Filene Research Institute will be launching six new Centers for Excellence over the next six to 18 months to explore the academic research that can transform organizations and deliver the greatest impact to credit union leaders, members and their communities.

According to Filene, the six areas the research will address are:

• consumers’ changing financial lives and livelihoods, including new forms of work, entrepreneurship and personal finance;
• diversity, equity and inclusion practices and policies in credit unions;
• best practices in measuring and accelerating innovation and incubation;
• emerging financial technologies and their effects on business strategy and consumer experience;
• impacts of financial services on community well-being and the strategic advantages of social responsibility; and
• advancement of credit unions capabilities in data governance, management and analytics.

Filene said the foundation of the Centers of Excellence remains the same – to bring cutting-edge insights and innovation to credit unions, as well as delivering multiple major research outputs each year to help credit unions think forward and change consumers’ lives.

“Four years ago, Filene first introduced the concept of Centers of Excellence to help organize research around the most pressing issues facing the future of credit unions,” Filene said in a press release. “Each Center of Excellence will continue to be led by an academic researcher at the top of their field and advised by a trusted community of leaders from the credit union system.”

The research cycle for Filene’s current Centers of Excellence will be completed over the next year and a half, according to Filene. The new Centers will build on this significant body of research to continue to strengthen the credit union system and deliver impactful results to consumers.

The first two Centers of Excellence to launch will be Consumer Financial Lives in Transition and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in January 2020.