Your foundations, hard at work for CUs & members during the pandemic
Co-authored by Melanie Murphy, Chair of the State CU Foundation Network and Executive Director of the Illinois CU Foundation 31SHARESShareShareSharePrintMailGooglePinterestDiggRedditStumbleuponDeliciousBufferTumblr,Gigi Hyland Gigi Hyland serves as the Executive Director for the National Credit Union Foundation (NCUF), the philanthropic and social responsibility leader of America’s credit union movement. Prior to her work with … Web: www.hylandhighway.com Details Credit unions have been doing an extraordinary job assisting their members during one of the toughest times in recent history. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, your foundations have been helping credit unions and their communities in almost every capacity, and we wanted to give you a sneak peek into a collaborative effort which has enhanced our ability to serve you.State credit union foundations are part of a vibrant group, called the SCUF Network, where your leaders regularly collaborate on a whole host of programs, fundraising and resources. Since the pandemic began in the spring, we have been connecting regularly on Zoom calls, which are full of rich discussion in addition to our day-to-day collaboration via our online community. As you can imagine, these conversations focus on how and what we could do to help our credit unions, staff and individuals while fulfilling our individual missions.Making Grants to Support CUs & CommunitiesMany state foundations are offering grants to support credit unions in their area. At the Illinois Credit Union Foundation, we are providing over $238,000 in funds for COVID-19 Grants for small CUs, offering financial counselor certification, and hosting training sessions on remote/virtual financial education. The Michigan Credit Union Foundation has already distributed over $100,000 in Community Crisis Support Grants, for initiatives that included financial education for students, financial support for a women’s shelter, delivering food to residents in food deserts and emergency gear for frontline workers, and others. The Minnesota Credit Union Foundation has also established a $65,000 grant pool to support their small credit unions with pandemic-related expenses.Similarly, the Heartland Credit Union Charitable Foundation is supporting credit unions through financial wellness and community development grants for member credit unions, as well as over $100,000 in pandemic relief grants to small credit unions to help with expenses related to COVID-19. The New Jersey and Pennsylvania Credit Union Foundations are offered a special COVID-19 grant program for twenty-two credit unions to assist with office needs related to adapting physical office or workforce to serve members during the pandemic. The Mountain West Credit Union Foundation is granting over $250,000 to assist affected communities in Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming. The funds will provide relief for food insecurity, community stabilization, and mental health services.Providing Financial Assistance to Individual Members, CU Staff & Local Business OwnersTo assist Iowans during the pandemic, the Iowa Credit Union Foundation launched a new Emergency Relief Fund, which provides assistance with one-time, $500 grants to small business owners and individuals who are experiencing financial hardship due to the pandemic. Over $700,000 was raised for this effort and over 11,000 grant applications have been received.The Carolinas Credit Union Foundation is supporting CU employees in the Carolinas through its COVID-19 Relief Grants, with over $400,000 available to disburse. The grants of up to $1,000 are to help with essential living expenses for credit union employees experiencing significant financial hardships due to loss of household income or increase in expenses related to the pandemic.Additionally, to reach those most deeply impacted by COVID-19 — low-wage and non-citizen workers — the Northwest Credit Union Foundation partnered with credit unions and private philanthropy to launch a zero-interest emergency loan program. Private funders are working with NWCUF to provide the financial backstop for credit unions offering the product in regions across Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.The Southeast Credit Union Foundation invited CUs in their region to join their unique #CreditUnionsCareChallenge. To take part, credit unions commit a minimum of $25 per employee, which the staff member will use to carry out a good deed while supporting a local restaurant or business. SECUF then matches the funds, doubling the community impact.Launching Virtual Financial Education Training and Offering Counseling ResourcesOnce the pandemic became more widespread, the Richard Myles Johnson (RMJ) Foundation, a state foundation for credit unions in California and Nevada, got to work on a remote version of their popular Bite of Reality experiential learning program for teens, which they are now offering free of charge to credit unions. The Credit Union League of Connecticut’s foundation, Credit Unions Building Financial Independence (CUBFI), found a creative solution to continue to provide financial education to high schools by making a virtual version of their popular Financial Reality Fairs which also leverage the RMJ Foundation’s Bite of Reality app. CUBFI reached over 300 students in a few weeks and invited other state foundations to observe the virtual fairs.The Cornerstone Credit Union Foundation launched a Pandemic Response Strategy, which includes a variety of financial counseling resources for CU staff including offering the Financial Counseling Certification Program (FiCEP) for free, a toolkit for current counselors, as well as free counseling for staff themselves. Cornerstone is also working with three financial capability providers to offer affordable e-learning platforms to credit unions.National Resources, Training, Videos & MoreThe National CU Foundation developed a comprehensive COVID-19 Resource webpage for the credit union movement that focuses on financial wellbeing, empathetic leadership and cooperative values. This includes the eSchool we partnered with CUNA on around putting empathy into action during the pandemic, our “Together Tuesdays” video series, numerous articles, videos and much more.Naturally, we can’t include everything your Foundations are doing, but these highlights do paint an amazing picture of cooperation, impact and personification of “people helping people.” Please, feel free to reach out to us or to your state foundation to learn more about the great work being done during this crisis!
Tidal Energy Today has compiled the top news from tidal and wave energy industry from August 28 until September 3, 2017.MeyGen claims world’s first as it welcomes final AHH turbineAtlantis Resources has reinstalled the third Andritz Hydro Hammerfest (AHH) tidal turbine for the MeyGen tidal energy project which is approaching a 2GWh milestone of tidal power generation. The MeyGen project also set a new world record for monthly production from a tidal stream power station with over 700MWh generated in August. The fourth turbine for this phase of the project, the AR1500, is expected to be added later in September.Minesto gets its wings (Gallery)Swedish tidal energy developer Minesto has taken delivery of the most distinguished part of its Deep Green ocean energy concept – the wing. It is made from composite material, with inner beams in carbon fiber and an outer shell in fiberglass, with the total weight of approximately 3 tons.Weptos wave device hits water off DenmarkLocal wave energy developer Weptos has deployed its wave energy device in the Little Belt strait, off the east coast of Denmark. The planned performance tests have been launched and are expected to be completed by the end of the year, Tommy Larsen, Chief Executive Officer of Weptos said.WaveRoller design ticks all the right boxesLloyd’s Register has approved the detailed design review of the WaveRoller wave energy device from the Finnish wave developer AW-Energy. The Design Appraisal Certificate guarantees that the WaveRoller design adheres to predetermined codes and standards regarding safety, functionality and reliability, AW-Energy informed.Sabella mobilizes Olympic Taurus for cable repair servicesFrench tidal energy developer Sabella engaged the services of Olympic Shipping’s multi-purpose vessel Olympic Taurus for the installation of new cable part related to the Ushant island tidal energy project. The operation started on Tuesday, August 29, 2017, and was completed two days later on August 31. The operation was conducted ahead of installation of Sabella’s D10 tidal turbine – set to be deployed later this year, or in 2018.Tidal Energy Today
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says work is already under way to keep the players he believes can spark a successful Championship campaign next season. With Cardiff relegated following last Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Newcastle, Solskjaer looks set to make changes as the Welsh club target a winning send-off on home soil before returning to the Championship next term. Eden Hazard hopes Chelsea can finish the season with a Premier League victory before launching a trophy assault next term. The Blues will end the season without silverware for the first time in three years, but with confidence restored after a sustained Premier League title challenge. Jose Mourinho’s men also reached the Champions League semi-finals, only to fall to Atletico Madrid as the Spaniards reached their first European Cup final in 40 years. “The Premier League is objective number one and this season we were almost in the final of the Champions League, almost champions in the Premier League,” Hazard told Chelsea TV. “I hope next season will be better.” Hazard has been in sparkling form this term and is determined to finish the campaign on a high at Cardiff City Stadium after last weekend’s goalless draw with Norwich. He added: “It’s very important because we lost two points in the last game against Norwich and we need to finish with one victory for the fans. “I hope for a good game and we want to enjoy on the pitch.” The Cardiff match could be one of farewells for Chelsea players including Ashley Cole – and captain John Terry and midfielder Frank Lampard, if the pair can shake off a knock and illness, respectively. Like the distinguished trio, Samuel Eto’o is also out of contract at the end of the season, but an injury in training on Friday means he is doubtful. Mourinho hopes to rouse his players for one last effort, something he admits is difficult with Chelsea’s ambitions for the campaign over. The best the Blues can finish is second, but only if Liverpool lose to Newcastle. “It is vital we keep hold of the ones (players) I believe will take us back up again. That job has already started,” Solskjaer said. “All of these in the squad now won’t be here next season. That is the nature of football, but the ones who will be here will have to have the character. That league (Championship) is not just turn up and go through the motions. “I can’t comment on players’ contracts. I am doing my best to keep hold of the most important ones, that I feel are the most important ones. “David has been absolutely terrific this season. I believe he is very happy in and around Cardiff. He is one that I really, really want to keep. “He has been the best keeper in the Premier League, for me. He has saved us many, many points, and he has not lost us one. That is the sign of a very good goalkeeper. “Of course we are all disappointed (with the season), but there is only one way, and that is to come back stronger. We have got to regroup and look at what we have to improve