Ep. 613: The Power of Innovative Financing
Guest: Wellington Holbrook (CEO of Vancity)
“Vancity was born of a need to fill a market gap in finance,” says Wellington Holbrook, the CEO of the credit union. “People working in trades and others that fell outside of traditional financing requirements needed support. The pioneers at Vancity recognized a need to be innovative and find models that delivered non-traditional lending.”
Since its inception in 1946 when 14 Vancouver residents signed a charter to establish a credit union to address the needs of working-class people who struggled to secure funding. “At the time, if you lived or operated your business east of Cambie Street, you were denied funding by many institutions. This created a gap in the market and those 14 visionaries filled it,” says Holbrook.
“It was ingenious; they created an open bond credit union where anyone could join regardless of workplace, trade, religion, or ethnic background.” Since 1946, membership in the credit union has grown to 588,000 in 2026. Today, the credit union continues to innovate and invent new ways to meet the financial needs of its members.
We invited Wellington Holbrook, the CEO at Vancity Credit Union, to join us for a Conversation That Matters about innovative and entrepreneurial thinking that delivers for the marginalized and anyone else who chooses to be a part of the power of collective financing.
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