Meet Walt Laskos, CUDE
Walt Laskos is the CEO and Owner of Laskos Communications. With more than 40-years of professional experience, Walt offers a distinct and creative approach to communications, public relations, and media production services based on cooperative values and principles. His professional career extends from California to Massachusetts, groomed by his work at several major US companies: KeyCorp, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and The Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
His credit union tenure includes the former Western Corporate Federal Credit Union, CUNA, and most recently, the Cooperative Credit Union Association. He is a Credit Union Development Educator and industry veteran of more than 20-years. He is the host of a nationally distributed podcast, One-on-One with Walt Laskos and also serves as a frequent speaker on the financial exploitation of older adults.
A Different Level of Engagement
Laskos Communications offers a different and refreshing perspective to the credit union system given Walt’s affinity for cooperatives, further enhanced by tapping the diverse talent and skills of an extensive network of business associates, who have collaborated with him throughout the years. Their professional backgrounds herald years of experience at a variety of nationally-renown, media-related organizations, from public relations agencies FleishmanHillard and Wyse Landau to Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox and broadcasting giant, iHeart Media.
With the addition of his business associates, Laskos Communications is positioned to offer a full menu of media service at a very competive budget, governed by more than two decades of Walt’s knowledge and understanding of credit unions, and the values governing their cooperative business model.
Services
Elder Financial Exploitation Prevention
As a billion-dollar industry, financial exploitation employs sophisticated and cunning tactics, all the latest technology, and highly trained con artists intent on persuading older adults into believing a false narrative, stirring their emotions, and getting them to act quickly out of fear to send money, share private information, buy gift cards, or deposit cash into cryptocurrency ATM machines.
Our educational forum initiative is offered as a turn-key program featuring a financial services representative joining with community leaders, lawmakers, law enforcement, and other experts to participate on a panel discussion offering guidance and insights to in-person audiences on ways to identify financial scams and how to stay safe. The educational forum model can also be adapted and presented as online webinars or video recordings available on a 24/7 basis.
Communications and Public Relations Consulting
In today’s fast-paced, interconnected world, the way your brand communicates can make or break your success. Our communications and public relations (PR) consulting services are essential for any organization looking to build, protect, and enhance its reputation, while also driving growth.
Effective communication goes beyond delivering facts—it’s about telling a compelling story that engages your audience. We’ll work with you to develop clear, consistent, and strategic messaging that aligns with your brand values and goals, ensuring that every piece of communication, from press releases to social media posts, supports your broader objectives. Investing in communications and public relations consulting services is more than just a smart business move—it’s essential to building a strong and resilient brand.
Creative Media Services
Supported by a team of business associates skilled in delivering PR, marketing and sales results, we offer a wide range of media assets used to mine data, analyze findings, target audiences, and measure results.
Our services include strategic PR counseling, graphic design, website optimization, creative advertising production, media buying with a charity give-back component, SEO audit reviews, audience curation, digital email marketing, omnichannel campaigns, and even augmented and virtual reality programming. We also support "small/botique credit unions" with photography, videography, annual meeting simulcasting, and webinar hosting services.
One-on-One with Walt Laskos
The podcast series, "One-on-One with Walt Laskos," features brief conversations discussing many of today's most pressing issues, especially the issue of financial exploitation prevention and the role credit unions have in educating their members to remain safe. The intention of each podcast is to offer listeners unique perspectives, valuable information, and helpful guidance on ways to enhance both personal safety and the operational soundness of the credit union, while also helping it achieve greater positive brand awareness and visibility within the community.
Public Speaking engagements
Enlist Walt Laskos, CUDE, to address your staff or members about today's growing threat of financial scams. His presentation, "Financial Scams and Fraud: Building Your Firewall of Financial Safety in 2025," promises to engage, educate and motivate audiences to action, whether it be adopting new habits to safeguard their own finances, or reaching out to friends and loved ones to ensure they are knowledgeable about the many types of scams being used today, and the many ways they can mitigate becoming a victim by creating their own firewall of financial safety. Email Walt for more information.
