the credit union industry to life—whether you are looking to engage your team, educate your board, or inspire your leaders, Filene's subject matter experts are ready to spark discussion and jumpstart impact.
Curated from Filene’s cutting-edge research and innovation, each speaking topic will provide actionable outcomes with immediate impact. Topics represent the most often requested and relevant discussions shared by the credit union system today.
Speaking topics can be delivered virtually or in-person.
Speaking Topics
What Credit Unions Can Learn from Michelin-Starred Restaurants
Top 10 for 2025: Strategic Priorities for Credit Unions
What Do Members Want?: Understanding Consumer Needs, Attitudes, and Behaviors to Drive Credit Union Member Engagement
Design for Digital: Technology and the Fintech Ecosystem for Credit Unions
Pursuing Scale: Mergers and Consolidation in the Credit Union Industry
See Sooner, Act Faster: What Innovation Means (for Real) and How to Use It to Fuel Growth
The Right Fit: The Future of Credit Union Talent and Culture
Leadership Matters: Transformational Leadership in an Era of Change
Session Details
What Credit Unions Can Learn from Michelin-Starred Restaurants
Filene’s flagship presentation for 2025! Three-starred Michelin restaurants are not merely good—they promise “exceptional cuisine” that is “worth a special journey.” What makes a credit union similarly exceptional? In this presentation, we explore the strategic and tactical drivers of excellence among credit unions drawing from Filene’s research. Learn how to elevate experience with a back-to-basics approach that helps credit unions reconnect with their markets and unlock value.
Top 10 for 2025: Strategic Priorities for Credit Unions
An overview and facilitated discussion of the top ten most significant strategic decisions credit union leaders will have to make in 2025. What are the emerging trends and disruptive forces shaping the financial services industry and credit union system? This presentation will help credit union leaders future-proof their organizations with actionable insights and provide a clear roadmap to anticipate the most serious challenges and seize the most valuable opportunities in the coming year.
What Do Members Want?: Understanding Consumer Needs, Attitudes, and Behaviors to Drive Credit Union Member Engagement
Credit unions with member-focused strategies perform better and grow faster. But a member-focused strategy depends on understanding what members want out of their credit union—and this requires good data. How can credit unions best leverage member data to turn insights into action? After a year of research, Filene has identified five segments of credit union members based on their core needs, attitudes, and motivations. In this presentation, leaders will learn how to deepen member engagement, build lasting relationships, and drive profitability by using segmentation to tailor their value prop, innovate and bundle products and services, and personalize marketing and messaging at scale.
Design for Digital: Technology and the Fintech Ecosystem for Credit Unions
Digital transformation remains a critical priority for all credit unions in an era of constant technological change. This presentation explores the rapidly evolving fintech landscape, uncovering key trends shaping the financial services ecosystem and their implications for credit union strategy. How do credit unions identify, develop, and launch cutting-edge solutions while optimizing their processes to get the most value out of their technology partnerships? From cultivating nimbleness and navigating the risks of experimentation to maintaining operational excellence, this session provides credit union leaders with a roadmap to create a digitally forward organization.
Pursuing Scale: Mergers and Consolidation in the Credit Union Industry
Consolidation continues to reshape the credit union industry as credit unions look for economies of scale. This presentation provides a data-driven perspective on aligning the pursuit of scale with member value and organizational sustainability. This session helps leaders answer critical questions like: How do economies of scale help credit unions do more for their members? How is the merger landscape shifting through mergers of equals, bank acquisitions, and system-level consolidation? What are the drivers, risks, and rewards of mergers? Together, we discuss how to decide whether and when a merger makes sense and what considerations leaders should keep in mind to navigate a merger and position credit unions for renewed success.
See Sooner, Act Faster: What Innovation Means (for Real) and How to Use It to Fuel Growth
Innovation has become a buzzword. But real, meaningful innovation remains an essential survival skill in competitive and quickly changing industries like financial services. This session redefines what innovation means for credit unions, emphasizing practical approaches to spotting trends early and acting decisively. We document the links between credit union innovation and member satisfaction, loyalty, and product usage and then describe the drivers of innovation, inside and outside the credit union. How can credit unions embed the practice of innovation in their organizational design and culture to see sooner, act faster, and stay aligned through change?
The Right Fit: The Future of Credit Union Talent and Culture
Talent and culture are the twin engines of operational effectiveness and organizational success. But talent management is changing quickly in the era of AI and hybrid work. What are the opportunities and risks credit unions face in attracting, retaining, and engaging the workforce of the future? How can credit unions build the right cultures for their strategy while staying flexible to empower teams to adapt to change? In this session, credit unions will discover strategies to put people first, enhance employee engagement, develop and upskill talent, and build high-performing, data-driven, inclusive organizations.
Leadership Matters: Transformational Leadership in an Era of Change
Since the beginning of 2018, nearly a third of all credit unions have hired a new CEO! This generational shift in credit union management has highlighted the importance of leadership for the future of credit unions. What do credit unions need from their leaders today? What are the traits of top leaders, and what do leaders of thriving credit unions do differently? Where do transformational leaders come from? Identifying top talent is only part of the equation; intentional development and healthy organizational culture are critical parts of cultivating the next generation of credit union leaders. And in times of change, when the environment becomes more dynamic, volatile, and uncertain, leadership matters more. By staying vigilant, communicating with authenticity, building resilience, and investing in adaptability and inclusivity, credit union leaders can lead their people and organizations through change.
Filene Roadmap to Excellence
- Filene 101: To learn more about Filene, the many offerings available to members, and how we can help your credit union achieve its goals by maximizing the value of your membership
Contact us at [email protected] to join our monthly virtual sessions.
Outcomes
- Research and innovation to inform your organization’s strategy and tactics
- Evidence-based guidance and best practices for credit union leaders and teams
- Action steps, tools, and case studies that participants can use immediately to put insights into practice
Contact our Advisory Team about bringing Filene Speakers to your organization.
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