For advancement and future growth of the credit union movement, it is time we usher in a new era of collaboration and innovation among today's young credit union professionals, CEOs and senior executives.

To say it is a privilege to attend and help plan five crashes with the Crash Network in the past 12 months is an understatement. This is unfathomable access to credit union education and networking for most young, emerging leaders. Through these unique experiences and the Crash Network online, I met more than 150 of the best and brightest young credit union professionals. For me, one word sums up this eclectic group of crashers–passion.

Individually, these young professionals have separate passions within the movement, including financial literacy, product development, compliance, legislative affairs and marketing. Collectively, our goal is no different than that of today's CEOs and senior executives–advance the credit union movement.