-: Hello, everyone.
I'm gonna give it just a couple of seconds
while people's audios connect,
and then I'm gonna get started.
Feel free to do what you want with your camera,
but I tell you when it's me who's doing the speaking,
it is nice to see faces.
It kind of energizes me.
And so on behalf of Evelyn,
I'm thinking she might feel a little energized.
Yes, thank you so much.
It feels like there are people there
when you turn your cameras on.
So let me go ahead and get started.
I am joined by, first let me say who I am.
I'm Kathy Nestrick.
I'm the Vice President of Women's Leadership
at the American Bankers Association,
and welcome to this wonderful Women's Day,
Women's History Month seminar.
We are joined by two dynamic leaders in banking.
Really excited to hear this conversation,
so let me get some introductions done.
First we have Evelyn Fennell-Smalls.
She's the president and CEO of United Bank of Philadelphia.
Prior to her appointment, she served
as the Senior Vice President for regulatory compliance
and community redevelopment.
Her leadership
helped establish the bank's community reinvestment model
that has achieved consecutive outstanding ratings
from the Federal Reserve and the FDIC.
Prior to coming to United Bank of Philadelphia,
Mrs. Small served as partner
and consultant with the Community Development Services group
of Pennsylvania from 1984 to 1993.
She started a career in banking in 1973
at the first Pennsylvania Bank of Philadelphia,
where she served as the vice president
and consultant to executive management.
She received her degree in business
from North Carolina Central University.
She serves on several boards,
including the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia,
chairperson for the Philadelphia Authority
for Industrial Development,
Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation,
Pennsylvania Association of Community Bankers,
the ABA Foundation Board,
and the National Bankers Association.
In addition, Mrs. Smalls was appointed
by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
and served a three year term
on the Community Depository Institution's Advisory Council.
We are also joined by Kathleen Pless,
the Senior Vice President, Chief Lending Officer,
and Chief Retail Officer of Rondout Savings Bank
in New York.
With over 20 years of experience in community banking,
regional banking, and commercial real estate finance,
she is responsible for the leadership
of the bank's branch experience
and the growth and execution of the lending department.
Kathleen is passionate about company branding,
bringing technology to the forefront of community banking
and bringing underserved populations
into the banking system.
Kathleen holds a BA from Rutgers University.
She's a graduate of ABA's Stonier Graduate School
of Banking, and has completed
the leadership certificate program at the Wharton School.
She is a member of ABA's Women of Stonier.
She's actively involved in your community
and serves on several boards.
So welcome to you both, Evelyn and Kathleen.
And now I'm going to hand over today's webinar to Kathleen,
who will be the moderator for today's discussion
with Evelyn.
Kathleen.
-: Thank you, Kathy, welcome to everyone,
and thank you for joining us for this conversation
with Evelyn Smalls.
I'm excited to learn from such a dynamic leader,
and so I'd like to jump right in,
but I would all first like to point out
that if you have any questions, feel free
to drop them in the chat
and we'll address them at the end of our conversation.
So let's get started.
It's nice to see you, Evelyn.
So thank you very much for joining us today.
-: Oh, it's my pleasure,
-: Thank you.
So let's start, you didn't wake up one morning
as a CEO, it took an entire year
of strategically growing your career.
So can you share some of those important milestones
along the way?
-: Yes, I will.
I certainly didn't wake up thinking I was going to be a CEO,
but I'll tell you, my mother did.
She had high expectations for Evelyn.
But it has been a journey.
I started in my work experience working
for Atlantic Richfield Company here in Philadelphia.
And that was a transition for me,
and my parents supported it,
but I could hear a conversation between them
the night before they were gonna drive me to Philadelphia,
and I heard my father saying to my mother,
don't worry, she'll be back.
I don't think she's gonna wanna stay there.
And so I heard that, and so I knew I had to do
everything I could to stay.
And so I was here six months before I even went back.
I came in June that year,
and I went back home at Christmas time
and I was, okay, a colleague of mine, the two
of us were recruited from college to work for this company.
And by then, I had made friends and I was okay.
So that was the first thing.
And I remember when I was choosing studies for college,
my mom asked me what did I want to study.
I said, I really wanna be a psychologist.
And she was very thoughtful, and she looked at me
and she was just such a kind, she was a wonderful mother,
the best that you could have had.
And so she said to me, well, baby,
I think that's a great choice.
However, that's your gift, that's in you,
everybody comes with gifts and that's your gift.
And I didn't quite understand that.
And so she said, you really don't see it as I see it,
but I think you should study business.
And so that combination would work well for you.
And so, I listened to her.
And so when I came to the Philadelphia
and worked for this company,
I ended up getting assigned to,
and it, with our co Atlantic Richfield,
I got assigned to the industrial psychologist.
And what a coincidence, I said to myself,
and it was natural for me working with him and talk,
because they did a lot of testing
for clients coming into the company.
