CUES 126: Building Bold, Effective Black Leadership at PSCU—an Interview with Marvin York

Marvin York was watching videos with his granddaughter when a clip came on of graduation ceremonies at historically Black colleges and universities. 

“And I saw all of these professionals getting ready to launch,” says York, VP, contact center member engagement for CUESolutions provider PSCU, a credit union service organization based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The video York and his granddaughter watched showed Black engineers, doctors, lawyers and others celebrating the completion of their degrees and getting ready to enter the world of work. 

“And I said, ‘Wow, that is impressive,” York recalls. “And what struck me was in this industry..., it was always told to me we just cannot find people of color to be in these leadership roles, in these key positions. And I'm watching this video and I said, ‘We got to do better.’”  

From this experience, PSCU Bold, Effective Leadership, a CUES Strategic Leadership Development Program, was born. 

In this episode of the CUES Podcast, York describes how the program went from idea to action, the experience of the 12 participants and the impact it has had. 

York says in the show that the PSCU-CUES partnership worked well because CUES was listening to PSCU participants’ needs with an aim for meeting them. He notes that the eCornell and Harvard ManageMentor courses that were part of the program were exceptional, as were the opportunities afforded to program participants to interact with top PSCU leadership. 

“You got employees that want to shine. They want to help. They want to be a part of the difference, to actually broaden their horizon, their education, their knowledge and grow,” York says in the show. “And if they can do that, then guess what? The company grows. 

“And having that mindset of ‘I can help the company and the company helps me grow,’ … it's a win-win. It's amazing.” 

Links for this show: