In May 3, 2012 LA Times pieceIslanders move love and money to their own credit union writer Kim Murphy's captured the essence of our community's process and the value of the organizing model we stumbled upon.

Getting national attention for this replicable organizing model is great for our movement. That's why I have been pushing our story, documenting the lessons we learned, and have made tools we built available to others via our CUorganizer.org podcast and resource page.

Credit for the credit union success
But credit for the success of the project itself deserves to be shared amongst many. Besides Rob Harmon and I who were mentioned in the article, Rex Stratton and Amy Herbig and everyone on the initiating committee as well as others in the community played essential roles. We gained generous advice from Credit Union heroes around the country like Gary Bragdon, CEO of Howland Enfield (a CU in Maine) and our friends at Permaculture Credit Union.

And "It takes two to tango," so without the executive staff and board of PSCCU leaning into this dance, there would be no win/win solution. Finally, it is the amazing staff at the PSCCU-Vashon branch under Patte Wagner's leadership that have delivered since before Day One. Their professionalism-hospitality combo has made the kind of growth we've experienced possible, because they inspire the community members who are the foundation of this cooperative financial institution.