Less than a month after Hurricane María devastated Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, I received a phone call from the United States. It was Pablo DeFilippi, whom I had met a year earlier when I reached out to explore the possibility of certifying Cooperativa Jesús Obrero, a local Credit Union located in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico – of which I am Executive President – under the U.S. Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Program. Neither of us could have imagined that this initial contact, combined with the worst tragedy our island had experienced in a century, would become the catalyst for a historic transformation within Puerto Rico’s cooperative movement.
At the time, Pablo served as Vice President of the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions, now known as Inclusiv. Yet his call was not about the CDFI program or the Federation – it was a call of solidarity. His purpose was to build a bridge of support for Puerto Rico’s credit unions, their employees, and volunteer leaders. What began as a humanitarian effort to meet urgent needs soon evolved into a pathway linking the island’s Cooperativas to long-denied opportunities. From a single phone call emerged a bridge of solidarity.
Puerto Rico has built a robust cooperative financial system rooted in solidarity and self-help. Today, it stands as the island’s third-largest financial sector, with more than 90 credit unions serving every corner of the archipelago. These Cooperativas reach the most vulnerable populations – over 90% of their member-owners are low- or moderate-income individuals, including a large proportion of seniors – the highest percentage in any U.S. jurisdiction. The spirit of community service has guided Cooperativas here since the founding of the first savings and credit cooperative in 1893, fifteen years before the first credit union was established in the continental United States.
When Hurricane María struck, not a single Puerto Rican Cooperativa was CDFI-certified, nor had any received federal grants despite their longstanding community impact. That changed in early 2018 when the first group of institutions, including Cooperativa Jesús Obrero, secured technical assistance grants through CDFI. With support from Inclusiv, a comprehensive process of technical guidance, financial innovation, and partnership development began. It drew attention from federal, local, and private sectors, fueling a new era of investment and inclusion.
Today, nearly all Puerto Rican credit unions – 86 out of 90 – are CDFI-certified. Together, they have attracted more than $330 million in federal community development funds and $20 million in private impact deposits. They serve over 1.3 million member-owners, representing 76% of Puerto Rico’s economically active population. Since receiving their first CDFI grants, Cooperativas have experienced a $2.6 billion increase in total lending, a 51% growth in affordable housing loans, a 98% increase in small business lending, and have become leaders in renewable energy financing with more than $200 million in green loans.
What began as a bridge of solidarity amid despair has evolved into a living example of how mutual aid, community-driven finance, and cooperative values can overcome isolation and inequality. Puerto Rico’s cooperative movement proves that solidarity – not competition – is the true engine of inclusive, sustainable development.
Aurelio Arroyo González is the Executive President of Cooperativa Jesús Obrero, a position he has held for more than 16 years. He is the former Chair of the Board of the Association of Cooperative Executives of Puerto Rico and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Puerto Rico Cooperative Circuit, a Credit Union Service Organization, the Cooperative Bank of Puerto Rico and Inclusiv, the national association of Community Development Credit Unions. In addition, he has been a professor for more than 10 years at the Institute of Cooperativism of the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus.