Laura Lee (Laurie) Stewart, president and CEO of Seattle-based
Sound Community Bank celebrates more than 30 years at the helm of
Sound Community Bank. In that time, she led the conversion of the
organization from a $38 million credit union to a commercial bank
which grew to be more than $718 million in assets.
Stewart maintains a long history in community banking and
participation in industry affairs. Stewart currently serves as the
Chair of the American Bankers Association, representing the
Nation’s $18.6 trillion banking industry and the employment of more
than two million workers. She also holds a position on the board of
directors for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s Seattle
Branch.
Previously, Stewart served as Chair of the Board of Directors
of the Washington Bankers Association (WBA), where she helped
create the WBA’s Executive Development Program. In addition,
Stewart was one of 14 bankers selected to serve on the inaugural
FDIC Advisory Board in 2009, and in 2012, she was named to the
Community Bank Advisory Council of the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau.
In 2019, she was named Community Banker of the Year by
American Banker and received an Executive Excellence award from
Seattle Business Magazine. American Banker also named her as one of
its Most Powerful Women in Banking in 2011, 2015, 2017, 2018, and
2019.
Sound Community Bank
Resources:
From the American Bankers Association
Call for Change: A message from the ABA President and
the Chair
Resources to help banks achieve Diversity, Equity and
Inclusion Goals
Linda's recommended reading:
The Fragile Mind: How It Has Produced and Unwittingly
Perpetuates America's Tragic Disparities by Dr. Jarik
Conrad
In The Fragile Mind, Dr. Conrad not only provides insight into
what daily life is like for African Americans and individuals who
are poor, he offers as innovative approach to overcoming these
challenges based on what scientists have uncovered about the human
brain - its brilliance, as well as its fragility.
He demonstrates how conscious and subconscious actions taken
by Whites have maintained their social, political, and economic
dominance, while conscious and subconscious actions taken by
African Americans and poor people have contributed to the
perpetuation of their subordinate status in America
The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J.
Stanley
This book may shatter your assumptions about who is, and who
is not wealthy, by appearance alone. While not specifically about
race, it is a great reminder to set aside our biases and evaluate
borrower credit risk on objective factors.