2023 Cooperative Conference

March 13-14, 2023

Chetola Resort, Blowing Rock, NC

Our annual conference was a great success — again! If you joined us in March at Chetola Resort in Blowing Rock, we hope you also had a great time learning and networking with fellow cooperators.

This year's conference was all about Member Experiences! Take a look at what the 2023 conference agenda entailed, as well as materials from the event below. 

  

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Donald Barnes, Ph.D.

Professor of Marketing, UNC Wilmington

Dr. Barnes is the Hendrick Fellow and researcher for the Center for Sales Excellence and Customer Delight. He has studied the causes and consequences of customer delight from the perspective of the firm, the employee and the customer. His research has been published in top marketing journals including European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Service Research, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Service Management, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, Journal of Services Marketing, Journal of Service Theory and Practice, as well as others.

What is Member Experience?

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Kelli oversees financial education, community involvement and volunteer engagement efforts for SECU, and serves as Financial Wellness Coordinator for the Credit Union and oversees projects and presentation efforts. She helps to train employees statewide on community engagement. Kelli received the 2022 Commitment to Change Leadership Professional of the Year Award by the African-American Credit Union Coalition (AACUC) during the organization’s inaugural Commitment to Change: Young Professional Leadership Awards ceremony.

 

  

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Mia Vista Perez

SVP Culture & Employee Experience, SECU

Mia received her bachelor’s degree in public relations from Tulane University, a master’s degree in Leadership and HR Development from LSU and is a graduate of CUNA Marketing Management School where she is currently an instructor. She previously served as the Chair of CUNA's Marketing & Business Development Council Executive Committee. Mia is also host of the Leadership Experiment with Royce and Mia podcast.

DEI & Our Member Experience

  

 

Attendees received an introduction to our own DEI Committee, and participated in a unique around-the-room game of DEI-inspired madlibs. Join the fun and fill-in-the blanks: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is about [    ] the [    ] that make us more complete and [    ].

DEI Resources

 

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As an advocate for the cooperative education of youth, Cathy spent over 25 years as education director and camp director for Wisconsin Farmers Union and continues to serve as co-coordinator of the National Farmers Union College Conference on Cooperatives (CCOC). She also supports the Cooperative Development Foundation in the United States on projects including the Cooperative Leaders and Scholars (CLS) program. Cathy serves on the boards of the Ralph K. Morris Foundation and the InSPIREation Foundation. She is a member of Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) and is a member and past president of the Association of Cooperative Educators (ACE).

 

Jeff's team is responsible for NCBIO's Continuing Access to Broadband (CAB) and the Last Mile Program. Prior to joining the NCBIO team, Jeff was the Sr. Director of Consulting for ECC Technologies working with counties on broadband projects from New York to Florida. He also has worked with electric cooperatives from New York to Georgia. In North Carolina, Jeff has worked with the Albemarle, Mid-East, Land of Sky, Southwestern and Lumber River Councils of Government, numerous counties, as well as electric cooperatives. He attended ECU for undergraduate studies and NCSU for graduate studies.