DEI Resource Library
The following list of resources will provide helpful toolkits, case studies, and articles for each of the recommendations as well as overarching DEI resources.
Founded with a “people helping people” mission, credit unions have long worked to equitably build and inclusively serve diverse memberships in their communities. The strength of the Credit Union Movement is in the diversity of its many unique memberships, which together create a united fabric of access to affordable financial services.
This Resource Library complements the set of recommendations compiled by a credit union-driven Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force. Follow this link to view the full set of recommendations and action steps.
We appreciate the cooperative work of credit unions to share ideas, inspiration, and learnings. The case studies and resources presented in this Resource Library should not be considered endorsements or preferred solutions. Instead, they serve as examples of ways to advance DEI, for credit unions to review. Please reach out to Carmen Vigil if you’d like to share a resource.

DEI TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS
View the full recommendations and action steps compiled by a credit union-driven Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force.
View Recommendations
DEI ONLINE FORUM
Visit the online community to ask questions of peers, share best practices, and stay up-to-date on the latest resources.
Visit the ForumCREDIT UNIONS AS EMPLOYERS
Recommendation 1: Conduct organizational benchmarking and provide leadership education.
Organizational Benchmarking
- Filene DEI Practices and Policies Survey
- Culture Amp free DEI survey resource
- Custom Insight – DEI Survey
- NCUA DEI organizational assessment
- Racial Equity Tools
- How to Create A Diverse Board
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Credit Unions | Filene Research Institute
- Filene – Road Map to Activating Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
- Sample Policy 1
- Sample Policy 2
Leadership Education
- CUNA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion School
- CUES DEI Resource Center
- How Racial Inequality Manifests in the US Banking System
- How to be an LGBTQ Ally
- Don’t Fixate on the Racial Wealth Gap: Focus on Undoing Its Root Causes
- McKinsey & Company: The case for accelerating financial inclusion in black communities
- Credit Unions and CEO Gender
- The Color of Money – Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap by Mehrsa Baradaran
Recommendation 2: Commit staff time to ongoing DEI work.
- Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace | Tips for Starting a DEI Committee – Idealist
- Better Allies – Everyday actions to create inclusive, engaging workplaces
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Credit Unions | Filene Research Institute
- African American Credit Union Coalition
- CU DEI Collective
- Elevating Equity: The Real Story of Diversity and Inclusion
Sample Job Descriptions & Compensation Considerations
- DEI Program Manager
- DEI Program Coordinator
- Diversity & Inclusion Manager
- Sample Jobs from Payscale
- Linking ERG Roles to the Talent Development Process and rewarding ERG Leaders
Credit Union Examples
- Coastal Credit Union Takes on DEI from the Inside and Out |Raleigh, NC
- Spire Forms Diversity & Inclusion Council | Minneapolis, MN
- 2 Questions about Helping Members Face Today’s Challenges
Recommendation 3: Develop an Employee Resource Group (ERG) program or a cross-functional team to empower and support communities within your credit union.
- ERG Guidelines & application
- Building ERGs
- How and Why Justworks Compensates our ERG Leads
- What Black Employee Resource Groups Need Right Now (Harvard Business Review)
Credit Union Examples
Recommendation 4: Encourage cultural competency.
- Intercultural Development Inventory
- What are the Benefits of Understanding Different Cultures?
- 2021 Holidays and Awareness Dates
- Clackamas Federal Credit Union Increases Efforts to Embrace Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Recommendation 5: Audit hiring and promotion processes to ensure diversity and equity in policy, process, and practices.
- DEI Consultants
- Harvard University Implicit Association tests
- Ethics Unwrapped – Implicit Bias
- SHRM Website
- Creating an inclusive job description
- Textio.com – Inclusive language on job descriptions/postings
- Gender Decoder – For job descriptions/postings
- University of Washington – Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Resources, Tool Kits and Trainings
- Fair Chance Business Practices
- Rejecting the “Reference Man”
Recommendation 6: Proactively connect employees from historically marginalized communities to development opportunities that the credit union offers to support their growth, promotion, and retention.
- 4 Ways Mentoring can Empower Your Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives
- 5 Ways to use Mentoring to Create an Inclusive Workplace
Recommendation 7: Provide DEI training for hiring managers and recruiting staff, including implicit bias awareness training, and interviewing best practices.
- DDI (Development Dimensions International)
- Harvard University Implicit Association tests
- Ethics Unwrapped – Implicit Bias
- Partners in Diversity (Greater Portland)
- CUES Harvard Manager Mentor
Recommendation 8: Develop a plan for attracting, recruiting, and inviting underrepresented talent to join the credit union team.
- Partners in Diversity (Greater Portland)
- PDX Women in Tech
- Professional Networking Groups
- Young Professional Networks
- Workplace Diversity Through Recruitment: A Step-By-Step Guide
- Workforce Diversity Retention Project
Job Boards Aimed at Underrepresented Groups
- Professional Diversity Network
- African American Credit Union Coalition Career Page
- Inclusiv Careers Page
- Diversity Job Board
Credit Union Examples
CREDIT UNIONS AS FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
Recommendation 9: Invest time in researching and understanding the specific demographics of your community.
- American Community Survey (ACS) – The ACS helps local officials, community leaders and businesses understand the changes taking place in their communities. It is the premier source for detailed population and housing information about our nation. Conducted under the Census Bureau umbrella, the information is gathered annually and reports at the neighborhood level.
- Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics – The Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) program is part of the Center for Economic Studies at the U.S. Census Bureau. The LEHD program produces new, cost effective, public-use information combining federal, state and Census Bureau data on employers and employees under the Local Employment Dynamics (LED) Partnership. State and local authorities increasingly need detailed local information about their economies to make informed decisions. The LED Partnership works to fill critical data gaps and provide indicators needed by state and local authorities.
- Census Reporter
- Justice Map – Visualize race and income for your community and country.
Paid Resources
- Claritas
- Coopera – Coopera is a full-service Hispanic growth firm providing custom solutions for credit unions nationwide to grow by reaching and serving the Hispanic market.
Recommendation 10: Conduct a DEI Audit.
- Committee Charter Template
- Example Questions for Product and Service Offerings in Diverse Communities
- Credit scores are supposed to be race-neutral. That’s impossible. Washington Post, October 2020
- Discriminatory Effects of Credit Scoring on Communities of Color National Fair Housing Alliance/Suffolk University Law School, 2012.
Recommendation 11: Develop inclusive and equitable product design processes that address the specific needs of historically underserved populations.
- CUES DEI Resources Center
- Juntos Avanzamos designated credit unions working with community groups
- Consider design-thinking perspectives and learnings from companies outside of the credit union industry. Example: Nike FlyEase design
- Human Centered Design Information from Ideo.org
Credit Union Examples
- Case study: Seattle CU
- Inclusiv Resilience Investment Fund | River City Federal Credit Union (San Antonio, TX)
Recommendation 12: Adopt specific strategies to increase supplier diversity.
- Why You Need a Supplier Diversity Program Harvard Business Review, August 2020
- Credit Union Guide to Supplier Diversity NCUA Office of Minority and Women Inclusion, 2018
- Veridian Credit Union Supplier Diversity online registration
CREDIT UNIONS AS COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Recommendation 13: Work to understand the specific issues impacting the communities your credit union serves.
- Overcoming Racial Bias in Philanthropic Funding, Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2020
- Meyer Memorial Trust DEI Resources
- NCUA Annual Voluntary Credit Union Diversity Self-Assessment
- The Shadow of Credit: The Historical Origins of Racial Predatory Lending and Its Impact Upon African American Wealth Accumulation Of Pennsylvania Journal of Law and Social Change, 2008
- The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap Mehrsa Baradaran, 2017
- COVID-19’s impact on US income inequality: It’s going to get worse before it gets better. Deloitte Insights, July 2020
- COVID-19 Economic and Financial Impacts Harvard Business School
- NCUF Credit Union Development Education
Recommendation 14: Make a commitment to deep and sustained engagement in service of your community.
- Developing the Right Community Partners for Your Credit Union
- Hyperlocal Giving to Black-Led Nonprofits Cannot Simply Be a Trend, Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2020
- Three Steps Your Credit Union Can Take to Advance Financial Well-being for People with Disabilities, CUInsight, 2019
- How Your Business Can Build Lasting Relationships with Nonprofits, Entrepreneur
- African American Credit Union Coalition
- CU Pride
- CU DEI Collective
Recommendation 15: Invest time and resources in community organizations and approach community partnerships through a lens of empathy, relationship-building, and shared accountability.
General Resources
Books
- Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
- The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
- How to be Anti-Racist by Ibram Kendi
- So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
- Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibrahim Kendi
- White Fragility by Robin Diangelo
Consultants
- Adaway Group [website] – education on equity and inclusion, equity audits
- Alison Carr [website] [email] – DEI consultant, Goodwill Ambassador
- Derrick Boles [Facebook] [LinkedIn] – author and speaker, organizational development
- Jennifer Bouman-Steagall [website] – employment attorney and DEI trainer
- Capacity Building Partnerships [website]
- Center for Equity and Inclusion [website]
- Coopera [website] – serving the Hispanic market
- Diversity Center for Seattle [website]
- Shari Dunn [LinkedIn] [website] – diversity coaching
- Erin Jones [LinkedIn]
- Fleur Larsen [website] – facilitation
- Nora Liu [LinkedIn][website] – GARE/Race Forward
- Cheryl Myers [LinkedIn] – DEI consultant
- Mitchell Stankovic and Associates [website]
- VisionSpring Inc. [website]
- Scott Winn [LinkedIn][website] – consultant, racial equity consulting and training
- The Training Associates [website]
- Dr. Tony Byers [website]
- HamaniDEI [website]
Events/Programs
- AACUC Commitment to Change – August 10-15, 2020 [video recordings]
- NCUF Credit Union Development Education
Organizations
- African American Credit Union Coalition
- Black Lives Matter
- Business Impact NW
- Coalition of Communities of Color
- Diversity Equity and Inclusion Communities of Practice
- HomeSightWA
- Idaho Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
- Inclusiv
- NCUA Diversity & Inclusion
- The Nova Collective
- Partners in Diversity – Employment Outreach, Informational Webinars
- Q-Center
- Urban League of Portland
- Your Credit Union Partner
Reports
- Advancing Workforce Equity in Seattle: A Blueprint for Action – PolicyLink and USC Equity Research Institute
- Race and the Work of the Future: Advancing Workforce Equity in the United States – PolicyLink and USC Equity Research Institute
- Recover Better: A Regional Plan for Equitable Economic Recovery – Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County
Websites
- Better Health Together
- Color Careers
- CU DEI Collective
- CU Pride
- DEI Talks
- Empire Health Foundation
- employHER
- Equal Justice Initiative
- Gartner
- IMDiversity
- NCUA DEI Program
- Partners in Diversity: Say Hey
- Professional Diversity Network
- Racial Equity Tools
- SHRM: How to Develop a Diversity and Inclusion Initiative *requires login to access
- Workplace Change – Human Resources Firm
- World Trust