Custom Design at Its Best: How CUNA Mutual Turned an Advisory Board into an Innovation Engine

Advisory boards are often created with the best of intentions—but too frequently, they fall short of their potential. Meetings can become overly formal, cautious, or narrowly focused, limiting both candor and creativity. 

That was not the outcome CUNA Mutual was willing to accept. 

When the Lending Division formed an advisory board composed of its top credit union customers, the organization set ambitious goals for its very first meeting. 

The Challenge: Insight, Openness, and Real Value 

CUNA Mutual wanted to accomplish three things simultaneously: 

• Create an environment where board members felt genuinely comfortable sharing ideas and perspectives 

• Gain meaningful insight into the most critical and emerging issues facing credit unions 

• Ensure advisory board participants left the experience with tangible value for their own organizations 

  
  

This was not about hosting another conference-room discussion. The goal was to unlock forward-looking thinking—both for CUNA Mutual and for its customers. 

The Solution: An Experience Expedition 

To meet those goals, Play with a Purpose designed for a fully customized Experience Expedition. 

Instead of confining the advisory board to a meeting room, participants were taken on curated excursions to innovative, cutting-edge businesses across the Orlando market. Each visit showcased organizations that were actively redefining how business could be done—through customer experience, operations, technology, or culture. 

But the learning did not stop at observation. 

Following each expedition, Play with a Purpose facilitated structured brainstorming sessions, guiding participants to extract core principles from what they had seen and apply them directly to the credit union environment. The emphasis was on translation: What does this mean for our members, our lending models, and our future? 

The Results: 650+ Ideas and a Clearer View of the Future 

The impact was immediate and measurable. 

• More than 650 new ideas were generated on how credit unions could rethink and improve the way they do business 

• CUNA Mutual gained unprecedented insight into where its customers were headed—and what they would need next 

• Advisory board members left with practical, actionable tools they could apply within their own institutions 

  
  

Most importantly, the experience shifted the dynamic of the advisory board itself. Participants were no longer simply reacting to agendas—they were actively shaping the conversation and the future. 

Why It Worked 

The Experience Expedition succeeded because it reframed learning and collaboration: 

• Innovation was sparked by exposure to fresh, external perspectives 

• Psychological safety was built through shared experiences, not formal presentations 

• Ideas were immediately grounded in real-world application 

By design, the meeting created value on both sides of the table. 

The Takeaway 

When organizations move beyond traditional meeting formats and intentionally design experiences, advisory boards become far more than feedback forums—they become engines for innovation. 

That is what custom design looks like at its best. 

And it is exactly what Play with a Purpose was built to deliver.