A self-confessed “unexpected banker”, she spent the first two decades of her career in courtrooms and conference rooms, practicing law for both the public defender’s office and the Chicago Board of Education. But in 2009, in the middle of the Great Recession, Skalicky felt the pull back to the family business. Founded by Skalicky’s father in 1963 – the same year she was born – she had agreed to help the bank with the rescue mission.

At the time, Stearns was one of a handful of banks tapped by the FDIC to assume ownership of failing banks. Through this process she came to see the local bank as the hub of a town. 

“Sometimes you have to get out of your own community to see how banking can be empowering,” Skalicky said.

When then-Michigan-based Comerica acquired a community bank in Texas in 1988, Melinda Chausse was asked to develop training and recruitment programs in Dallas.

Chausse was halfway through Comerica’s two-year training program for commercial bankers, but she took the assignment anyway.

She did not intend to stay more than a couple of years. “But I got here and very quickly loved the entrepreneurial spirit of being on the ground floor of a bank that was going to be built from that original acquisition.”

In her 27 years at FNBO, Mihaela Kobjerowski has worked her way up the ranks in roles with progressively more responsibility. In 1998, she began her FNBO career as a credit risk analyst in credit card portfolio management. She quickly ascended to a role leading credit card portfolio management, and subsequently was tapped to create a decision science initiative tasked with developing customized risk and marketing analytics.

In her current job as executive vice president and chief credit officer, which she’s held since November 2023, Kobjerowski manages credit risk for the bank’s $23 billion loan portfolio, comprising $12.5 billion in consumer loans and $10.5 billion in commercial loans. The loan portfolio includes consumer credit cards, large-scale financing of apartment buildings, and agricultural loans.

Kathleen Stanley runs marathons while also keeping a steady pace in her role as an executive managing director and head of verticals for regional banking at Connecticut-based Webster Bank.

As a part of her current remit, Stanley oversees coverage for more than 7,000 clients spanning six core businesses worth a combined $14 billion. Her business lines run along the East Coast from Boston to Philadelphia and New Jersey and provide core lending, deposit and treasury management to select industries and mid-sized businesses. 

Sharon Miller, president and co-head of business banking at Bank of America, carved out a nearly 30-year career at the bank based, in part, on her strength in building relationships. 

The business bank, which she co-leads with Raul Anaya, serves 11 million business owners and over 20,000 businesses nationwide, plays an increasingly important role in the $3.3 trillion-asset company’s combined operations. The division has $200 billion in deposits and $39 billion in lending balances, with approximately $8 billion in revenue, according to the BofA.

As other lenders have struggled in the small business market recently, Hanmi Bank has grown its SBA loan production by double digits in the first six months of this year. 

The Los Angeles based- bank increased its SBA loan production by 18% between January and June 2025 over the same time period in 2024. In fiscal year 2024, Hanmi Bank reported $187 million in SBA loans, which was a 25% increase over fiscal year 2023. 

Led by executive vice president and chief community lending officer Anna Chung, Hanmi Bank continues to stay the course through chaotic markets and tough conditions.

Racquel Oden‘s role spans two of HSBC’s most strategically important businesses: she serves as U.S. head of international wealth and premier banking and U.S. head of global private banking. 

Since joining HSBC in 2023, Oden has been instrumental in driving the bank’s strategy to expand its wealth business in the U.S., which is a key growth market within the bank’s global portfolio. 

Achieving these goals at a tumultuous time for markets and geopolitics brings its own set of challenges, as HSBC’s wealth and private banking serves  20 million clients worldwide.

“With a client base that is globally minded, my biggest challenge today is ensuring that we are providing the same world-class advice that our clients have come to expect in a world that is constantly changing and evolving,” Oden said. “The news headlines have moved so rapidly this year, it’s our responsibility as wealth advisors to anticipate what’s around the corner and deliver tailored advice in a personal way — all at once.” 

Rachel Anderika is the Global Head of Operations at Anchorage Digital as well as the
Chief Operating Officer at Anchorage Digital Bank. She joined Anchorage Digital in 2022
and brings more than 15 years of experience in regulatory and risk management and
nearly a decade of professional experience at the Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency. There, she served as National Bank Examiner (and later, Large Bank Examiner)
to ensure that national banks operated safely and soundly while complying with
applicable laws and regulations. Rachel then served eight years in the private sector at
Promontory Financial Group, a premier bank regulatory consulting firm, later purchased
by IBM where she worked with numerous traditional financial institutions on risk
management and compliance. Rachel also helped found Promontory’s Digital Assets Risk
and Compliance Team, where she guided digital assets custodians through the state and
federal regulatory licensing process. Rachel holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and
economics from King’s College.

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