Meet NLCUP: 2027 Herb Wegner Memorial Award Recipient
“NLCUP is not simply hosting events or providing resources. It is changing who is seen, who is heard, who leads, and how credit unions understand their responsibility to Latino communities.”
Vicky Garcia, President & CEO, Latino Community Credit Union
In 2006, Latino credit union professionals came together around a shared conviction that the credit union movement needed a place dedicated to supporting, developing and elevating Latino leaders. So they created one with no full-time staff, no national conference, and no extensive programming infrastructure. Just a handful of committed people willing to give their time, share their networks, and create space for one another.
Twenty years later, that grassroots effort has become the National Association of Latino Credit Unions & Professionals (NLCUP) and the movement is different because it exists.
Building a place to belong
From the beginning, NLCUP understood that representation is about more than who occupies a seat. It is about who feels welcome in the room, who sees a path to leadership, and who believes their experiences and perspective have value to the movement.
Today, its programs connect Latino credit union professionals across the country through mentorship, professional devr. Its mentorship program alone has experienced significant growth, pairing established executives with professionals preparing for their next leadership opportunity.
One NLCUP member described the organization as doing something beyond professional development but creating “a sense of community and belonging” for Latino professionals growing into leadership. After participating in NLCUP’s mentorship and board-readiness programming, that individual earned a promotion and said the experience strengthened their confidence, perspective and readiness to lead.
Ivan Dominguez of Unitus Credit Union experienced that sense of belonging firsthand when he attended an NLCUP conference near the community where he grew up. Surrounded by professionals who looked like him, shared similar experiences, and understood the challenges facing his community, he found himself reflecting on his own journey and what it could mean for those coming behind him.
“Without a doubt, my eight-year-old self would be proud of the direction my life has taken, despite all the challenges,” he reflected. “Those same challenges are the reason I must keep pushing forward, not just for myself, but for those right behind me.”
Representation that changes how we serve
NLCUP has never treated representation as the end goal because who leads ultimately influences who gets served and how. The organization has helped credit unions move beyond surface-level outreach and better understand the lived experiences of Latino and immigrant households.
Through its ITIN lending education, NLCUP has equipped credit union professionals with practical knowledge to responsibly serve individuals who use Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers rather than Social Security numbers.
Its inaugural ITIN Lending Workshop brought together professionals from 28 credit unions to learn how to better serve a population that can otherwise be pushed toward costly or predatory alternatives.
This distinction matters because inclusion isn’t simply translating a brochure into Spanish. It means understanding why someone may not have access to traditional forms of identification, building trust and designing products and lending practices around the realities of the people credit unions hope to serve.
Terrance Williams, President & CEO of TruStage, described NLCUP’s influence as helping credit unions move beyond “surface-level outreach” toward authentic cultural integration influencing everything from product design to lending practices.
As NLCUP grew, so did its ambition
As demand grew, NLCUP transformed grassroots momentum into something built to last. As recently as 2022, the organization had 25 dues-paying institutional members and hired its first full-time Executive Director. Today, 127 credit unions and industry organizations invest in its mission. Supported by four full-time staff, NLCUP delivers programming that reaches approximately 1,100 credit union professionals nationwide.
But growth was never the goal for growth’s sake. As NLCUP grew, so did its ability to create pathways for Latino professionals to connect with leadership opportunities. Its mentorship program connects emerging professionals with senior executives. Ejecutivos in the Making gives participants the opportunity to shadow senior leaders. Mujeres Forward focuses specifically on barriers facing Latina women. And its board development work prepares professionals to bring their perspectives into governance roles with half of the participants in an early cohort subsequently joining a local board.
The organization has also created something that did not previously exist at a national level: a major convening intentionally centered on Latino credit union professionals and their allies.
These spaces matter because leadership pipelines do not build themselves. Someone has to identify talent, a door needs to be opened, an introduction needs to be made, and someone has to say, “You belong here.” And then, eventually, the person who once needed that invitation becomes the person extending it to someone else. A concept deeply rooted in the cooperative model itself.
Helping credit unions see their future
The communities NLCUP champions are not peripheral to the future of credit unions, they are central to it. NLCUP has helped the movement recognize that serving Latino communities well is not simply an inclusion initiative but a question of relevance, growth, and impact.
Through partnerships, education, advocacy, ITIN lending resources, and culturally informed service strategies, NLCUP is helping credit unions build the knowledge and trust necessary to serve Latino and immigrant communities more effectively. Its work has been described by partners as both values-driven and practical for credit unions to build confidence and act.
That impact reaches far beyond the people participating directly in an NLCUP program. Every credit union better equipped to serve an immigrant household can create another pathway to financial well-being. And every person who sees someone like themselves leading this movement can begin to imagine themselves leading it, too.
As former Guadalupe Credit Union President & CEO Winona Nava put it, “It is powerful for young leaders to see industry icons who share their background and heritage.”
They created what did not yet exist
There is something fitting about NLCUP receiving the Herb Wegner Memorial Award twenty years after that first group came together. In many ways, NLCUP’s story is the story of the cooperative movement. People saw a need and gathered around it. They contributed what they could and built something none of them could have built alone.
“This honor comes at a pivotal moment; one where Latino communities are actively seeking spaces where they belong, places they can trust, and institutions that make them feel safe. This award is an affirmation that credit unions, among the strongest financial institutions in the country, are opening their doors wide to our community. There’s a certain resonance to this moment: credit unions were born from the vision of immigrants, and now immigrants and their descendants are shaping their future once again. This is why this is more than just an award for NLCUP; it’s our movement coming back to our roots.”
What began as a grassroots network has grown into a national organization developing leaders, strengthening credit unions and expanding the movement’s capacity to serve Latino communities. Twenty years ago, NLCUP’s founders created the space they could not find and today, that space is helping shape the future of the credit union movement.
That is the legacy of NLCUP, recipient of the 2027 Herb Wegner Memorial Award for Outstanding Organization. Their story deserves to be celebrated. There’s a place for you in this celebration so join us for the 2027 Foundation Gala and secure your ticket, table, or explore sponsorship opportunities today.