And so it was just natural.
I just routinely kind of followed him and worked with him.
And then I did that for a while.
And, I got a few years later, I got married
and while I was out, and with a young baby,
and I knew soon after when my daughter was about,
I stayed out of work for over a year, my marriage crashed.
And so I knew I needed to go back to work.
And so I, there was an advertisement one weekend
that I was reading in the paper
and it was Options for Women.
And I called them and I had an interview
and they said, we have a position
from First Pennsylvania Bank.
It's very unusual, unorthodox, unstructured new.
I said, it sounds great.
And so I went for the interview
and I was taken in a few minutes that I was talking
to the senior vice president and I accepted that job.
So that's how I got into banking
and being with the senior vice president
who reported to the president of the bank.
And so I got a lot of exposure,
I could be a fly on the wall, I would listen
and go to meetings with executives.
I would go to meetings with my boss
and the president with other bankers, other senior officers.
And so I listened to a lot of the conversations.
And so that's how I really learned banking.
And I moved from that position to a
and I was made a vice president.
And at that time there weren't many women
that had those titles.
I was probably one of the first.
And I managed human resources and did a multitude of things.
And through that I learned the organization
because I spent time with all the executives.
And you may recall First Pennsylvania
went through a big shakeup.
They had to recapitalize the bank.
And at that time, banking,
when you went into banking, you really retired from banking.
You didn't really leave until it was your time up.
And so a lot of people, and so that kind of was my journey
for that.
But then I was exhausted after we went through that process.
So I left the company and one of the executives said to me,
there is a position at the Wharton School in the management,
say behavioral science center that's looking
for a practitioner.
There's a bunch of social scientists that are doing research
and study in West Philadelphia,
working around economic development
and revitalization of large communities.
And I went there and I interviewed
and so I would be probably the practitioner with the group.
And the first thing I was told was that,
we tried this before, what we are getting ready to ask you
to do, but we failed.
And so you're gonna give me a failed project.
And so I said, okay, I'm game.
And so the project was to go around
the West Philadelphia region.
There were lots of leaders there who were doing a lot
of economic development work.
The social scientists were
really looking at what they could do.
And I think the ultimate process
that they were probably gonna be writing books.
And so I went through and interviewed all of the people
that they had identified.
And so when I finished, I said,
I've completed all the interviews.
And she said, wow.
He said, so, okay, we can schedule a meeting
over at one of our buildings on campus.
I said, no, wait, hold up.
They won't come to the campus.
Because I think one of the disconnects with the university
and with the community, they feel that you want
to really run everything
and not really fully understand the leadership
and the work that they do and the change that they need
to make so that you need to work with them
in a collaborative way.
And so he said, so what do you suggest?
I say, we should have the meeting
at White Rock Baptist Church,
which is at 53rd and Chestnut Street,
and I'm a member of that church.
And so they said, okay,
and so that's how they all showed up.
And that was the process
that really got me engaged in community development.
And through that process, one of the people
was Leonard Smalls, who was a pastor
and who was a, he picketed pen for a gentrification.
And so it was kind of a interesting mix.
And, but learning from him,
because he was truly a community development actor,
knew that community very well.
I had, I'm not from Philadelphia,
and so I started to learn even more about Philadelphia,
particularly West Philadelphia,
where they were doing all the work.
And so that really became, and through that,
after that project,
he and I developed a community development company
where we worked with churches,
helping pastors move people from the traditional roles
in church to getting engaged with economic
and community development to inspire young people
to be more engaged in the church
and let them bring their gifts and skills.
And at White Rock, I became, I was,
the pastor made me director of youth ministry,
and what he wanted me to do was to expand the cycle
of the youth.
And so we created other avenues
that really would support young people,
not just the things from the,
and the spiritual thing was certainly
front and center of it,
but it was really, I had career days.
I had friends of mine who came to
from corporations that would meet with them.
I remember seeing a picture
of my daughter sitting there interviewing
with Bruce Crawley, who was one of the executives
at First Pennsylvania Bank where I worked.
And so they start to learn early the expectations,
start thinking about who they were and looking at people
that looked like them.
And there were lots of women and men there.
And from that, after finishing the project at Penn,
I was recommended to United Bank of Philadelphia.
I knew Dr. Chappelle, and it just seemed like a natural flow
because I felt, because it was a small bank, community bank,
mission-driven, I had gone through
and not, sometimes you don't know why you're going
to certain places, why you're being placed certain places
because it was really to expand my knowledge.
Not only I knew about banking,
but I also need to know more about the inner workers
of the community and the leadership in those communities.
And so it was kind of a natural fit.
And so that was kind of how I got
to United Bank of Philadelphia.
-: Wow, that's a really great journey.
I loved hearing that story.
So you touched a little bit on your upbringing,
and I know for me, my upbringing is a large part
of my identity.
Can you tell us a little bit about yours
and how that has impacted you as a leader?
