Shaping Impactful Community Initiatives
StellerVista’s new Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy is shaped by feedback from surveys, the Member Advisory Committee, and input from staff and board members.
Corporate Social Responsibility aka “CSR”
Doing what’s right for our communities has never been an afterthought for us — it’s at the core of every decision we make.
As such, in 2023, our Board of Directors formalized this commitment by creating a policy framework that ensures CSR is front and centre in how we operate, plan, and grow.
While we’ve always taken pride in being a community leader through donations, sponsorships, and meaningful investments, we knew it was time to raise the bar. Our goal is simple but powerful: to ensure our actions reflect the values of the people and communities we serve — not just in principle, but in practice.
Turning Values into Action
In 2024, we took the next step by building a comprehensive action plan to embed CSR into the fabric of our credit union. This plan helps guide our priorities, projects, and partnerships to make sure they align with the needs of our members and communities.
But we didn’t do it alone.
We invited a diverse group of members to participate in a Member Advisory Committee dedicated to shaping our CSR direction. Their insights — grounded in real, lived experience — played a critical role in developing our approach.
We also continue to gather direct member input through our annual survey, where community is a standing topic. The responses we receive feed directly into the strategies we design and the steps we take moving forward.
A Purposeful Path Forward
We’ve always believed in being a good corporate citizen.
But now, our commitment is clearer, stronger, and more measurable than ever before. With the guidance of our Board, leadership team, and most importantly, our members, we’re charting a path that reflects not just good intentions — but meaningful impact.
The Next Step: Our CSR North Star
Building on the path, we’ve begun our most focused step yet: defining a CSR North Star — a guiding theme to shape how we invest in our communities in the years ahead. Like every part of our CSR journey, this is a strategic initiative directed by our Board, and it’s being shaped hand-in-hand with our members.
Why a North Star? Today our support is spread across many worthy causes. A shared guiding focus helps us point our donations, grants, sponsorships, and partnerships in a clear direction — so our giving goes further, reaches the needs that matter most, and makes a bigger, more lasting difference.
What the North Star is — and What it isn't
It IS:
- A guiding focus for the community work we already do.
- One shared direction across all seven of our communities.
- Shaped by our members, communities, and staff.
- A way to make our giving more intentional — and to keep it genuinely local.
It ISN’T:
- A new charity or program we build and run ourselves.
- A single, narrow cause.
- A bigger budget, or a plan to spend more.
- A decision that’s already been made.
Shaped by You
We’d rather listen than guess. To find our North Star, we’re drawing on member input from several sources:
- Our annual member surveys
- Our 2024 Member Advisory Committee
- Input from our staff, who live and work here too
- Our Internal CSR Committee
- A look back at our own giving history — where it’s gone and where it’s mattered
- Member focus groups
- And an open feedback form you can use anytime RIGHT HERE >
Thank you for helping guide StellerVista’s next chapter. Whether you leave feedback, join a focus group, or both — your voice shapes where we go from here.
CSR is not a checkbox for us. It’s how we honour our responsibility to this place and the people who call it home – and we are excited to share this journey with our members.