Annual Meeting & Convention

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2020 Annual Meeting & Convention – Association Director Nominations

DATE:     February 7, 2020

TO:          Member Credit Union Manager / CEOs

FROM:    AVCU Nominating Committee

Lisa Huyer, Chair (NorthCountry FCU)

Wanda Dunham (White River CU)

Bob Lake (Green Mountain CU)

The Association’s 2020 Nominating Committee is seeking qualified persons to be considered for possible nomination for election to the Board of Directors.

Each member of the Association’s Board of Directors is responsible for representing all the Association’s members and helping set the general direction of the organization. Directors must maintain the best interests of the Association as well as its member credit unions in performing their duties and exercise the highest levels of professionalism and objectivity.

The Association’s bylaws (Art. 6, sec. 6.4) govern who is eligible to serve on the board as follows:

“To be eligible for election as a director, a person must be:

1. an employee with senior management responsibilities;
2. an elected director; or
3. an elected committee member;

of an affiliated credit union in good standing. No member credit union shall be entitled to more than one director, except that if a director holds qualifications from more than one member credit union, he/she shall nevertheless be entitled to serve as a director if he/she fills the above qualifications and if the credit union from which he/she is elected is not represented on the board of directors.”

Three seats expire at the 2020 73^rd Annual Meeting on May 16^th and will be filled by candidates elected for three-year terms.

Documentation for persons interested in being considered for possible nomination by the Committee should be submitted by an authorized representative of the person’s credit union, which must be a member in good standing with the Association.  Submissions to the Committee, along with any related supporting information, can be made online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/avcu20_cqbd. Cite the person’s qualifications and include as much relevant background as possible.

All submissions must be completed online no later than March 20, 2020. The Committee may make its selections from individuals submitted, as well as others. Submission of any individuals to the Committee does not automatically insure nomination by the Committee.

More information about director responsibilities and the election timeline follows. Questions about candidate qualifications or the nomination process can be directed to the Committee Chair at elections@vermontcreditunions.coop.

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2020 Director Elections Timeline

Since the Association provides absentee ballots to members requesting them, nominations from the floor of the annual meeting are not permitted. Persons not nominated by the committee, but still interested in seeking election, must do so by petition process in advance of the annual meeting in accordance with these deadlines:

Date:               Deadlines for nomination by petition process:

February 7       Nominating Committee solicitation for potential nominees

March 20         Deadline for potential candidates to submit their qualifications to the Nominating Committee

April 3             Nominating Committee report sent to members

April 10           Petition nominees submitted to Nominating Committee for inclusion on ballot*

*Candidates submitted by petition must be accompanied by an authorized petition signature (per credit union) of 5 member credit unions. Candidates meeting the petition requirement will be added to the ballot with Committee nominees.

Absentee Ballots:  Association Bylaws provide for member credit unions to be allowed to vote for Directors by absentee ballot. The 2020 Absentee Ballot deadline is as follows:

 

Date                Deadlines for absentee ballot requests and submissions

April 10           Absentee ballot request deadline

May 1              Absentee ballot vote submission deadline

May 16            Annual meeting elections conducted by ballot.
Absentee ballots added to the count by the ballot clerks.

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Association Director Responsibilities

As a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Vermont Credit Unions, an elected director is expected to adhere to the following principles, common to similar positions in all cooperative and democratic organizations.

1. The highest standards of personal conduct are observed at all times. Maintain integrity, competency and cooperation at all times.
2. Make reasonable efforts to learn about the financial industry in general, and the Association and related organizations specifically, to increase skills in making and supporting appropriate policies and decisions.
3. Attend and participate in scheduled meetings and events regularly.
4. Encourage unity between member credit unions and their officials.
5. Avoid conflicts of interest regarding Association activities, services and programs, and do not promote or engage in any activity not in the best interests of the Association or its member credit unions.
6. Be committed to maintaining a strong membership organization.
7. Observe the different roles of management and the board.
8. Fully support the decisions and policies adopted by the Board, regardless of personal opinion.
9. Make every effort to provide credit unions and the Association with accurate, pertinent information and attempt to affirmatively correct any misinformation concerning credit unions or the Association.
10. Maintain confidentiality of the organization’s business and exercise prudent discretion in disclosing information not yet made common knowledge.

