Richard Gose
Senior Vice President of Political Affairs

For the past 20 years Richard Gose has worked as a political affairs and trade association professional. He has combined campaign politics, grassroots activation, an understanding of the legislative process and various forms of communication to advance the political operations for three major trade associations including the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the American Insurance Association (AIA), and currently, the Credit Union National Association (CUNA).

At CUNA, Gose leverages the partnership with state leagues to develop a number of programs and services to help credit unions and their members improve their legislative and political standing by using their political muscle. Among the innovations Gose has pioneered is “Hike the Hill,” a program which brings more than 1,000 credit union representatives to Washington each year to meet with members of Congress and keep their issues at the forefront of Congressional consideration.

Other credit union initiatives under Gose include Project Zip Code which has identified 64 million credit union members in state and federal legislative districts; Advocacy Training, an advocacy program that teaches credit union advocates how to communicate with the media as well as their lawmakers; improving the effectiveness of the Credit Union Legislative Action Council (CULAC) which serves as the $3 million Political Action Committee for credit unions; and, other political involvement activities such as Get-Out-the-Vote, national party convention activities and campaign schools.

Before joining CUNA in 1998, Gose was political director for the American Insurance Association, where he established lobbying strategies, developed state and national coalitions, and designed comprehensive grassroots mobilization programs. At AIA, Gose worked on a number of national grassroots efforts including workers’ compensation reform, Superfund reform, and financial modernization.

His career also includes seven years with the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), where he served as political field director, directing state and local ballot issue campaigns, and statewide grassroots efforts. During that time, he assisted more than 100 homebuilder-supported candidates campaigns for state and local office.

During his tenure at NAHB Gose also served on the Builders for Bush fundraising effort and 1988 Bush Quayle Inaugural.

Gose holds a BA in History and Political Science from the University of Tennessee. He and his wife, Jackie, have four children. They spend time playing and coaching sports and updating their 19th Century farmhouse in Vienna, Virginia.

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