The American Bankers Association Foundation today named eight banks as winners of the 2023 Community Commitment Awards, which recognize banks for extraordinary corporate social responsibility efforts in categories ranging from affordable housing to economic inclusion. The foundation also announced that Paola Fernandez, SVP for community development at Centreville Bank in West Warwick, Rhode Island, is the winner of its 2023 George Bailey Distinguished Service Award. Winners will be recognized at the ABA Annual Convention from Oct. 8-10 in Nashville.
The Community Commitment Award winners are:
- Affordable housing: Dollar Bank, Pittsburgh, for its The Way Home program, which offers counseling and assistance to first-time, low-to-moderate-income home buyers.
- Community and economic development: United Bank, Vienna, Virginia, for its Power of Partnership program, which focuses on maintaining housing affordability in Washington, D.C.
- Economic inclusion: Huntington National Bank, Columbus, Ohio, for its Lift Local Business Program, which has offered more than $70 million in loans to more than 1,000 minority-, women- and veteran-owned small businesses.
- Financial education: Bank of Guam, Hagåtña, Guam, for the Bank of Guam Empowerment Program, in which bank staff have led more than 1,000 community financial education presentations on a range of topics.
- Protecting older Americans: The Cooperative Bank of Roslindale, Massachusetts, for its Carefull Program, through which the bank has helped protect seniors from scams, fraud and other monetary mistakes.
- Supporting military families: Fulton Bank, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for its Fulton Bank Military Internship program, a six-month internship that helps veterans transition from military service to the civilian workforce with on-the-job training in the financial services industry; and Wells Fargo, San Antonio, for its Talent Strategic Sourcing program, in which military talent liaisons recruit, counsel and advocate for veterans who apply for jobs at the bank.
- Volunteerism: Comerica Bank, Dallas, for its Comerica Program, which encourages full-time employees to participate in eight hours of paid time off volunteer work and four hours for part-time employees.
In addition to the Community Commitment Awards, Fernandez was named recipient of this year’s George Bailey Award for her dedication to building relationships to support underserved communities throughout Rhode Island and northeastern Connecticut. She successfully launched the bank’s long-term philanthropic program and has since directed multimillion-dollar investments to underserved communities from its charitable foundation.