-: I grew up in a small town in North Carolina,
and I call the community with lots of relatives
and everybody was a parent for you,
so you could not step outta line without your phone ringing.
And so it was kind of, I call it the village.
And I think it was a good thing for us growing up.
Certainly we didn't feel that way at the time,
but when I retrospect, you look back
and see, you had so many people rooting for you
and thinking about you.
And so, it was also the segregated south,
we had to ride buses to school.
We couldn't go to the school that was closest to us,
but we endured, my parents were very positive about us.
My mother was part of the, was an officer
in the Parents' Teachers Association.
And so, you would get calls at home if,
and I was shy and they always wanted
to give me something, do a speech,
and my mother said, because you can do it well.
And so if I said, I remember for graduation,
I was ahead of my class and I had to do this major speech,
and I said, oh, I can't do this.
And when I got home, my mother was standing at the door
and she said, how was your day?
I said it was good.
And then she said, then I thought she got a phone call.
The principal called her and said, Evelyn
doesn't wanna do this.
I said, I'll do it.
Okay.
I was just having a bad moment, I'll do it.
And so there was a lot of people rooting for you.
And it was an opportunity
and I guess it was when I started to realize
and my sister reminded me that,
you were always in leadership roles from the church.
And that's really where we got our strength,
was 'cause we, or we could see the church from our house.
And so if we, and my sister and I, one morning said
to my mom, we're not feeling well, we wanna stay home.
And my father was walking by the door,
he said, well, if you don't go to church,
don't ask to go out of the house today.
So she looked at me and we quickly got dressed
and went to church.
But there was lots of opportunities.
We were protected by not being able to go to places
where we wouldn't be welcomed
because Spring Lake was the town very close to Fort Bragg,
so we could go on the base.
I had relatives that were officers who,
that we could get to places that we didn't have
to go in the back door up the stairs to a movie theater.
My parents wouldn't allow us to do that.
And so all of our activity was generally around the church.
The church was the center.
And I learned so much about leadership.
I became a national youth officer for the AM Design Church.
I found myself at Purdue University for some gatherings.
And I would routinely go to Salisbury
where our major office was for our region.
And the bishop was there.
So I was able to go, 'cause my mother would call the bishop
and his wife and say, Evelyn is going to come,
but I would like for her to stay with you.
Say, oh, not a problem.
And so they always made sure that we were protected,
but we got exposure.
And so that was all forming the leadership
and the comfort of what I can do and what,
and we all, and I tell my daughter,
we are all born with special gifts
and sometimes they're hidden
and sometimes we are told what the gifts are
and they may not be natural for us.
But there are some things inside that you have
that you can add to as you are exposed
around different regions, different jobs, different people.
And I just think that I've had people who were rooting
for me, interested in me throughout this whole cycle
'cause it's been a quite of a long period of time.
And so this role at United Bank has probably been one
of the ones that is most interesting
because it really does change the trajectory
of banking in a sense.
It really helps people to see that there are opportunities
for everyone.
When the bank opened and there were so many people outside
of the financial system using unorthodox places where they,
and where they kept money at home.
When the bank opened, you would've been amazed
how many people bought cash to the bank in shoe boxes.
Grandmothers had it stuffed in their bosoms
and they felt intimidated about going to banks.
And so, it just was a process.
But I think throughout that process,
I had so many people rooting for me thinking
that they saw things in myself
that I really didn't think about.
But I think I was confident from my mother
would just, in our house, you could not say can't
or cannot, those words were void.
You could not use those words.
And so we started to realize
that we could do almost anything.
And if you study and do well and really listen to others
and when people, you have mentors
that you don't even know about.
And that's good.
And I know my daughter has had mentors that she didn't know.
She said one time someone called her up
and say, you're my mentee.
And she had been following her and watching her,
but she had no idea.
And sometimes those are the best ones
who really are paying attention to you
and making sure that you're moving in the right direction
and maybe saying something to someone else
to take notice of you.
And so that's kind of the way that I've kind
of weaved my story and my work experience
and learning something always, even today,
I feel I'm always learning something new
and that's how you should continue to be open.
-: So it, from what you described,
I really like the story of the strong sense of community
that you grew up in and your involvement in the church.
And I see all those things building on your confidence
to help you develop leadership skills.
But can you elaborate a little bit
on what advice you can give some other women who,
when they look in the mirror,
may not see a leader in themselves?
-: Well, I think it starts with
just know your competitive advantage.
Just know who you are.
Your strengths, your skills, your qualities.
Just know yourself.
I think a lot of times we don't take time
to get to know ourselves,
and that's what my mother was doing with me through.
And I look back on that and I know she just
'cause she, I tell you, she knew each of us so well.
And she was a parent who parented towards
each of us individually.
She didn't try to make a group parenting process.
We were all different.
And I think that was the thing that really propelled us
because she knew our strengths and she really voted for us.
