The Verity Garden
We’re planting new seeds of change, nurturing what’s growing, and strengthening the roots of our oldest growth. As we look toward the future, we’re ready to expand the footprint of our garden and introduce new flora and fauna.
We also invite you to reflect on the past year with our 2021 Annual Report and a message from Verity's CEO, Tonita Webb.
As we close my first year as CEO, I am proud of the direction Verity is heading and the steps we’ve taken to further socially-responsible banking and reaching communities and people who have been historically underserved by the financial industry.
Read more from our credit union and board leadership about Verity’s direction and financials on our website.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging
The financial system in the U.S. is exclusionary by design. Banks, credit unions, stock markets, and other financial institutions have historically created systemic barriers for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities that perpetuate gaps in wealth, homeownership, business growth and other economic measures.
And while credit unions, at their core philosophy, are about “people helping people”, they have also had their hand in exclusionary practices, including Red Lining, punitive overdraft systems, and turning away people who have had financial missteps in the past.
But banking shouldn’t be exclusive—it should be inclusive. Everyone deserves a chance to thrive.
At Verity, we acknowledge diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging is a journey, not a destination. We are committed to continual reflection, change and advancement.
But banking shouldn’t be exclusive—it should be inclusive. Everyone deserves a chance to thrive.
Since becoming CEO, Tonita Webb has pushed all levels of the organization to challenge our existing practices and biases and to go deeper with creating equity and fostering inclusion for all. As an organization, we’ve been working with consultants on staff, board, and executive training, auditing our HR policies and procedures, and placing an emphasis on hiring bilingual staff and fostering employee resource groups.
But it isn’t enough to just grow our internal understanding around equity and inclusion. That’s why we partner with a variety of communities and organizations throughout the Puget Sound to support creation of diverse, equitable, and inclusive spaces for all.
Deepening roots: New CEO
Tonita Webb took over leadership of Verity in spring 2021, becoming the first Black American and first woman to lead the credit union in our 89 years. She came to Verity with decades of credit union and finance experience, and is leading the charge for ensuring equity and inclusion are at the forefront of every discussion.
Tonita’s path to becoming CEO is an inspiration to all about following your dreams and taking the twists and turns along the way not as setbacks, but as opportunities to pivot and learn. Her grandfather used to tell her that she was “different” and that she should push the barriers to do what she wanted to do. So she did.
Tonita started her career in the US Air Force as a police officer, at a time when very few women were found in that role. After the military, she entered the credit union world for the first time, working in Human Resources and connecting with people through empathy and compassion. Her family is her inspiration, both past and future generations. She was raised by a single mother in low-income housing projects in Virginia, and credits her mother’s work ethic for pushing her to lead and support efforts that improve lives of others.
“I’m incredibly proud to be the first woman and the first Black American to lead Verity into the future.”
She is focused on community, and especially serving the underserved. Part of that work involves breaking down barriers for members who have historically been left out of financial services. Part of it involves supporting organizations and unique initiatives that foster generational wealth. And, part of it is being open about her own journey and encouraging members and employees to follow their dreams.
As she shared with employees on her first day in April 2021, “I’m incredibly proud to be the first woman and the first Black American to lead Verity into the future.”
Supporting community development: A home for Kingdom Christian Center
While the Kingdom Christian Center has been around since 2008, they have always relied on borrowed space, like Cleveland High School and the Federal Way Community Center Fireplace room, for events and services. But Pastor Carl Livingston, a Tacoma native, and the six other founding members had dreams of creating a permanent home for their congregation.
Kingdom Christian Center partnered with Verity to determine the best way to reach their goals of creating a physical space for their congregation and the larger community. With a small business loan, the church has been able to purchase a small building in Tacoma. On Sundays and in the evenings, the location will be the main facility for Kingdom Christian Center. During the day, it will be the site of the Development Center, a nonprofit promoting economic development in underserved urban communities.
Pastor Carl Livingston, a Tacoma native, and the six other founding members had dreams of creating a permanent home for their congregation.