John McKechnie is a Senior Partner for Total Spectrum, a Washington, D.C.-based team of principals and partner companies with decades of legislative and campaign experience at the state and federal level. He’s been with the firm since 2011 and represents a wide variety of credit union and financial services providers on Capitol Hill.

Previously he spent five years in government as a Presidential appointee at the National Credit Union Administration where he served three Chairpersons in the capacity of Director of Public and Congressional Affairs.

McKechnie’s career in the credit union industry began in 1987 as the Director of Political Action with CUNA. It culminated in a four-year stint as CUNA’s chief federal lobbyist, heading up the national trade association’s federal legislative and political advocacy. His Saturday morning keynote entitled “View from D.C. – Washington Turmoil and What it Means for Your Credit Union” will be an interactive, two-way session that no one will want to miss.

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Mary Kelly, PhD, CSP, CDR US Navy (ret) is an internationally renowned author and keynote speaker on economics, leadership, productivity, and business growth. In 21 years as a Navy intelligence and logistics officer, she trained more than 40,000 military and civilian personnel.

Kelly has spent 25 years on active duty in the Navy, leading multi-national teams throughout Asia. She was an intelligence officer specializing in Asia and Russia, an HR director, a chief of police, and a professor at the Naval Academy.

She’ll draw upon her Ph.D. in economics for the topic of her Saturday morning general session entitled “’FutureNomics’ for Credit Union Leaders“. Her unique background drives her insights into a blend of business growth and leadership topics, as chronicled in the 11 books she’s authored on those subjects.

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Dave DeFazio is a Partner at StrategyCorps, a FinTech company headquartered in Nashville, TN which helps credit unions and banks deliver products that bring value to the lives of their members and customers. He is an active and much sought after presenter at financial institution conferences where he explores innovations in financial technology, retail banking, and other strategies employed by today’s best retail financial services marketers.

DeFazio leads and manages StrategyCorps’ community financial institution sales team, where he utilizes his hands-on and executive retail banking experience at a billion dollar asset bank to enhance the customer / member service experience at a wide range of financial institutions.

His Saturday morning general session is entitled, “Planet of the Apps – the Evolving Battle for Customers and Cross Selling in a Mobile World.”

On Wednesday, January 15^th AVCU distributed an Invitation to Exhibit at AVCU’s 73rd Annual Meeting & Convention May 15-17, 2020 to our endorsed business partners, prior year exhibitors, and select others, marking the opening of application submissions to be a 2020 convention exhibitor. The invitation contained a link to download the Exhibitor / Sponsor Information Kit as well as a link to the online application hosted at SurveyMonkey. A limited number of exhibitor stations are available, so interested vendors should submit an application as soon as possible.

Purchasing a station in Friday’s Exhibitor Hall is required for anyone other than Vermont credit union employees or volunteers to attend our convention. The fee for applications submitted before the early bird date of 3/13/20 is $2,000. The fee for applications submitted between 3/14/20 and 4/3/20 is $2,200. All returning 2019 exhibiting companies receive a $200 loyalty discount which lowers their 2020 fee to $1,800 (early bird) or $2,000.

Failure to submit payment to AVCU by 4/3/20 for the exhibitor station fee (and optional presenting sponsorship fee) will result in cancellation of your application and revocation of all exhibitor and sponsor privileges. Be sure to download and review the entire Exhibitor / Sponsor Information Kit linked above for full details and a list of available sponsorships.

Questions or inquiries about any aspect of the 73^rd Annual Meeting & Convention of the Association of Vermont Credit Unions can be addressed to Convention Manager John Cote by email (preferred) to JohnCote(at)vermontcreditunions.coop or by phone at 802-861-7033 (direct).