BELOIT, Wis. -- A push at the Wisconsin Credit Union League's2007 state league convention to draw young leaders into the creditunion movement inspired First American Credit Union to develop itsown future leaders.

"It really opened our eyes. At the convention they had us standup by those who graduated in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and by the timewe got to the 2000 graduates, no one was standing and it drove homethe question of who would carry our industry forward when we're allgone," said FACU CEO Tracy Blaske. "We came back and got a grouptogether to brainstorm how we can develop our own futureleaders."

The result is the "Initiatives for Tomorrow," more commonlyreferred to as the i4t program. This leadership development programfocuses on four initiatives--the self, the credit union, thecommunity and the movement. The four initiatives encourage personalgrowth, provide a means for exposure to the industry, supportfuture succession at the credit union, support the credit unionmovement nationwide and add another component to strengthen thecredit union's recruiting and retention efforts.