If James Marshall has his way, in the next few years, TheCooperative Trust will not only be self-sustaining but also knownas the resource for those under age 35, not just in the U.S. butworldwide.

Marshall, has recently taken the reigns from founder Brent Dixon, as the group's leader.

Dixon founded the Crash Network in 2010 as the Filene Research Institute's youngadult adviser, and with a three-year funding commitment from CUNAMutual Group in 2012, it became The Cooperative Trust. Over thepast three years the grassroots community of young professionalshas grown from gaining access to a wealth of wisdom by crashingCUNA's GAC conference, to becoming change agents dedicated to thefuture of the credit union industry. The Cooperative Trust stemsfrom over 10 years of Filene research examining the young adult issuesthat credit unions and cooperatives face.

“What started as an experiment for young adults to be moreengaged with the credit union industry turned into a community ofyoung adult leaders fighting for the future of credit unions,” saidDixon. “Working collectively and alongside credit unionveterans, this group is already making an impact in moving creditunions forward.”

Dixon will continue as a trust member while he dives into otherpassions such as Hackidemia, a mobile invention lab for kidsworldwide and as vice chairman of CoFED, a network that empowersstudents to create ethically-sourced, cooperatively run foodenterprises on college campuses.

So far the transition has been a smooth one and Marshall­considers Dixon a great friend and mentor.

“The welcome has been just incredible,” said Marshall, who hasbeen an active Trust member and was the first international“Crasher” at CUNA's 2013 GAC.

Prior to joining Filene and the trust, he served as themarketing manager at Plane Saver Credit Union in London, one of thelargest credit unions in the U.K. Specializing in branding, socialmedia and marketing strategies, he worked on a variety of projectsand campaigns based on increasing the membership base of the creditunion and loan application targets.

“I fell into credit unions when looking for a job straight outof school. That was February, 2010 and I've been in it ever since.I love credit unions and will never have a career outside of thisindustry,” said Marshall. “I think credit unions can instill thatpassion in people of the younger generation who value socialresponsibility as more important than cost. Especially if you catchthem at the right age, with the right messages before they arealready out of college and in debt, at which time costs begin tomatter more.”

He added that there is also a need to target younger membersearlier and would like to see a wider swath of credit unionsincorporating youth advisory panels.

“There's a statistic in the U.K. that people change theirpartners more often than their bank account, so if we can openaccounts when kids are 5 or 6 years old and get that marketingcorrect from the beginning, that's going to be more effective thanwaiting until they graduate college and offering to help themthen,” said Marshall.

Building on the momentum created under Dixon's directionMarshall's long-term Trust evolution plans include furtherdeveloping in four key areas of mentorship, online community,meet-ups and product development.

“By 2020, young adults will dominate the workforce,” saidMarshall. “We want to increase the profile of the Trust as manyhaven't made that connection that we're a Filene program. We wantpeople to know we're a group of young people who want to make adifference and be agents of change. In growing the Trust and makingit self-sustaining and a permanent community, we're ensuring thatyoung credit union and cooperative professionals have theopportunity and resources to get involved in the industry now.”