on.” Cardiff will be without Juan Cala for the clash after the defender was handed a three-match suspension. The Spaniard was sent off in the Bluebirds’ 4-0 defeat at Sunderland last month for denying Connor Wickham a goalscoring opportunity, but this punishment relates to his conduct as he left the field and made his way to the players’ tunnel. Cardiff end their brief stay in the Barclays Premier League on Sunday with a home clash against Chelsea, after which attention will turn fully to the early stages of masterminding a quickfire top-flight return. Cardiff boss Solskjaer is unlikely to keep his current squad intact – it is thought Steven Caulker and Gary Medel, for instance, both have relegation release clauses in their contracts – while star goalkeeper David Marshall will undoubtedly be a major target for other clubs despite him recently signing a new Bluebirds contract. Press Association
CHICAGO — The Lakers might not be where they are today if not for a very crucial task that helps keep them humming.It’s an area that falls under the expertise of assistant coach Mike Penberthy, who once won a title with the Shaq-and-Kobe-era Lakers. When coaching staff meetings invariably bog down with the minutiae of game planning, he’s often the one who makes the decision to shake things up.“I’ll be like, ‘You know what, I think we need some donuts today,’” he said. “I’ll grab one of the young guys (on staff), and say, ‘Go grab us two dozen.’ That type of thing.”It isn’t breaking news that one of the favorite guilty pleasures of the American workplace is also fuel for the Lakers’ coaching staff, which needs a pick-me-up as much as any cubicle warrior. But it’s what happens over those donuts – free-flowing conversations and sharing of basketball ideas – that has melded a room full of relative strangers into a group that is now overseeing the team with the best record in the Western Conference and avoided the landmines that many outside observers predicted would lay ahead. “Personally, I never think we’ll hear them say they appreciate it,” Crawford said. “But when they go out there and do what you want them to do, that’s basically them saying they believe in your plan and they appreciate what you’ve done.”Going to Chicago was a bit of a dubious honor for a Lakers staff that has probably earned a vacation – Kidd joked, “we’re not gonna get away from each other.” But others said it felt validating to see that at the season’s midway point, a brand new staff has found its way to functionality this quickly. The day the Lakers learned they would be coaching Team LeBron, following a January game in Brooklyn, was a moment of celebration.“Moreso than being there (at All-Star), that’s my moment I’ll remember, when we clinched,” Simon said. “I really wanted it.”There’s a lot of season left, then the postseason which will ultimately be the criteria that determines whether the vision sculpted in those early meetings in Beverly Hills can hold up. The Lakers have a lot of work to do, but they believe their system of idea-sharing is a foundation that will continue to lift them.“Guys are intelligent. Guys are not afraid to share thoughts, to be themselves,” Handy said. “And I think that’s always good for growth.” Trail Blazers beat Grizzlies in play-in, earn first-round series with the Lakers How athletes protesting the national anthem has evolved over 17 years Lakers practice early hoping to answer all questions Newsroom GuidelinesNews TipsContact UsReport an Error
Trail Blazers, Grizzlies advance to NBA play-in game; Suns, Spurs see playoff dreams dashed Lakers, Clippers schedules set for first round of NBA playoffs AD Quality Auto 360p 720p 1080p Top articles1/5READ MOREUCLA alum Kenny Clark signs four-year contract extension with PackersIt’s not that donuts are the secret to success: It’s culture.Led by head coach Frank Vogel, the Lakers have leveraged a coaching staff of diverse, opinionated personalities into one of the league’s most successful idea-churning machines, one that has translated to 41 wins before the All-Star break. While talent is the baseline for any successful team – and the Lakers have a head start with elite stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis – a coaching staff empowers that talent to win games.No one in the West has done that better than the Lakers staff, whose conference-best record led them to coach Team LeBron (to a win, by the way) in last weekend’s All-Star Game in Chicago. While the only standard that will satisfy a fanbase used to winning is a championship, the Lakers coaches have done all they can to this point to position themselves to get a top seed for the postseason and a potential run to a title this spring.It starts from a basic tenet of leadership that is often preached but rarely executed to this degree: Vogel wants to hear his coaches’ ideas – whether it’s in a staff meeting, on a golf course, during a steak dinner or over a Boston Kreme.“A lot of times, I’m wrong,” he said. “And they have an opportunity to say, ‘I don’t know if I would do that, Coach’ or I’ll say something, and they may say ‘I love that, I actually love that idea. Let’s go with that.’ They bring me a lot of affirmation for what my gut instinct is on that moment, and they’ve done a great job with that.” The constant buzz of communication between the Lakers coaches, who came from very different backgrounds, has flowed throughout the season. And while disagreements happen, they’re allowed. That tone flows from Vogel, a low-ego coach who doesn’t shoot ideas down but also has the final say.Time will tell, but the Lakers think they’ve found a winning combination with a staff that many questioned when it was assembled.“I just think Frank likes to hear from everybody every day,” assistant Lionel Hollins said. “People have opportunities to voice their opinions and thoughts. In good leadership, that’s not unique. In coaches, it might be unique.”FIRST IMPRESSIONSOn a September morning, seven men filed into the ballroom in a Beverly Hills hotel for the first official meeting of the Lakers’ coaching staff.NBA coaches have varying degrees of flexibility in choosing their own subordinates, but the Lakers’ organization, through the direction of General Manager Rob Pelinka, owner Jeanie Buss and advisor Kurt Rambis, sought for Vogel’s coaching staff to have more experience than the last one under Luke Walton.That was a big reason the meeting that day included Hollins and Jason Kidd, two former head coaches. There was also Phil Handy, who worked the back of the bench for title runs in Cleveland and Toronto; Penberthy, who had worked for Minnesota and New Orleans; and Miles Simon, the lone holdover from the previous coaching staff. The only person who had worked for Vogel before, Quinton Crawford, was serving in his first official assistant job after being a video coordinator in Orlando. There were some informal ties: Kidd and Handy, for example, had both grown up in the Bay Area – but it was hard to know what to expect walking into that room as co-workers.It might have been strangest for Simon, the holdover who entered the offseason unsure of who even his head coach was going to be. But once the group started talking, it was clear to him: This was a room where he would be a pupil as much as a coach.“It was fun, especially for me,” he said. “I came from a background where I had only worked on one staff, and I only knew one way. For all these guys coming from all these places, it was like Basketball 101 for me.”Some coaches prefer chalkboards; others prefer dry erase boards. Vogel, who first cracked into the league as a film junkie, does his best communication through video and slide presentations. That first day, there was a lot of work to get on the same terminology, but there were also breakout tangents that went on longer than anticipated: The staff talked for at least 90 minutes – three times as long as initially planned – about their experiences and preferred strategies for guarding Houston’s high-scoring James Harden.There was also homework. Each coach was asked to present on three playoff teams from the previous year and give thoughts and analysis – a proving ground that gave Vogel’s assistants a feel for how he wanted scouting done.The coaches’ retreat had informal morning and post-lunch sessions that were mostly business – with the occasional Vogel joke brightening the mood. But after about 3 p.m., the notebooks were filed away, and the golf clubs were unsheathed as the coaches got to play on a nearby course together.Like their coaching backgrounds, there is considerable diversity when it comes to their golfing skills. Penberthy and Kidd are the agreed-upon best golfers in the group. Handy admits, “I can’t golf worth a lick.” Vogel is somewhere in the middle, a straight hitter who can compete. They all enjoyed the sunshine. Beer might have been consumed.But even then, letting loose? It was a form of work, too.“It’s not just trying to hit the ball straight, you see somebody’s personality,” Kidd said. “You see how serious they take it, or whether they can laugh at themselves. You get to learn a lot about someone.”The Lakers spend their time in meetings just like any other staff, but they might just as soon formulate strategy over dinner or during a flight. Many of the assistants say Vogel is among the best communicators they’ve ever worked with, and he finds that a churn of basketball conversation can bring out the best ideas, no matter where they are hatched.“The best way to get stuff done is to do it when you’re not supposed to,” Penberthy said. “Our best conversations happen not during the game or in the meetings, but on the bus, on the planes, at dinner, over a donut. … If you’re not hanging out, you’re missing out on that stuff.”WELCOMING ALL VIEWSEvery game, during timeouts, Kidd sees Vogel enter what he calls “computer mode.”He’ll ask Kidd to rattle off offensive plays that he likes. Kidd might get through 10. He might get through two. He knows he’s done when he hears one response: “OK, got it.” Then he’ll draw it up, whether it was an idea Kidd suggested or not.