Ara Penny: Vermont's Newest Development Educator Posted by AVCU on 4:22 PM

A Vermont credit union employee was among the 47 most recent credit union leaders being designated as Credit Union Development Educators (CUDEs) after completing the National Credit Union Foundation’s (the Foundation) Credit Union Development Education (DE) Training.

Ara Penny, of Heritage Family CU in Rutland, attended the May DE Training on May 15-20 in Madison, Wisconsin.  The 46 other participants comprised employees and volunteers from credit unions and system partners across the United States and the globe.

DE Training is a unique experiential training program that provides lessons in credit union structure, purpose and the “why” that differentiates credit unions from other financial institutions. During the Foundation’s signature program, participants are involved in group exercises, field visits and interactive speaker sessions that provide insights into how credit unions can leverage their unique business model to help their members and communities overcome the financial and developmental issues they face.

Ara is a trainer in her credit union's HR Department, was named Heritage Family’s Employee of the Year in 2017.  She has worked at HFCU for 5 years and hails from Connecticut. To hear from Ara directly check out her short YouTube video below, created for the 2016 GAC Crash Program.