She knew there were five of us, the three girls.
And my father said, you will not say you're not going
to college.
Going to college is required for you.
He, my brother said they didn't wanna go.
He said, okay, but the girls went to college.
He said, it's important that you can take care of yourself
and use your talent.
And that's what happened.
So you need to just be who you are,
embrace your authenticity,
be just kind of once you get to know yourself,
let it thrive in yourself.
Let it make room for you and direct your path.
I think that's important.
And leadership is a journey.
It is not just sort of, it is volunteering, mentoring,
doing lots of things that really kind of get you prepared
for the big things.
I did that a lot and I think that helped me.
I did a lot of that in the church when I agreed
for the pastor to revamp the youth ministry program.
And so he scheduled a meeting,
and he invited all of the leaders of the church
who worked with youth.
And this was youth from maybe 12 up to 20, 21.
And so I walked in that room that night.
I said, oh my goodness, it was standing room only.
I said, wow.
And then he exited the meeting
and so, I just started to listen to them,
and one of the skills I've developed
and I ask, I tell everyone,
and especially women that I'm working with,
hone in on your listening skills.
Listen, many times you may go to meetings
and maybe new for you.
And I've been in those situations
when I ran human resources at First Penn State.
And sometimes if you're so anxiously
thinking about what you wanna say,
you're not listening to what's happening in the meeting.
And sometimes when you speak,
you may be speaking out about something
that's already been discussed.
And so never feel that you have to always talk.
But listening really gives you the power
to speak appropriately, speak when you need to,
and it really helps you understand the culture
and the environment around you.
And that's how I did when I went
to First Pennsylvania Bank,
because most of the leaders there were men.
And so I've spent a lot of time listening.
They had, First Penn went through a big recapitalization.
And so a consultant was coming in working
with the senior leadership.
And every time he came, he would always request
to have a meeting with me and to kind of get a sense
of what had been happening.
And so I, because he knew I was a good listener
and I knew how much to share and what not to share,
but I could give him a framework of how he could,
because we really wanted him to be successful
and I was human resources.
So if he's successful
and he's helping with this, then I'm successful.
And so don't be afraid to share your talent
and knowledge with others
because that's what that makes the world go round.
Because you get better.
Because when you share things come back to you.
And so I think, and just don't have self-doubt.
Just never doubt yourself.
And I think sometimes environments may cause you to do that.
Don't do that.
Be positive and know that you can, that's why my mother
did a good job saying, don't say can't and cannot,
because you just never will know until you try something.
And so, and just keep learning, learn continuously,
find ways to learn, do read, workshops,
all kinds of ways to really broaden your perspective
because that's what makes it,
and you belong in these places.
You may think you don't, but you do.
And so I just kind of say, find who you are,
listen to yourself, kind of get in touch
with your natural skills
and then build on that through education and other things,
and mentors and mentors, just kind of find your place
and where you want to be.
But you do that by knowing yourself.
-: That's very sound advice.
So you've managed a lot of people over the years.
What are the benefits of having women
and women of color on the leadership team?
-: Well, an undeniable advantage
lies in embracing diverse perspectives.
Outside society is not monolithic.
It's a rich tapestry of people,
and so we are better when we listen to each other.
We learn from each other.
Even around small bank, we have various ethnicities.
We have Asian, we've had Latino, of course, white.
So it's just those perspectives at the table
really changes the dynamics of thinking.
And we all learn every day from how people look at things
and think about things.
I think it's just, and I think then organizations
benefit from having that diversity
because I think if everybody is thinking the same thing,
answering the same way, it's just not as productive.
I think the more people that come from different backgrounds
have different perspectives, I know where I worked
in many companies, my perspective was a bit different,
but it wasn't negative, but I think
when you have confidence, you're willing
to share that perspective and you'd be surprised
how it's embraced because maybe someone
didn't even think about it that way.
And it really changes the dynamic of the conversation
of the organization and it rigs other people feel included,
you really do want inclusion
and you want that perspective around because it's,
and that's the way I think it should be.
-: Hmm.
As you think back on your career, was there a challenge
or a stumbling block that was particularly hard to navigate?
And can you share with us the strategy that you used
to overcome that challenge?
-: So a particular challenge to stomach is yes.
I was thinking about that one.
The founder of United Bank was someone
that I highly respected
and to even think about following her
I had no thought about becoming the CEO of United Bank.
And when that change occurred, I was shocked.
I was in my office one morning, one Friday morning,
and the Jim Bodine, who was on our board,
who was the president of First Pennsylvania Bank
when I was there, and he called me up
and he said, I wanna talk with you.
He came over and he said, I don't need much time,
but we met and we've decided that they had been looking
outside for people.
And he said, we first wanna apologize to you
because our person was here and it's you.
We wanna offer the job to you.
And he said, don't speak, I don't want an answer,
because my husband and I were getting ready
to go to Virginia for the weekend.
