It turns out we’re so school, we’re the object of study!

We’re very happy to announce that OAS FCU has been the subject of a case study published by St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Canada. The publication originated at the International Centre for Co-Operative Management. The center dedicates itself to studies in education, applied research and knowledge dissemination focused on co-operatives, credit unions, and mutuals.

The case study and subsequent publication were performed by Cian McMahon, Karen Miner and Sonja Novkovic. It analyzes the organic structure of OAS FCU, out internal governance framework and our volunteer program, seeking to discern the key to our success. The study touches on various strong elements.

OAS FCU’s philosophy

There is a high degree of communication among the Credit Union, our volunteers and our members. OAS FCU promotes the eight cooperative principles among all three of these groups on an ongoing basis. We constantly seek ways to keep our credit union philosophy present. This is something that can be appreciated in our decision last year of integrating the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals into our business model, and of cohosting online the Third Annual Summit on Credit Union Sustainability in the fall of 2020.

How we organize

OAS FCU has expanded the traditional credit union organizational chart, adding committees that allow us to progress while we keep a constant communication with members to provide them the products that will best serve them and the services that they need now and will want in the future.

Member participation

Our members’ participation in the Credit union is extensive, and we have over 50 volunteers. Among our strengths, the Volunteer Leadership Program, a volunteer development initiative pioneer among credit unions makes volunteering at OAS FCU a very attractive option for members. We have waiting lists in several of our committees.

The keys to our success

As working groups maintain constant communication among them allows OAS FCU can:

• Navigate the complexities of the legislative world knowing that we’re keeping up with all the expectations of the US government and, when possible, the laws of other jurisdictions as well.
• Put at our members’ disposal in over 50 countries groundbreaking digital systems so that a member living in Alexandria VA, and another in Jakarta, Indonesia, can obtain exactly the same services from us.
• Be ready to respond to shocks almost immediately. You could see this at work in how quickly our personnel switched to continuous remote working during the lockdown, in order to meet our members’ needs everyday even when unable to be at our branch locations.
• Stay one step ahead of criminals and cybercriminals alike, in order to protect the identities and money of our members.

Thanks

We want to extend our appreciation to everyone, our members, volunteers and staff. You make our Credit Union such a success that we’ve become an example in the cooperative world. We could not achieve this without everyone’s efforts. We hope to continue working this excellent teamwork so that we can progress further together.