I had the good fortune to spend a few hours at Duke Federal Credit Union in Durham this week. For a few years now, Duke has operated a Financial Education Center for its members. It’s a comprehensive center, complete with videos, written materials and other financial education resources. Most importantly, two staff at Duke are dedicated to counseling members who have questions about credit and their finances. These staffers also go into the Durham community frequently to conduct financial education seminars.
According to Ed Agnoli, who is NCCUL’s director of education and financial literacy, Duke’s approach really stands out – the credit union can deliver financial education using the above channels, and setting aside space in the building where members can go to get financial education shows Duke’s dedication and commitment.
This commitment shines through in the thoughts and reflections of the Duke staff I had the opportunity to speak with this week. We’ll focus on this “big picture” commitment and the results next week. For now, check out the story of Duke FCU Member Shawn Service, who is learning how to make sense of his finances and credit thanks to the help of Duke FCU Financial Guidance Counselor Cassandra Taylor.
Filed under: Credit Unions, Duke Federal Credit Union, financial education, people helping people |
CU Communicator 
Cassandra Taylor is a real asset to Duke FCU. This video is a perfect example of the credit union difference.
How could you not love credit unions after watching this video? Nice work, Communicator!
Is there a website? Link?
@Ginny – thanks! I couldn’t agree more that Cassandra, Scottie (who you will meet next week) and the entire team at Duke are really making a difference.
@Matt – Thanks! This really is a great model for how to execute a financial education program. So many credit unions are doing wonderful things in this area, and it’s nice to see such a concentration and focus on the part of the staff.
@Jeffry – good point, friend. Here’s a link to a page I found on their web site … http://www.dukefcu.duke.edu/site/finance_guidance.html. Links have also been added to the OP.
Very cool. Such a great way to improve the lives of Duke’s membership. Cassandra invested time in Shawn and in turn he has become an advocate for the credit union, what better way to spread the word about credit unions. This seems to have benefited the membership and the credit union itself at so many levels.