'Completely Dismissed or Openly Harassed by Dirty Old Men': Q&A With Rachel Pross

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On March 18, Maps Credit Union Chief Risk Officer Rachel Pross published a LinkedIn post describing her experience at CUNA’s recent annual Governmental Affairs Conference. In that post, titled “Credit Unions, We Can Do Better,” Pross alleged that during the event, some male conference-goers chose to “practically drape” themselves over her and kiss her on the cheek rather than shake her hand when they introduced themselves. Other men allegedly put their hands on her lower back. One called her “Pretty Face” for the duration of the conference, she said. In addition, Pross said she was “repeatedly cut off, spoken over or blatantly dismissed” at a lunch with a male credit union CEO, and at one point during the conference, a male attendee allegedly walked up behind a female attendee and licked her shoulder.

We reached out to Pross to hear why she decided to tell her story publicly, what the reaction has been like for her and what she thinks should happen next. Here’s what she said.