And I said, okay, all right.
I was stunned.
And so, and I was thinking
here's the, the founder, someone that I admired
and I worked for, and I wasn't sure how I even,
she would feel about it, how I was gonna be able to navigate
behind her because she was a powerhouse.
She worked so hard to get this bank started.
And I joined the bank when the bank was 18 months old.
And so this was probably in 2020,
I was named president, CEO in 2020, the bank opened.
And this is actually, and I'm thinking fondly of her
because our anniversary was January 23rd,
and it means we are 32 years old as a bank.
And so my goal, so I finally started to think
about all of those things, and then I started
to think about, my goal is to keep this bank going.
And that's really what her dream was, that this bank
is important, it needs to stay here.
And so I started to move and start thinking about that.
The difficult was that we had to start to downsize the bank.
And that was part of the difficulty
because I knew she had worked so hard to get,
and at that time we had eight branches, we grew rapidly.
You may remember the savings bank closed down.
-: Yes.
-: And so through the resolution trust,
we were given an opportunity to acquire branches.
And so when I joined, I mean, they were,
we ended up with about eight branches
and so we kind of worked, had tried
to work through that, but the products and service
are different.
And so it took time to kind of start to aggregate all
of the products and make sure we had in the
with the right products for our customers and so forth.
So that was a process.
And so in 2020, she left the bank and,
but I still felt that we had a lot of work to do.
And so we had the eight branches, and so we had to start
to combine or close down some of those branches.
And so, those were the kind of difficult things,
but doing it with grace and being cognizant
of the bottom line is that we gotta keep the bank open.
And so I can't let matters individual things occur
that will force the bank not to be here.
And so I'm glad that through the team, our staff,
we work tirelessly going through those changes
and manifesting different things to make sure
that the bank was stable.
And we still have challenges,
but I think I talked with her a few years ago.
She passed away, I think it was maybe 2021,
but maybe that year before we met up at an event.
And she came over to me and I think that was the thing
that I needed her to say.
She said, I am so proud of you.
I am so grateful that you and that team
kept that bank going, and that's really what she wanted
and that's what I needed to hear.
And so that was kind of difficult,
but it ended up being okay because she was okay
'cause she knew that I worked for her when I was there.
She would ask me to write something and she would say to me,
how do you do that?
This sounds like me.
I say, well, I stopped and I stopped listening to Evelyn,
and I hear your voice in my head.
And then I started to write because it was for her.
And I think we all wanted to support her and make sure.
And so that was kind of the most a challenging thing
that I felt going through that cycle.
Just maybe making sure that she understood
that we still valued her leadership and what she did.
-: Wow, that's nice.
What is your top advice for emerging leaders who are trying
to be recognized and promoted to the next leadership level?
-: I'm sorry, could you say that again?
I'm sorry. -: Sure.
What is your top advice for emerging leaders who are trying
to be recognized and promoted to the next leadership level?
-: I say, stay curious, keep learning,
look for any new opportunity to learn something new.
Build strong relationships, networking.
And, I think that's one of the powers that I have.
I easily work with relationships.
I say to our staff, before you get into the transactions,
cultivate the relationship, get to know who's sitting
in front of you, work with, listen to them.
And so that when you get to getting
into that transaction, you know enough about you.
They know more about you, the bank
and so you can really start to move forward with a process
that's suitable for both sides.
And so relationships, sometimes we are so, we get,
banking service is transactional,
but you really have to have the, I believe,
'cause especially a community bank, the thing
that motivates us and propels us is building relationships
and those that are because when you have good relationships,
they help you build your network of new clients
because they're thinking fondly of you,
if you do something for someone.
And we did, for a lot of people who had never been able
to get traditional loans,
they were going to different unorthodox places
and paying a lot of money.
And so we changed that cycle for them
by letting them know you are worthy.
And they didn't know the full cycle
of what it would require.
And so and when we do that for borrowers
and they're creating jobs and I think,
go beyond your job description.
Be curious within your company, see some other things.
Find out ways that you can learn some other things.
And not necessarily be looking for that next position,
but just kind of getting the essence of the flow
of the company, the culture,
and what the expectations are so that you are ready
when new opportunities come.
And don't just,
and I think you have to always communicate effectively.
Be don't be afraid to, in meetings,
to speak up when you have a good idea
and you wanna share something and openness
and you model the behavior that you would want to
for people to see and embrace you and be positive.
I know sometimes you're not always
gonna be happy in the role you're in.
You're not gonna always be happy,
but you have to think about the whole, think about what
and maybe when there's something that's not suiting you,
you can maybe speak up and discuss it, bring it forth.
And it makes sense.
I know sometimes people will say to me
and they'd say, that makes sense
'cause we don't know everything.
And so that's why you have a team and to listen to.
And so don't be shy.
Don't sit back and be annoyed,
but add your two cents.
