The California Credit Union League’s Orange County Network hosted a successful Young Professionals event on Tuesday night, drawing 65 attendees from six local credit unions. The event, designed to foster professional development and collaboration, shared perspective, expertise, and knowledge regarding career advancement within the credit union movement.
Hosted to further the development journey of emerging credit union leaders, the event featured a distinguished panel of industry experts: William Aguilar of American First Credit Union, Timi Ayala of SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union, and Duke Zupanski of Financial Partners Credit Union. These seasoned professionals, all integral in talent development and hiring within their respective organizations, shared advice on navigating and accelerating careers. The panel was expertly moderated by Alex Hernandez of Orange County’s Credit Union.
“The OC Network is proud to host events for the development of credit union professionals to create a space for the next generation of leaders and support them in their journey to strengthen their careers and the credit union movement,” said Angela Capoccia — CUERME, CUDE, and manager of financial risk for SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union. “We are grateful to our panelists for helping to support this goal by sharing their experiences, best practices, and lessons learned from their own journeys to attendees from Orange County credit unions.”
Attendees from American First Credit Union, Credit Union of Southern California, Eagle Community Credit Union, Orange County’s Credit Union, SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union, and Wescom Financial converged to learn about a wide array of career-centric topics. Discussions covered career-first steps, strategic skills building, developing a strong personal brand, and mastering the resume and interviewing process.
The panel delved into practical strategies for ambitious young professionals, including initiating conversations with managers about career aspirations, acquiring necessary skills for future roles, and effectively preparing for job applications. Speakers shared best practices and addressed attendee-submitted questions, providing tailored guidance.
Key takeaways also included:
It was also another example of how the California Credit Union League Networks upholds its core pillars: developing credit union advocates to shape the movement, supporting financial wellness throughout the network, and collaborating to strengthen alignment, purpose, and inclusion. This ethos highlights the credit union philosophy of “not for profit, not for charity, but for service to each other.”
For information on upcoming local Network events, interested professionals are encouraged to visit the League’s Networks site.
