#11: Awareness and Action Spurred by #BlackLivesMatter | Laurie Stewart

Banking has a role to play in pushing back against systemic racism. As law enforcement and health care communities work on overcoming racial bias and disparity, Laurie challenges those of us in banking with some ideas and suggestions to do our part.   Topics discussed in this episode:   3:09 Understand that it's broken. 4:35 We have to be a little harder on ourselves. 7:43 Confirmation bias in lending and credit 10:27 Redlining and historical racism in lending 11:30 Redlining or lack of understanding? 13:03 A conversation of equals 14:12 Having the hard conversations in a safe environment 16:23 Recognize it is going to be hard, and then invest in it.   About Laurie Stewart:   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 https://www.soundcb.com/     Resources:   From the American Bankers Association Call for Change: A message from the ABA President and the Chair https://www.aba.com/training-events/career-workforce-development/diversity-equity-inclusion/call-for-change#_ga=2.109573890.629892261.1592593155-1289401962.1592429151   Resources to help banks achieve Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Goals https://www.aba.com/training-events/career-workforce-development/diversity-equity-inclusion     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   https://www.amazon.com/Fragile-Mind-Unwittingly-Perpetuates-Disparities/dp/1628652462   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.   https://www.amazon.com/Millionaire-Next-Door-Thomas-Stanley/dp/0671015206   Find out more about Linda Keith at: www.LindaKeithCPA.com www.LendersOnlineTraining.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindakeith/

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Interviews with senior credit and lending professionals at financial institutions across the United States, their regulators and banking advisors about how to assess and mitigate credit risk in challenging times.