Pub. 9 2019-2020 Issue 5

4 O V E R A C E N T U R Y : B U I L D I N G B E T T E R B A N K S — H E L P I N G C O L O R A D A N S R E A L I Z E D R E A M S www.coloradobankers.org BY JOANNE SHERWOOD, 2019-20 CBA CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, CITYWIDE BANKS CBA Begins Leadership Transition CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE T he Colorado Bankers Association announc ed i n Janua r y t he promotion of Jenifer Waller to CBA president, effective Jan. 1. Don Childears will remain chief executive officer (CEO) until 2022. Her promotion is the first step in a multiyear transition plan approved by the CBA board of directors. Waller has served as the chief operating officer (COO) since 2017 and oversees the organization’s state government relations activities and operations. Childears commented, “Jen has been an increasingly essential part of CBA. We just marked her 20th anniversary with CBA.We’ve been good colleagues, and her experience means she has my confidence and that of the CBA officers and board to follow as CEO in several years.” Ch i l d e a r s , who h a s l e d t he organization since 1975, will continue to serve CBA as CEO through Dec. 31, 2022, and then as “president and CEO emeritus and CBA advisor” until Dec. 31, 2024. Meanwhile, Waller will become CEO as well as president, beginning Jan. 1, 2023. This transition planmeets the mutual objectives of maintaining Childears’ 45 years of experience with the organization while progressingwith an orderly transfer of duties to Waller as the next CEO, carefully planned to ensure CBA’s work to supportColorado’sbanks isuninterrupted. Waller said, “It has been my privilege and passion to advocate for Colorado bankers and their customers for 20 years. Don and I are a great team, and I am honored to be named CBA president. I look forward to my continued work alongside Don as we make a smooth transition for CBA and its service to Colorado’s banking industry.” WallergrewupinaColoradocommunity banking family, worked for a community bank early in her career and spent four years as a state bank examiner before joiningCBAin1999as seniorvicepresident. She is the first woman to serve as president of the association since its inception in 1892. She told the Denver Business Journal in January, “While continuing to uphold the organization’s strong record of policy advocacy on behalf of banks, a goal of mine is to place more focus on the community investment banks make in Colorado. Bankers are conservative and often do not publicize the great work they are doing, or the charitable donations they are making all the time in their communities. I think the public would be surprised to know just howmuch bankers do for their communities and customers.” CBA 2019-2020 Chairman Joanne Sherwood, president andCEOof Citywide Banks, remarked, “The CBA is most fortunate to have both Don Childears and JeniferWaller at its helm. Their close working relationship will ensure that there is a seamless transition regarding government relations and continued advocacy on behalf of Colorado banks.” n