Posts

A Huge Success

/0 Comments/in /by

Sask CU Advance was designed by Young Leaders for Young Leaders, and the Saskatchewan Young Leaders couldn’t be more proud of our young leaders who stepped forward to submit their innovative ideas to move the Saskatchewan Credit Union system forward! Congratulations to all the applicants. Your time, effort, and engagement did not go unnoticed. The first step to continuing success is having employees who are enthusiastic and willing to go above and beyond. Thank you for stepping up and leading others. We encourage all applicants to continue to grow and foster their ideas. With a little work and motivation we’ll see those ideas benefiting the entire system and our members in no time.

 

Special thanks to our three talented credit union professionals who presented at the CEO Peer Group in Regina – Ashley Hamilton, Chelsey Protz, and Shaun Henry. Our finalists stole the show at the Peer Group meeting in Regina, and represented their respective credit unions and the young leaders of Saskatchewan with dignity, creativity and strength. Each of you are talented individuals and an asset to our Sask CU System.

And a huge Congratulations to our winner – Ashley Hamilton from Prairie Centre Credit Union! Ashley’s goal is to teach young people about debt, credit and savings to empower them with the knowledge they need to make smart financial decisions. The project is designed to appeal to young people while educating them. In her presentation, Ashley provided suggestions for how credit unions of any size could implement similar programs of their own.

Ashley was awarded with a $3,500 educational stipend, and plans to complete her Bachelor of Commerce degree with it. Chelsey and Shaun each received a $250 gift card for runner-up prizes.

Alyssa Siegel, Chair of Saskatchewan Young Leaders, said, “Through the Sask CU Advance competition, we were able to share ideas between emerging and established senior leaders in the credit union system – which directly focused on solving some of the challenges facing the system today. At the same time, the Sask CU Advance competition provided an unparalleled development opportunity for emerging leaders. Through our website, and social media links, Sask CU Advance provided a venue for sharing ideas and perspectives, while raising conversations throughout the entire credit union system. Many great ideas have been uncovered and shared by Saskatchewan’s young leaders.”

While this year’s Sask CU Advance competition has ended, SYL will continue to develop new ideas to improve the credit union system in Saskatchewan. Continue to watch for updates on our website www.SaskCUAdvance.com, Like the Saskatchewan Young Leaders Facebook page, and follow SYL on Twitter @skyoungleaders.

Saskatchewan Young Leaders Committee

Hamilton Named Sask CU Advance Winner

/0 Comments/in /by

Ashley Hamilton, Member
Service Representative withPrairie Centre Credit
Union in Eston,
SK, was named the winner of the Sask CU Advance competition today in Regina and won a $3,500 educational stipend.
TheSask CU Advance competition is sponsored
by Saskatchewan Young Leaders (SYL), a group of young leaders working together
to empower youth to grow in and for the credit union system, and is powered byCurrency Marketing.

Hamilton’s credit union
project is to develop informative and fun financial literacy presentations for
high school students. It was chosen from a group of twenty original entries,
and was one of three voted into the finals by the public in October. Hamilton’s
entry provided the Saskatchewan credit union system with insight into the
project’s progress, and culminated with a final presentation Tuesday at Saskatchewan credit unions’ CEO Peer Group meeting. Hamilton emerged the winner
after a two-part scoring process that included Saskatchewan CEO audience voting along with an
online public vote.

Hamilton’s goal is to
teach young people about debt, credit and savings to empower them with the
knowledge they need to make smart financial decisions. The project is designed
to appeal to young people while educating them. In her presentation, Hamilton provided
suggestions for how credit unions of any size could implement similar programs
of their own.

Alyssa Siegel, Chair of Saskatchewan Young Leaders, said, “Through the Sask CU Advance competition, we were able to share ideas between emerging and established senior leaders in the credit union system – which directly focused on solving some of the challenges facing the system today. At the same time, the Sask CU Advance competition provided an unparalleled development opportunity for emerging leaders. Through our website, and social media links, Sask CU Advance provided a venue for sharing ideas and perspectives, while raising conversations throughout the entire credit union system. Many great ideas have been uncovered and shared by Saskatchewan’s young leaders.”

