Long-Awaited Return of World Credit Union Conference to the United States is Worth the Wait
Nearly 2,400 credit union professionals converge on Boston for first American WCUC in 9 years
July 25, 2024
BOSTON—The 2024 World Credit Union Conference concluded Wednesday with a block party that put the finishing touches on a spectacular four-day event at the Boston Conference and Exhibition Center.
2,397 credit union professionals from 57 countries attended the conference—the first held in the United States since 2015. COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the 2020 World Credit Union Conference in Los Angeles, causing the nine-year gap.
WCUC 2024 featured more than 40 keynote presentations or breakout sessions from more than 70 speakers—on topics that included:
- Generative AI
- Cybersecurity
- Regulation & Advocacy.
- Financial Inclusion and Education.
- Growing Younger Membership
- Business Strategy & Influence.
- Sustainable Finance.
New faces and familiar voices
WCUC 2024 featured dozens of new speakers and presenters discussing new and emerging issues.
In his first keynote presentation at a World Credit Union Conference, Shawn Kanungo opened thousands of eyes to some of the readily available online AI tools credit unions can use to boost everything from their web presence to the presentation of their data.
But this year’s conference also welcomed back many long-time supporters of the global credit union movement, who shared personal stories about their experiences and lessons learned over the years.
Dr. Brandi Stankovic, Principal of Strategic Advisory Solutions, addressed the Joint Global Women’s Leadership and WYCUP event "Leading Through Networks" to share the story of how she and her mother, Sue Mitchell, CEO of Mitchell, Stankovic & Associates, have worked tirelessly to grow both of those networks over the course of the past few decades.
The mix of old and new helped attendees reflect on our movement's past and focus on how to grow our future relevance as well.
Strong press and social media presence
Press coverage of the event was the strongest to date, with several journalists from the United States joined at the event by media members from Brazil, Nepal, India and Korea.
Stories from the 2024 World Credit Union Conference were featured in more than 200 articles published by over 80 news outlets across seven countries.
WCUC 2024 also was a hit on social media. Our #wcuc2024 hashtag was used more than 1,000 times on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn posts as of Thursday morning.
Get ready for 2025
Next year, World Council of Credit Unions will host the 2025 World Credit Union Conference in Stockholm, Sweden, July 14-16. To learn more, visit wcuc.org/stockholm.
World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) is the apex association for credit unions and other global financial cooperatives. World Council promotes the sustainable development of credit unions and other financial cooperatives around the world to empower people through access to high quality and affordable financial services. World Council advocates on behalf of the global credit union system before international organizations and works with national governments to improve legislation and regulation. Its technical assistance programs introduce new tools and technologies to strengthen credit unions' financial performance and increase their outreach.
World Council has implemented 300+ technical assistance programs in 90 countries. Worldwide, 82,758 credit unions in 97 countries serve 404 million people. Learn more about World Council's impact around the world at www.woccu.org.
Organization: World Council of Credit Unions
E-mail: gneumann@woccu.org
Phone: +1 608-395-2048
NOTE: Click on photos to view/download in high resolution.