the challenge: Creating a Holistic-Values Banking CulturePortrait of a First Green Bank Staffer: Amanda Rich
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Amanda with her dog, Gertie, fishing at Shell Island in the Florida Gulf Coast.
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Amanda Rich grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee, near the heart of the Smokey Mountains, hiking around the rivers and lakes, and falling in love with nature. After high school she attended Clemson University and the University of Tennessee where she studied Environmental Science. She took the following year off to hike the Appalachian Trail, then married her college sweetheart and moved to Central Florida.
Aware of Amanda’s passion for the environment, a friend suggested she apply for a job at First Green Bank, and in 2011, she was hired in the back office, despite having no banking experience. She now works in the operations and accounting department in the Mt. Dora office. There were not many mission-minded people at the bank when Amanda joined. It was the early years of the bank and, she reports, “It was hard to find like minded bankers in our small county.” She also quickly realized that the mission was not generally understood, and in fact some of the of the folks in northern Lake County were hostile to it. Over the years, however, she has been delighted to see more values-aligned individuals joining the bank—recent college graduates and those in their early 30s— many of them with little or no banking experience. “We have all ‘grown up’ in banking here, which has been great,” she notes. These young people are also inspiring others in the bank. |
“In my own department,” Amanda reports, “people are beginning to see that there are more of us on staff that do care about the bank’s mission. They are starting to see it isn’t just Ken, there are some really cool people out there who are getting it, and maybe they should too.”
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Amanda hiking along the 210 mile John Muir trail at Marie Lake in the John Muir Wilderness area, September 2015.
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She also notes that the recent branch openings in communities close-in to Orlando has exposed staff to many more mission-aligned businesses. These businesses and individuals have themselves been naturally attracted to the bank and its values. “A lot of the accounts I have referred have been because of how the bank treats its employees,” Amanda says. “We have incredible wellness benefits and benefits in general. People see that and the electric and hybrid car deals, the solar energy loans, and this has really helped the bank grow that mission-aligned business.”
When she was hired Ken noted Amanda’s interest in all things wellness and asked her to send out emails to employees on healthy eating. She wanted to let people know they could eat well and not break the bank, she says. She is currently enrolled in the bank’s Mission Specialist program. To receive the designation Mission Specialists candidates must pass a rigorous exam to become LEED Associates, complete assigned readings, research a Global Alliance for Banking on Values bank and report on the findings to other staff members, and become a docent at the bank’s LEED Platinum headquarters. Thus far three staff members have met all of the requirements. However, eight others are en route to earning that designation. Amanda has chosen wellness and healthy eating as her Mission Specialist focus. “One of the things I do for myself because I am incredibly busy is order premade meals from someone who makes them from organic vegetables from his garden,” she explains, “Other employees see me eating these meals and want to be involved. Now my colleague Meredith and I are the go-to people when people have questions about their health and how to eat better. I would like to see more of a change in the global environment on this, but I know this is a slow growing thing.” She notes that other Mission Specialists have focused on becoming solar power experts, an area that the bank is targeting heavily for lending. “These folks are incredibly knowledgeable in that field and have installed solar on their own homes and have become the go-to people with that,” she says. |
“I grew up in a super outdoorsy area and fellow employees know that is my passion. They ask me what can they do locally to get outside and to become more active. I try to encourage them to do more than go to Disneyland."
The final summit and completion of Amanda's six-month adventure thruhiking all 2175 miles of the Appalachian Trail at Mt. Katahdin in Maine in October of 2005.
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"I always recommend the chain of lakes in Orange County that are clean and where the springs are amazing," she reports. "I am afraid you will never hear me say go kayak in Lake Apopka!” a lake that has been plagued by pollution due to runoff from agricultural pesticides. Drawing on her love for the outdoors, Amanda would like to help First Green Bank initiate activities that focus on the environmental remediation of the local lakes, a major issue for Lake County.
As part of her efforts to fulfill her Mission Specialist requirements Amanda studied Oakland-based Beneficial State Bank, a fellow GABV member. She recently reported on her findings at a staff Lunch & Lean. “I wanted to present this bank to employees because it has proven you don’t have to be purely profit driven to be successful,” she explains. |
“I was also interested in the fact that after Beneficial makes a loan they don't end the relationship there. Employees then go out to those businesses on a weekly basis to follow through on supporting the bank’s mission."
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"For example," she notes, "they encourage the client to get solar or implement a better recycling program. Or if say it is a landscaping company that uses pesticides they push them to use more natural products. They offer programs for customers to educate them on mission-aligned issues. That really speaks to me and I wanted to share it with my colleagues.”
Beneficial Bank’s stated mission really resonates with her: “Our vision is of a banking industry that is fair to the person with the least bargaining power; provides access to financial services for all our communities, particularly the traditionally underserved; results in the long-term prosperity of responsible consumers; promotes financial system stability; and contributes to the sustainability of the environmental commons.” |
more on creating a holistic value banking culture:
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