WOCCU International Projects, Member Services and WYCUP welcome new leaders
MADISON, Wis.—World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) and Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions are pleased to announce the hire of two new employees and the promotion of a third to key leadership positions that will help the organizations further pursue their strategic growth initiatives.
Angelina Tracy started in January as WOCCU’s Vice President of Strategic Growth and Partnerships. In this newly developed role, Tracy will work to grow WOCCU International Projects’ relationship with USAID and other institutional donors and partners to build on current development strategies and promote innovations to expand our work globally. Tracy brings nearly 20 years of experience in providing strategic guidance to achieve business development goals, most recently serving in the cooperative sector at Land O’Lakes Venture37.
“I am excited to lead WOCCU’s efforts to empower underserved populations and foster opportunities for equitable and resilient growth through quality financial services. Credit unions uniquely serve more vulnerable people, especially in remote and rural communities, and I look forward to expanding our partnership models to extend their reach,” said Tracy.
WOCCU in February also created a new position for Thomas Belekevich, who left his role as Director of Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions’ WYCUP program to become WOCCU’s Director of Member Services. In his new role, Belekevich serves as the main liaison to WOCCU's member national and regional credit union associations that represent more than 75,000 credit unions with 280 million members in more than 80 countries.
“Our network is our net worth. This mantra has inspired our efforts at WYCUP and exemplifies the potential for World Council’s global network of financial cooperatives to build stronger communities through collaboration,” said Belekevich. “I look forward to engaging our member organizations across borders to find solutions to our shared challenges on everything from digitalization to climate resilience and sustainable finance.”
With Belekevich’s departure from WYCUP, Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions in February welcomed Ari Farrell as its WYCUP Manager. Farrell spent the past eight years working in several key roles for Northwest Community Credit Union (Oregon). Farrell is involved in many networks across the credit union industry and beyond as a volunteer and advocate, including the African-American Credit Union Coalition (AACUC), AACUC West Coast Chapter, CU Pride, CU Pride Leadership Conference, Habitat for Humanity and Team Depot.
“I have long been active in credit union young professionals' programs in the United States and feel incredibly fortunate to bring my knowledge and energy to WYCUP. I can’t wait to engage with and hopefully inspire a new generation of talented credit union leaders,” said Farrell.
World Council of Credit Unions is the global trade association and development platform for credit unions. World Council promotes the sustainable development of credit unions and other financial cooperatives around the world to empower people through access to high quality and affordable financial services. World Council advocates on behalf of the global credit union system before international organizations and works with national governments to improve legislation and regulation. Its technical assistance programs introduce new tools and technologies to strengthen credit unions' financial performance and increase their outreach.
World Council has implemented 300+ technical assistance programs in 90 countries. Worldwide, 87,914 credit unions in 118 countries serve 393 million people. Learn more about World Council's impact around the world at www.woccu.org.