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Rising Star Award

Celebrate Your Rising Star

The CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council’s Rising Star Award recognizes and honors an individual that is an emerging marketing, business development, or community outreach professional whose body of work demonstrates ongoing exceptional growth and high potential for future impact.

Nominations Deadline

February 6, 2023

Nomination deadline will be strictly followed – no nominations will be accepted after February 6, 2023 so please don’t wait until the last minute – applications take time to fill out and complete. Thank you!

Eligibility

 To be considered, you must be nominated. To nominate a colleague or yourself, complete the online nomination form by February 6, 2023. Fill in what you know about the nominee. Once nominated, candidates will be contacted to complete any missing information. You may nominate more than one person.

  • Open to credit union professionals with 2 or less years of paid, full-time experience in the credit union industry – an emerging professional whose body of work demonstrates ongoing exceptional growth and high potential for future impact and currently assigned to or directly supporting a marketing, business development, or community outreach function 
  • Nominee must be from a CUNA-affiliated credit union 
  • Current members of the CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council’s Executive Committee are not eligible for nomination

Nomination Procedures

 Nominate a colleague or yourself by completing the online nomination form by February 6, 2023. The form asks for information on why the nominee deserves this prestigious award including the following. Limit your entry to no more than 2-3 paragraphs per question.

  • Why did you nominate this individual? 
  • Accomplishments by which the nominee has shown marketing, business development, or community outreach expertise and leadership 
  • Contributions to the success of the candidate’s credit union, the industry, and community 
  • Assessment of potential for future contribution to the credit union industry

Selection Process

A volunteer panel of judges, who are selected through an application process and are peers, industry professionals and past winners, will review and score the Rising Star entries. Selection will be based on the candidates’ mastery in the following. Vetting may include dialogue with candidate’s colleagues.

  • Contribution to the success of the candidate’s credit union 
  • Impact of specific accomplishments 
  • Track record of consistent performance 
  • Potential for future contribution to the industry

Winner Recognition

The winner will be announced at the CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council Conference, March 26-29, 2023 at the Renaissance Orlando at Sea World. The winner will receive the following:

  • A prestigious commemorative award 
  • A complimentary registration to this year’s conference in Orlando 
  • Up to $1,000 to use toward approved CUNA-sponsored career enhancement opportunities. The scholarship is contingent on approval by the applicant’s credit union leadership and CUNA. See list below. 
    • Following year’s (2024) CUNA M&BD Council membership or conference attendance 
    • CUNA Digital Marketing School 
    • CUNA Management School (CUDE designation) 
    • CUNA Marketing & Business Development Certification School (offers the CUCME and CUBDP designations) 
    • Emerging Leaders School 
    • Executive Leadership (if offered by CUNA in 2023 and beyond) 
    • National Credit Union Foundation’s Credit Union Development Educator designation program 
  • A profile in Credit Union Magazine 
  • Recognition throughout the credit union industry 
  • The opportunity to help select the following year's recipient and present the award

How to Enter

To nominate a colleague or yourself, complete the online nomination form by February 6, 2023. The steps below outline exactly how to enter.

  1. Register an Account
  2. Create Your Entry
  3. Upload Digital Files
  4. Submit Entry

LOGIN to begin entry process

Questions

Questions about the criteria or entry procedures? Contact CUNA Council Administration at awards@cuna.coop.