{"id":28631,"date":"2023-09-20T12:18:56","date_gmt":"2023-09-20T19:18:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=28631"},"modified":"2023-09-20T12:20:32","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T19:20:32","slug":"breaking-public-bank-east-bay-hires-scott-waite-as-ceo-first-chief-executive-for-a-new-u-s-public-bank-in-over-100-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/09\/20\/breaking-public-bank-east-bay-hires-scott-waite-as-ceo-first-chief-executive-for-a-new-u-s-public-bank-in-over-100-years\/","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Public Bank East Bay hires Scott\u00a0Waite as CEO, first chief executive for\u00a0a new U.S. public bank in over 100 years"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Public Bank East Bay makes history as it hires its first CEO, Scott Waite,\u00a0becoming\u00a0the first public banking effort in the nation to bring on a chief executive<\/strong>\u00a0as well as a prospective board, led by Co\u2010Chairs Paulina Gonzalez\u2010Brito and Jennifer Esteen,\u00a0for the planned public bank. Waite is tasked with\u00a0completing the public bank’s business plan\u00a0required to apply for a bank charter<\/a>, which will license the bank to do business. The Board expects\u00a0the bank\u00a0to\u00a0open by early 2025<\/strong>.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Left to right: \u00a0Jennifer Esteen, Paulina Gonzalez-Brito, Scott Waite.<\/em>

Meet Scott Waite, CEO (video)<\/a>
Meet Jennifer Esteen, Co-Chair (video)<\/a>
Meet Paulina Gonzalez-Brito, Co-Chair (video)<\/a>

In addition,\u00a0PBEB has raised its first $1M<\/strong>\u00a0to bring on the CEO and\u00a0the board slate, and to support writing the business plan. The money has been raised\u00a0from individual and grant-funded donations from the California Wellness Foundation, San Francisco Foundation, James Irvine Foundation, and Y&H Soda Foundation.Scott Waite comments:\u201cWith my long career in CEO and CFO roles in credit unions,\u00a0I know what it takes to successfully operate a regulated financial institution that has the interests of the community at the center of its mission.<\/strong>\u00a0… It is thrilling to be a part of the public bank initiative that is in line to be the first public bank in the United States in over 100 years.\u201d

Waite’s selection as PBEB CEO caps a\u00a0lifelong career in financial services and 20-year career as CFO \/ CEO with a large multi-billion dollar credit union where he was responsible for strategic\u00a0direction, corporate finance and accounting, asset \/ liability management, insurance risk, and a $1.3 billion investment portfolio.

Paulina Gonzalez-Brito,\u00a0Chief Executive Officer of Rise Economy (formerly California Reinvestment Coalition), has dedicated more than 20 years to leading economic justice organizing campaigns.

Jennifer Esteen, an RN with the San Francisco Department of Public Health, is also Vice President of the Alameda Health System Board of Trustees, and a union organizer serving as Vice President of Organizing for SEIU 1021 and on the SEIU 1021 Executive Board.\u00a0

Four local jurisdictions \u2013\u00a0Alameda County<\/strong>\u00a0and the cities of\u00a0Richmond, Oakland and Berkeley<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 have all demonstrated support of a public bank in the East Bay by passing resolutions and contributing financially to the bank\u2019s planning. Today, PBEB is introducing\u00a0Waite\u00a0to Alameda County Board of Supervisors, as well as Berkeley and Richmond City Councils.\u00a0Oakland’s City Council’s introduction is scheduled in two weeks.\u00a0

East Bay\u2019s decision to raise its start-up money itself, independently from government funding, while arduous, has given the public control over the process.\u00a0

PBEB’s\u00a0press release describes their\u00a0vision for the bank:It will be a transformative institution that\u00a0keeps our municipal money local, allowing local governments to divest from Wall Street, while reinvesting its profits back into our community<\/strong>. As a wholesale bank, PBEB will partner with community banks, credit unions and CDFIs to finance affordable housing development, small businesses (especially for marginalized entrepreneurs), the renovation and electrification of existing buildings, and the opportunity for cities and counties to refinance their municipal debt locally.
Debbie Notkin, Chair of the Board of the nonprofit group that has been leading the Public Bank East Bay effort, shares her thoughts:\u00a0\u201cThe East Bay is leading the public banking movement in reaching these milestones, but we couldn\u2019t have gotten here without the whole movement\u2019s forward progress. We celebrate our East Bay community\u2019s eagerness to take this innovative leap.\u201d
Fundraising efforts for the next $1M<\/a>\u00a0have already begun. Can you help?\u00a0Click here<\/a>.\u00a0

[read press release<\/a>]<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Public Bank East Bay makes history as it hires its first CEO, Scott Waite,\u00a0becoming\u00a0the first public banking effort in the nation to bring on a chief executive\u00a0as well as a prospective board, led by Co\u2010Chairs Paulina Gonzalez\u2010Brito and Jennifer Esteen,\u00a0for the planned public bank. Waite is tasked with\u00a0completing the public… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28631"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28631"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28636,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28631\/revisions\/28636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}