Beneficial State Bank Appoints Surjit Chana to its Board of Directors
Jan 31, 2022
Chana brings strong technology, digital transformation, and marketing leadership
January 31, 2022, Oakland, Calif. – Beneficial State Bank, a mission-driven community bank with locations in Washington, Oregon, and California, announced today the appointment of Surjit Chana to its board of directors. He will also join the board’s Technology Committee.
“Surjit brings a wealth of industry and nonprofit knowledge that will make Beneficial State Bank stronger,” said Kat Taylor, Co-Founder and Board Chair of Beneficial State Bank. “Surjit’s decades of leadership in technology, marketing, and governance, as well as his commitment to initiatives aimed at expanding opportunity for underserved communities around the globe, will further empower our bank’s goal of cultivating a financial model that serves public interest and builds prosperity for all."
Chana’s prior roles include serving as the Chief Operating Officer at IBM Digital, the Chief Marketing Officer at IBM Europe, and the Executive Vice President of the nonprofit Women’s World Banking. In addition, he was a member of IBM’s senior leadership team for 10 years.
Since 2017, he has been working on his Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative (ALI) Fellowship project focused on environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) solutions to reduce intergenerational poverty and improve gender equality. He was also recently elected as the Chair of the Board of Directors for Care for the Homeless, which provides healthcare, shelter, and advocacy for the homeless population.
I am delighted to be joining Beneficial State Bank’s talented board of directors. I am energized by the mission of the bank to drive a triple bottom line seeking to be profitable, promote environmental sustainability, and expand economic opportunity in underserved communities.
Chana graduated from the University of Surrey with a Bachelor of Science in Physics and holds patents for his work on transaction processing and expert systems.
“Beneficial State Bank’s goal is to create a more equitable and sustainable financial system — a system that is directly enriching to the communities it serves,” said Beneficial State Bank Board Lead Director Dale Walker. “Surjit brings an abundance of specialized expertise from his private and nonprofit experience. We are thrilled to welcome him to our talented team.”
Beneficial State Bank (Beneficial State) is a state-chartered, federally insured bank with branches in California, Oregon, and Washington. Beneficial State serves the triple bottom line of people, planet, and prosperity for all, which involves serving its communities, supporting positive environmental outcomes, and achieving long-term financial sustainability. A unique ownership structure supports these strategic priorities: the bank’s capital is majority-owned by the nonprofit Beneficial State Foundation. This means its economic rights are fully aligned with, and permanently governed in, the public interest.
Beneficial State Bank is a founding signatory of the UN’s Principles for Responsible Banking, a member of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values, a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), Fossil Free Certified, and one of the world’s top-rated Certified B Corporations, awarded B Corp "Best for the World" status every year since 2013.
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