“In this age of technology,” Kidd said, with a grin, “he’s computer goals when it comes to in-game coaching.”Respected as a detailed Xs and Os coach, Vogel is someone his assistants observed has the ability to quickly synthesize a lot of information during games. But this skill is only useful when the people around him are feeding him the information he needs.“I’ve always been a group decision-maker,” Vogel said.The Lakers are like a lot of NBA staffs. Behind the bench, Simon, Penberthy and Crawford feed ideas to the front-row coaches, Handy, Kidd and Hollins. Kidd tends to focus on offense, while Hollins tends to focus on defense. The front-of-the-bench coaches work with Vogel to make in-game decisions, and Vogel has the final say.But that vertical hierarchy has been expanded, especially outside of game environments when Vogel is welcoming of any concepts and judges them dispassionately. His assistants say he is not someone who shoots down ideas emotionally but talks them out, and if he disagrees, he details reasons why. Ideas aren’t categorized as “good” or “bad,” they said. The less useful ones are set aside but could be revisited later.A lot of initial speculation on Vogel’s staff, which centered around the possibility that he could be undermined by a staff that he didn’t hand-pick, overlooked that there aren’t many head coaches who are more welcoming to intellectual debate. Instead of perceiving Kidd and Hollins as a threat if the season got off to a shaky start, he invited their ideas. A sense of ambition, Vogel said, is healthy in assistants. Penberthy said Vogel’s first question to him was whether he wanted to be a head coach.“I said yeah, and he said, ‘Good, then I want you on my staff,’” he said. “Because when you want somebody on your staff – not that I want to take his job – but that means I’m going to be learning and absorbing everything. And that process, (Vogel) is a part of that.”The staff has disagreements, but they largely do so behind closed doors, then present a united front of whatever path Vogel has decided. But Vogel has also presented ideas to his staff that they’ve disliked and has backed down himself.He has one ask for a dissenting opinion: Show him why.“You want people who are going to give you counter-arguments and different ideas and are going to play devil’s advocate for everything that you’re doing,” he said. “I think that respectful communication with truthful opinions on things gives you a process to steer the ship the right way.”Of course, there are many opinions to draw from. Hollins has been in the NBA for almost all of the last 45 years as a player and coach. Kidd had a Hall of Fame career as a player, but he said some of his insight and lessons come from talking to Crawford to get his analysis from breaking down film.There is an X-factor to this equation: Vogel coaches some of the most experienced and opinionated players in the league, including James and Rajon Rondo. James in particular is given some leeway with plays – “I trust the ball in LeBron James’ hands late,” Vogel said earlier this season – but at the end of the day, James is coached, too. James said he’s had respect for Vogel since he was coaching the Indiana Pacers against James’ Miami Heat teams.Handy, who coached James in Cleveland, says James likes to be coached and challenged. At the same time, Vogel solicits the opinions of his A-level talent – a necessary trait of anyone who is going to coach a superstar.“When you have great players like that, it would be remiss of a coach to not ask them what they see, what they feel,” Handy said. “That’s part of coaching, and Frank does that with the best of them.”EARNING RESPECTIt’s hard to pick just one of 41. Some assistants couldn’t say which win was their favorite.The first big one, though, might have been the fifth game of the season in Dallas, when the Lakers were getting spread out and beat by Luka Doncic and his Mavericks teammates. The Lakers battled back, and Vogel drew up an after-timeout-play that led to the game-tying 3-point shot by Danny Green (albeit with the help of a missed illegal screen) and they went on to win in overtime.Looking back, Handy said, it was the first big indication that the Lakers had toughness – both their players and their coaches.“It was a really good win, and the way those guys hung in there and showed confidence,” he said. “And I think Frank’s play-call and those guys being able to execute on it, helped them gain more confidence in Coach. And those things go hand in hand, I think.”Not all trust is built through drawing up big shots. Vogel said the top thing he believes his staff has become good at so far is keeping an eye on the roster – figuring out who needs to be picked up when he’s frustrated by minutes, his role or something else. His assistants help him keep a pulse on the group, giving him insight on when he needs to sit down with a player and talk, or when he can give him a little space.That commitment to communication – and willingness to occasionally expand the rotation – is one reason why his assistants believe Vogel has been successful with a veteran group when his other head coaching jobs have largely focused on developing younger players. That and the detail-oriented nature of his staff has helped win over the group.Related Articles