Business lending provides a unique opportunity to support nonprofit organizations and for-profit organizations alike, helping promote community development and connections, allowing growing communities to thrive.
Planting seeds: Supporting low income communities
Verity is now certified as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), allowing for new opportunities to better serve historically underserved communities across the Greater Puget Sound. Receiving a CDFI designation means Verity can access the U.S. Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, a federally-created monetary fund to help CDFIs promote economic revitalization and community development for reaching financially vulnerable communities. Verity received its certification in early 2022.
Procuring this grant funding allows us to partner with historically underserved communities to co-create programs, products, and services that center the needs of our community.
Procuring this grant funding allows us to partner with historically underserved communities to co-create programs, products, and services that center the needs of our community. Two examples of what that looks like in action include partnering to foster generational wealth building through homeownership for BIPOC families and individuals, and partnering with the Islamic community to create Sharia-compliant loans.
We have not applied for grant funding yet, but are excited at the opportunities available and the new partnerships we grow.
Environment
Environmental efforts have long been part of Verity’s core values and initiatives. We strive for physical locations that are energy-efficient, employees are incentivized on using alternate modes of transportation, and we use as little paper and other natural resources as possible. But those are all things individuals can do on their own, and while we encourage it as an organization, our bigger impact is through partnering with members to reduce their own carbon footprint.
Deepening roots: More than individual efforts—measuring carbon footprint
One way to help our communities shrink their carbon footprint is through our loan offerings. We’ve emerged as a leader in solar panel lending, in partnership with Solgen Power, making solar panels more accessible to people in multiple states. In fact, during 2021, more than 2,500 members received a solar panel loan.
Sustainable lending takes place in three categories:
This has driven us to assess our loan portfolio and its overall impact on the environment where all our gardens grow. As part of the Climate Change Commitment we signed in 2019 with the Global Alliance for Banking on Values, we agreed to measure the carbon footprint of our loan portfolio using the methodology developed and shared by the financial institutions in the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF).
PCAF is a global, industry-led partnership to facilitate transparency and accountability of the financial industry to help promote meaningful action against climate change. PCAF developed an approach to measure and disclose the greenhouse gas emissions associated with loan and investment portfolios. This measurement then provides a baseline to compare against and align with our portfolio to support the efforts of the Paris Climate Agreement.
This has driven us to assess our loan portfolio and its overall impact on the environment where all our gardens grow.
As of the end of 2021, we measured the carbon footprint of the bulk of our loan portfolio, specifically our auto, solar, and home loans:
Planting seeds: Growing our understanding
Now that we have a set of completed PCAF data and a baseline, we can measure progress against it and continue to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with our portfolio.
So how do we do that? Some ways include:
- Expanding our knowledge and reporting of PCAF so that it’s at the forefront of lending decisions.
- Emphasize loans for environmentally-friendly vehicles and energy-efficient homes.
- Develop loan products, programs, or partnerships that provide for affordable energy-efficiency updates to existing residences and businesses.
- Continue expanding our solar panel loan program and partnership with Solgen so that more people are able to take the step towards a renewable energy source.
Solar panel loans are an effective way to reduce the carbon footprint of our loan portfolio:
Curious to dig deeper into Verity's PCAF data? Learn more here.
Thriving
It doesn’t matter where you’ve come from or what path you’ve taken to get to where you are in life—everyone should have an opportunity to thrive. That’s core to Verity’s mission and why we partner with members, organizations, and communities to support efforts that advance this goal, especially in communities that have been historically overlooked and underserved by the financial industry.
One way we’ve done that is to provide financial education opportunities to our members. We offer in-house one-on-one financial coaching, periodic workshops, educational blog posts, and can work with members on an individual basis to help navigate the complex financial world.
But we can, and do, offer more than that, because everyone deserves to have financial literacy. That’s why every conversation with our staff is an opportunity to plant the seeds of change and thrive. And we are committed to doing even more in the future.
