Eric Davis, the Occupy activist who was elected to the board of the $346 million Vermont Federal Credit Union board, has attended his first meeting.

He told Credit Union Times that it “went very well” and so did a June 14 orientation session.

Because of confidentiality concerns, Davis said he would not discuss the board session but “at both meetings our conversations centered around working together for the membership.”

A formal press release issued by the president/CEO of Vermont Federal, Bernie Isabelle, noted the previously reported election results including the defeat of another Occupy Burlington activist, Matt Cropp, who also had been seeking a directorship at the Burlington-based credit union, the state's fourth largest.

The Vermont Federal press release listing three re-elected board members plus Davis voted in at the annual meeting cited Davis' bio as an environmental researcher who “has collaborated with the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources and the National Park Service on grants and cooperative agreements.”

“Through these endeavors, he has gained practical experience managing large grants to meet the objectives of a given project,” said Vermont Federal. “Eric will be earning his master's of science degree from the University of Vermont in 2012 and additionally recently completed a graduate certificate program focused in economics, in particular building sustainable and equitable economic systems that meet the needs of local communities.”

To that end, continued the release, “as someone who believes strongly in the power of cooperatives to build both monetary and social capital in our community, Eric is glad to be serving on the Vermont Federal board.”

As such, Davis does see “opportunities to build the sense of shared ownership among the members of our cooperative financial institution,” he said.

Meanwhile, Cropp, the unsuccessful candidate for the credit union board June 7, said a meeting of the ad hoc Vermont Federal Credit Union Members Assembly, comprised in part of Occupy Burlington leaders, is scheduled for next Thursday to consider a request by Isabelle, the CEO, that the name “Vermont Federal” be dropped from the group's logo because of copyright conflicts and concerns about identification.

Cropp said the issue would be on the group's agenda.

Instant Insights /

Occupy Activist: First Vermont Federal Board Meeting &lsquo;Went Well&rsquo;

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Occupy Activist: First Vermont Federal Board Meeting ‘Went Well’