And make sure, and I think you should always work
to understand the organization's vision,
and sometimes you may be thinking something,
but listen to what is being said, be a good listener
and just making sure that you're understanding the vision
of the company, of the direction,
and so that you can decide
whether this is something you may be excited.
Oh, this is, that's what's gonna happen.
I'm really, and so it really kind of reinvigorate you.
You start to feel more productive
and more positive when you start to think that way.
And you can advocate for yourself, that's okay too.
You may be in settings where something is being talked about
and you may start to ask some questions about it so people,
show your curiosity and it could put you on a list
to get into a new role, but without saying it,
no one will ever know.
And so I think things like that and I just say,
I say to people, be resilient.
Jut be resilient.
Resilience really captivates people like to see
that you can have some ups and downs,
but just kind of work through those.
And then you get back to being positive
and learn from setbacks and just push forward
because it's never always gonna be smooth and exciting.
You're gonna be annoyed sometimes,
but if you can kind of be resilient
and flow through that,
there's something better on the other side.
And I've been through that and I know it works.
It absolutely works.
-: That's very sound advice as well.
Thank you.
Let's conclude our prepared questions
with three bullet point questions for you,
and then we'll move on to some
of our participants' questions in the chat.
So, Evelyn, what book do you wanna read next?
-: I'm sorry, I didn't hear that one.
-: What book do you want to read next?
-: Oh, well, when you asked me about it,
I got this book last fall, the president, CEO of Fiserv.
I think maybe it was last, yeah, it must have been fall.
And it was the first time we'd been to their big meeting
and my CFO and I went and we were,
there was a fireside chat with the CEO
and the former chairman and CEO of IBM, which is a female.
And she wrote this book and I suggest you get it.
And so I started reading this book,
it's called "Good Power Leading Positive Change in Our Lives
Work and the World".
And it's an exceptional book.
And I would suggest you get that book.
She had a rocky beginning, her parents divorced
and she, say a mother never worked and a mother
had to go to work.
And so it was just challenging when you see people
come there and then here she is the president and CEO
of IBM.
And so it's extraordinary.
And I'm just digging into it, when I was asked
that question, I had started reading.
I pulled it up again, I said,
and I told my staff, my ladies,
there's some of the women on this call
that I'm gonna get that book for them.
I know Brenda has it because she was with me
with that session in, with Fiserv.
But it's a powerful book, a display of,
don't dwell on your circumstances.
As I said, I became, I came from the south.
I knew nothing about the north until I visited my family,
had friends in New York,
and that was all of my trips up north.
And so, but I felt that my parents were a little bit nervous
about me doing it, especially my mother.
But you can always adjust.
You just never know what's in store for you.
And sometimes you're gonna have to wait
on that next opportunity.
Sometimes we move swiftly to,
and you think it's an opportunity, sometimes you might need
to wait and really be more contemplative
about what it is I really want to do.
Am I really set on who I am?
Do I really know me now?
Am I using my natural talents and gifts
and can I manifest that better in this other role?
Weigh things, because sometimes you may need to sit tight
with where you are before you make that jump.
And so it's thinking through things
and just being an active listener around your environment
and so that you make the right decisions.
But this is a great book.
I recommend it.
-: So I saw one of our participants, Amanda Cabenes
I have to call you out because I saw that you held up
the book.
And I am going to ask if you could please type out the title
and author in the chat.
For anyone who's interested in Evelyn's recommendation.
-: This is "Good Power", and this is she,
and I can send it information to you.
Her name is Ginni, GINNI, Rometty, ROMETTY.
And it's just a great read.
-: Oh, that's great.
Two other quick ones,
and then we'll move on to participant questions.
If you could talk to anyone for one hour, who would it be?
-: So I asked a couple people who do you think that would be?
And they knew.
And so it ended up being two people,
but they were two people that are aligned in my life.
And so, the first,
and I don't wanna get teary and morbid, but
and neither one of 'em are here now.
And one was my mother.
My mother was our cheerleader.
She was my cheerleader.
She knew me so well.
And so I learned to listen to her advice.
And she just had such a sweet way of bringing things
to the forefront to you
whether it was something you wanted to hear or not.
But there's a way she delivered it.
And the way she knew me,
and she knew more about me than I did.
And as I grew older, I started to realize she really knew me
because it all manifested in how I ended up,
what I ended up being doing.
And so when my marriage broke up, they said,
I was the the one who, everybody had such expectations
for it, she could fly, she could do anything.
And here I couldn't keep a marriage.
And so I was embarrassed.
I absolutely was embarrassed.
And so I didn't tell her, I didn't tell my parents.
And my sister was here and I, she didn't tell them,
'cause we kept secrets and I had a,
so one day finally, and I felt that if I waited long enough,
I would be able to talk to her without crying.
And so I did.
It was like a year later, I called her up, I said, mom,
I need to talk to you about something.