 

 

The other Finalists wee
Shaun Henry of Synergy Credit Union in Kindersley and Chelsey
Protz of Cornerstone Credit Union in Yorkton.

While this year’s Sask CU Advance competition has ended, the SYL will continue to develop new ideas to improve the credit union system in Saskatchewan.  Watch for further updates at www.SaskCUAdvance.com, Like the SaskCUAdvance Facebook page, and follow the SYL on Twitter.

 Saskatchewan Young Leaders Committee

Introducing Sask CU Advance

/0 Comments/in /by

Saskatchewan’s first competition designed around bringing forward innovative ideas from young leaders of the credit union movement is here—Sask CU Advance. The search is on for ideas from our emerging Credit Union leaders for ways to advance the business value that Saskatchewan’s credit unions provide for members, communities and employees. Sask CU Advance was designed By Young Leaders For Young Leaders, and really has three key goals in mind:

  1. Provide a development opportunity for those who are 35 and under
  2. Build a bridge of communication from young employees to senior leaders
  3. Provide a platform to see and hear ideas that could help drive innovation in our system

Sask CU Advance is brought to you via the Saskatchewan Young Leaders (SYL) executive committee and is administered by Currency Marketing.

“The Saskatchewan Young Leaders strives to help build ways to position the credit union system as an employer of choice among potential employees and to build bridges with Saskatchewan credit unions and young employees to increase engagement. Sask CU Advance is way for us to continue progress towards both of these goals. We’re eagerly anticipating the talent and ideas brought forward via the Sask CU Advance competition.”

— Alyssa Siegel, SYL committee chair

Sask CU Advance is open for applications from July 26–September 30, 2013.  Applicants must be age 35 and under, have not yet reached the CEO level, and must work for either a Saskatchewan Credit Union or SaskCentral. To apply and share an idea, applicants should create a short video or written submission and apply at www.SaskCUAdvance.com. Applications should include information about themselves and their role in the SK credit union system, as well as a pitch about a current project or a program that they are either working on at their credit union which they feel could make a difference if implemented more broadly, or an idea they have which could further enhance the business value Saskatchewan Credit Unions bring to members, communities and/or employees.

Another exciting feature of the competition is that the entire Saskatchewan Credit Union System has a chance to participate in choosing the top three ideas submitted!  After the application period closes, a public vote open to the Saskatchewan Credit Union System facilitated through Sask CU Advance will help narrow the field of great ideas to three finalists. Voting will take place on the Sask CU Advance website from October 2-15, 2013. The three applicants with the most votes will move on as finalists.

The three finalists will be invited to attend the CEO Peer Group meeting held in Regina on November 5, where they will make a final in-person presentation to the CEOs of Saskatchewan’s Credit Unions. Peer Group members in attendance at the conference will be invited to vote for their favourite idea and finalist. After this, the Saskatchewan Credit Union community will have a chance to view the final presentations via Sask CU Advance and will once again have the ability to cast their vote to help choose the winner. A blended score of Peer Group members’ votes and public votes will determine the winner.

The winner will be announced on November 8 and will receive a prize of $3,500 to be put towards further education, while each of the two runners-up will receive gift cards valued at $250.

So get your thinking caps on around an idea you have, or encourage a peer or colleague to submit an idea they have.  Innovation, growth and development happens one step at a time. When will you take your next step?

For more information, please visit www.SaskCUAdvance.com or contact the Sask CU Advance Committee Leads:

Jill Huls
Saskatchewan Young Leaders
306.682.6482 or 306.231.4034
Jill.Huls@conexus.ca

Lindsay Bertschi
Saskatchewan Young Leaders
306.854.2118 or 306.664.2118
Lindsay.Bertschi@pccu.ca

Samantha Larsen
Saskatchewan Young Leaders
306.786.2244
Samantha.Larsen@cornerstonecu.com