Community Impact - CUCollaborate (#25)

“There’s still a lot of room for credit unions to make meaningful partnerships in their communities.” - Sam BrownellThank you for tuning in to episode 25 of The CUInsight Network, with your host, Lauren Culp, Publisher & CEO of CUInsight.com. In The CUInsight Network, we take a deeper dive with the thought leaders who support the credit union community. We discuss issues and challenges facing credit unions and identify best practices to learn and grow together.My guest today is Sam Brownell, Founder & CEO at CUCollaborate. CUCollaborate is a consulting, software development, and digital marketing company that helps credit unions grow. Their consulting services range from field of membership expansion to branch strategy to low income designation strategy. Everything CUCollaborate does is with the goal of helping credit unions grow and succeed in making community impact.Sam shares that when he thinks of defining success for credit unions, quantifying impact for members and communities is top of mind. He explains that when credit unions frame their thinking around maximizing impact and better members’ lives, it’s easy to justify the need for growth. We chat about field of membership expansion opportunities and best practices. Sam gives background on key considerations credit unions should keep in mind for entering new markets. In this conversation, we also discuss the concept of de novo credit unions, lending to underserved consumers, and CUCollaborate’s focus when it comes to innovating for the future.In our rapid-fire questions, Sam shares the NFL player who comes to mind when he hears of the word success, his attempts to disconnect from technology, and more. Enjoy my conversation with Sam Brownell!Find the full show notes on cuinsight.com.Connect with Sam:Sam Brownell, Founder & CEO at [email protected] LinkedIn | Twitter