On May 13-15, nearly 500 credit union professionals from across the state joined us for our annual Convention--this year in Madison, at the heart of The Credit Union Movement.
2026 Convention kicked off with a welcome address from League President & CEO tracing The Credit Union Movement's history in Madison and connecting it to the challenges facing the industry today. Corporate Central Credit Union and The League then held their joint annual meetings and a town hall surveying attendees in real time before leading into a keynote by top-ranked futurist and 2x bestselling author Heather McGowan, who provided a thought-provoking presentation on unleashing human potential in the AI era.
After McGowan's keynote, attendees sat in on the first of 20 breakout sessions covering a variety of topics, including an exclusive fireside chat for credit union CEOs and board members with America's Credit Unions President & CEO Scott Simpson, TruStage President & CEO Terrance Williams, and League President & CEO Sarah Wainscott as well as a workshop and panel on United for ALICE.
The afternoon concluded with a rousing keynote from former Silicon Valley leader and poet Tucker Bryant on doing different things differently before a social hour in the Expo Hall featuring live showcase sessions from our diamond sponsors.
On Friday, after a full Conduit breakfast featuring America's Credit Unions President & CEO Scott Simpson and Chief Advocacy Officer Kathleen Coloumbe, keynote Chad Helminak discussed evolving our cooperative identity followed by presentations from three WILD (Wisconsin Ideation & Leadership Development) teams on their latest homegrown innovations.
To close out Convention, The League hosted its annual Cooperative Spirit Awards Ceremony, honoring achievements across The Movement in the past year. This included inducting 9 new honorees into The Wisconsin Credit Union Foundation's Legends of The Movement.
As always, Convention also provided numerous social and networking opportunities, with an an exciting event each night, including a welcome reception in the bustling expo hall and a casual reception hosted by TruStage and Madison Area Credit Unions at OneSocial Food Hall. Seventeen credit union young professionals also participated in our HYPE program, which supports registration, lodging, and most meal costs and includes special programming with top industry leaders and featured Convention speakers.
The legislative PAC for Wisconsin's credit unions--WCULAF--was well supported throughout Convention, raising funds through golf & mini golf scrambles. These critical dollars help support credit union-friendly candidates and legislators!
Besides funds for WCULAF, Convention goers supported credit union wellness and gave back to their communities. The return of The Foundation Fundraising Challenge netted $4,090 in donations with The League Board of Directors Region 5 being crowned winner. Finally, attendees donated over 800 pounds in non-perishable food items (enough to feed 650 people) to WayForward Resources, a local non-profit dedicated to creating food security & housing stability.
A photo album is coming soon to Facebook--stay tuned!
Thank you to all who attended, and a very special thank you to our sponsors who made it all possible:
Materials (including slide decks) from Convention can be found in Classroom. Save the date for our next Convention - May 5-7, 2027 in Wisconsin Dells!