She said, okay, what is it?
I said, John and I are divorced, getting divorced,
we've been separated for the last year
and divorce is gonna be final soon.
And you know what she said, I know,
I've been waiting for you to tell me.
She absolutely said that to me.
-: Wow.
-: And she said, I know.
She said, but I gave you space.
I knew you had to work through it
'cause my concern was that she said to pack up that child
and come back to North Carolina.
I couldn't do that.
I just absolutely couldn't do that.
But she knew.
And so I would like to tell her
just what a fabulous role model she was for us
and the sacrifice, I don't mean to cry.
She was just the best.
And then, and so several years afterwards,
I met this man who, I just thought I would never
have a partner again.
And so I talked about the work I did at Wharton.
He was one of those people that was in that audience.
And it took me like, I don't know
how many times he was the last person that would agree,
because he was the one that was always picking and pen,
and he wasn't.
So he said, so when I got to his office, he just walked
around the desk and would sit down.
I said, oh, wow.
Well, I might as well start talking.
I just started talking.
And so finally he sat down and he said, you know, so later,
after, so he started to listen
and then he became a prominent spokesperson
in that group because he knew economic development so well
and had been so much in his community.
He was a pastor in West Philadelphia, so he was well known
and he was challenging groups about not really doing
the right thing and making sure
that there was accessible things.
And so the things that I found,
what went back to Wharton was what they had found before,
but the people who delivered them would not meet with them
because there was a trust factor.
And so it was always about economic development.
It was about jobs, it was about capital.
It was about services to children and seniors.
And so those things have not changed.
And so that probably was the catalyst
that helped me when I went to United Bank of Philadelphia.
And so finally he called.
So then we were asked to, I was asked to work with him.
He was the economic development chair
of the black clergy and asked me
to work with him on a project. So we did.
And so one day we were finishing up
and he said to me, how about going out to dinner?
I said, oh, I can't mix business with pleasure.
And he thought I was off my rocker,
but I was really honest about that
because I was doing this business.
And so he would call a couple times.
And then one day Tiffany walked into the room
and she said, mom, were you talking to Reverend Smalls?
I said, yes, I was.
She said, I heard you do something
that you told me never to do.
And I said, what was that?
She said, you didn't tell the truth.
I said, how did I, she said, I heard you say
that you couldn't go out with him
because you didn't have a babysitter,
and you know grandma would be happy to take care of me.
This is her dad's mother that I live close to.
She said, she'd be very happy to take care of me,
so you should go out.
And I said, no, I'm doing work.
I'm doing business.
And so, and ultimately we, so she would go
to my parents at summertime and she was going for two weeks.
And when she got there, she called and said, grandma
and I decided I need to stay longer
because they really need me more.
So she said, I wanna stay six weeks.
I said, six weeks.
I said, I can't, you know I can't bear that.
She said, I said, put grandmamma on the phone.
And so she said, oh, you know we love her so much.
And I said, okay, you're sure.
And so when she came home, we were unpacking
and she said, well, how have you been?
I said, okay.
Did you go out with Reverend Smalls?
I said, yes.
And so she ran back and called her grandmother
and said, grandma, it worked.
So they conspired to stay in Carolina for her
to stay in six weeks so that I would take time for me
and get engaged, get involved with someone who she felt,
so when he asked me to marry him, he wanted
to speak with Tiffany.
And he came over
and he said, Tiffany, I've asked your mom to marry me
and I just wanna see how you feel about it.
And so she looked him right in the eye
and she says, well, as long as you know, we are a team,
and if you understand that, then it's fine with me
because mom and I are a team.
And he was just speechless.
He said, of course, I understand that.
And so, and he was such a part of our life,
he passed away in 2020 and he was trying to prepare me
and I couldn't hear it.
And I would wanna say to him, I knew you were preparing me
and I'm okay, but I couldn't deal with it at that moment
because I didn't want you to leave.
And, but he knew, he was such a spiritual soul.
I walked into the room the day before
and he was looking, he was on the bed.
I had a bed downstairs and he was looking up
with his arms outstretched like he was yielding.
And I knew, but I still couldn't accept it.
And he passed away that next morning.
And so I just went, I would say to him, you were the best.
You left us okay.
And you went peacefully.
So those are the two people,
she started that and he was there to lift us.
And Tiffany said to me when we married,
after a few weeks, she said,
I know I've been calling him Reverend Smalls,
but he feels like a dad.
And she said, I wanna call him dad.
You think he, I said, well, you should call him
and talk to him about it.
And he was thrilled.
And she said, but I also called my daddy
and know that he's still daddy and then this is dad.
And so it was just, he just kind of embraced our lives,
spiritually, all kinds of ways, in confidence.
He could think he, if I was started
to talk about something I couldn't do,
he would just look at me.
And I didn't need him to say,
'cause I knew what that look was, and so my mother started
that about saying, you can do, you can.