It’s never too late: Homeownership for Bruce
Money and finances don’t have a one-size-fits-all approach. What is best for one person isn’t necessarily for another. That’s why we partner with our members to discuss options about how we can support their goals, and help connect them to the resources that can get them there.
With longtime member Bruce H., partnering with Verity allowed the 69-year-old to fulfill a decades-old dream: owning his first home
They are able to go the extra step to assure you that you get what you are looking for.
During his adult life, the Navy veteran had been perfectly happy with his financial situation—he was renting a house that he liked and was hoping to eventually buy, he had enough money for his daily expenditures, and was just going along. But during the Covid-19 pandemic, as housing prices started soaring and inventory dried up, Bruce was faced with a dilemma—his landlord was finally ready to sell the house Bruce had been living in for 20 years, but Bruce couldn’t afford it. Not only that, he couldn’t afford anything in the Seattle area. So, he turned to Verity for help.
After talking with a longtime Verity staff member and learning more about his mortgage options, Bruce realized that he was a perfect candidate for a VA Loan, something he previously didn’t know was an option. He was quickly connected to a loan officer with Verity’s mortgage partner, Credit Union Home Mortgage Solutions (co-owned by Verity and Harborstone credit unions), who walked Bruce through every step of the VA Loan process, which can be a bit more cumbersome than other mortgage loans due to it being a federal program. The loan officer was also able to connect Bruce to a real estate agent in Ocean Shores, the community Bruce turned to for more affordable housing options.
“My experience has taught me how important an agent and lending officer are,” Bruce said. “And without them, things could have been a lot more difficult. It is vitally important to have an agent and lending officer that is working for you in a very personal way—that is, not treating you as another number or just another customer. They are able to go the extra step to assure you that you get what you are looking for.”
Planting seeds and deepening roots: Housing for all
Studies have long shown that access to housing is a key variable in the success of someone’s life. Having access to a safe place to live is a key to financial and health stability, and homeownership is a key contributor to building generational wealth.
The Othello Square Development project, which is being run by our partner HomeSight, is an example of the power of business and community coming together to create something that provides opportunity and encourages prosperity for all involved. Two of the buildings on the campus are up and running, and after delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the co-op building that Verity is involved in is scheduled to break ground in late 2022.
The U-lex (pronounced oh-low) building will be cooperatively owned by the residents, creating a more affordable path to owning a residence and building generational wealth.
Verity was asked to be involved in this project, not just from the standpoint of having a physical location but also to provide funding for a unique housing opportunity. The U-lex (pronounced oh-low) building will be cooperatively owned by the residents, creating a more affordable path to owning a residence and building generational wealth.
But the Othello Square project is just one effort to make affordable housing available for all.
Some of our partners in this area include:
- Housing Development Consortium: A group of more than 150 organizations working together to meet housing needs of limited-income people in the region. Member organizations include financial institutions, real estate developers, local housing authorities, attorneys, construction companies, and more. The group is also integral in the Black Homeownership Initiative, an effort led by the Coalition for More Housing Choices to increase and sustain Black homeownership rates in Washington.
- Evergreen Housing Impact Fund: A joint financial effort by businesses and organizations in King County to support development of affordable housing. The fund helps cover capital funding gaps on large-scale, family-friendly projects. Verity and four other credit unions provided $11.1 million in funding for the first EHIF project, Solera, which is under development in Renton. Solera will be able to provide more affordable, family-size units, for working families, plus the project exceeds the requirements of the Evergreen Sustainable Development Standard through its design, landscaping, construction waste management, select construction materials, and more.
Allocating funding to key priorities helps make them possible:
Better Together
Expanding a garden and planting new seeds of change requires even more collaboration. None of what we’ve done, and nothing we plan to do in the future, can happen without our members, our communities, and our partners.
None of what we’ve done, and nothing we plan to do in the future, can happen without our members, our communities, and our partners.
Join us in our ever expanding garden as we cultivate what’s already here and deepen roots, and plant new seeds to expand our garden.