And he said, you can fly.
And so I, we are okay.
And I would let them both know that we are okay.
The seeds you planted for us are still growing
and we are okay.
And so that's what, and I didn't want to talk about,
but those two people really orchestrated my life.
At least in many, many ways.
In many ways.
-: Yes.
Well, those were two very beautiful stories.
Thank you so much for sharing that.
Now, to change directions just a little bit,
what is one word that you would use
to describe the banking industry?
-: I think about it, it's change, absolute change.
Because there's AI, there's technology,
but I think, we all have, we all embrace change
and through our lives, no matter industry we are in.
But this change has to be dealt with carefully.
There's, with technology, it's wonderful.
You know, we are getting technology
to help propel our business in.
But we have to be, we can't forget the relationship part.
The people that still need to be talked to
and to be guided into the financial system.
And I just like to hope that we can still keep some balance.
Because with change, with the technology, AI
comes enhanced risk management.
And because, and then there's some bad actors out there
that know how they're working the systems
when we were asleep.
And you really have to have so much monitoring
and making sure there's been so many things,
but particularly seniors
and people who are not as sophisticated.
They've gone into their accounts and so we have
to embrace ourselves
to make sure we're monitoring those accounts.
And so change all around.
Some of it'll be good change
and some would be just to stay alive,
keep your organization in good stead,
because there's always these bad actors that's going
to be looking for ways to get into accounts and do things.
But we embrace change.
We've seen a lot of change over the last 32 years,
and I think we're up for it,
but we wanna make sure you have
to have the right people in the right places
and being vigilant on your clients.
And never forget the notion of cultivating relationships
'cause that's what sustains your business.
-: Hmm.
Thank you, Evelyn, thank you so much
for all the insight you've shared with us.
I think we have time for one or two questions,
which I'll pull up from the chat.
Let's see.
Can you talk a little bit about the importance
of MDIs in the banking ecosystem?
Were you able to hear that, Evelyn?
-: Was there a question did you ask?
Kathleen: Yes. -: Oh, I'm sorry,
I didn't hear.
-: That's okay.
Can you talk a little bit about the importance of MDIs
in the banking ecosystem?
-: What, some of the what?
-: Of MDIs.
Evelyn: MDIs? -: Yes.
-: Oh, minority depository institutions.
-: The importance of them. -: We are,
there are several of us across the country, we are 32 years.
There's some that have been around over 100 years.
We are in different states like Atlanta,
South Carolina, North Carolina,
and I think when United Bank came online,
there were probably about 50
minority depository institutions.
And now there are probably about 20
many closed, some were merged with larger banks.
And so we are one of the newest ones.
And we are grateful that we've been able to endure all
of the changes, all the hiccups in the industry,
and to really make sure that we keep this legacy here.
But these are banks that some are much larger,
they're a couple that are smaller.
They different sizes, but they do, what we do is some
of them do business loans and consumer loans.
And we decided, I guess back
when the financial crisis occurred, we decided
to just compress the organization a bit.
And then I said to the board, the thing that we know well
is small businesses because we are a small business.
And that was an interesting discussion
because I think at first they thought
doing that we would lose our depositors.
And I say that absolutely wouldn't happen.
The one of the greatest strengths we have
is our core depositors, because these were people who came
into banking, and never put money in a bank before.
And so that's been something
that's been consistent over the course of the 32 years.
But we believe that what we do in the community
is really trying to make sure everyone has access.
And we know we are a regulated bank.
We are, our primary regulator, that's the FDIC,
we have a holding company, so the FDIC
or the Federal Reserve looks into it.
And we were chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
So we have three organizations that oversee us.
And, but I think it's just important
that banks like this are able to survive and support people.
Because even here in 2024, there's still a lot of people
outside of the financial system
and they're predators that are going to them,
getting them to get high interest loans
that they will never be able to pay back.
And then if you have properties, you tie up your real estate
and you really find you're in a bad position.
And so we are not looking to put people out of business,
not giving, but just making sure that they're understanding
what they're getting involved with.
We've helped a lot of small businesses, daycares
where they're, when Mayor Kenny went into office,
he had this goal of providing more opportunities
for daycares.
And we funded a lot of them
because those that are for-profit business,
and we've seen them thrive.
We have one particularly that bought the business,
the building that she was leasing.
And so she's able to keep her equity.
And so we've done some interesting things like that
for some of our borrowers.
And I think so I hope that we are here to stay
because I think it's still a need
because there are still people that are outside
of the financial system.
-: Well, thank you Evelyn.
I think we are at the end of our time today.
I wanna thank everyone for joining us,
and especially thank you to Evelyn for sharing
such wonderful stories and terrific insight with all of us.
We appreciate you carving out some time from your schedule
to share your wisdom and experiences with us.
Thank you everyone, and have a great rest of your day.
-: Thank you so much.
Right, bye-bye.