Southern Bancorp Community Partners (SBCP) seeks a President who brings dynamic and visionary leadership to a nationally respected, high impact community development financial institution delivering loans, development services focused on credit and savings and policy advocacy to expand economic opportunity.

ABOUT US

Southern Bancorp Community Partners (SBCP) is a certified nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) established in 1987 to create economic opportunity in financially underserved communities.

More than 30 years ago, some of the nation's leading business, philanthropic, and political leaders, including then Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, joined forces to establish a financial institution dedicated to serving financially underserved communities.

That initiative has today grown into a $1.9 billion asset organization, which, in addition to SBCP, includes both a bank holding company and a community development bank that has been recognized nationally and covered by national press such as Bloomberg, CNBC, Yahoo! Finance, and The Wall Street Journal.

SBCP provides entrepreneurs, homeowners, and individuals with financial access and the tools needed to achieve the American Dream, regardless of their zip code. From lending to credit repair and financial education and public policy advocacy, SBCP has a long history of creating economic opportunity in communities that need it most.

Today, SBCP' S WORK FOCUSES ON THREE MAIN AREAS:

1. LENDING – Access to capital is the fuel that drives local economies. SBCP raises funds from a variety of sources to provide capital across a broad range of needs and markets. SBCP provides flexible lending options to help families and communities build wealth, with a mixed portfolio of $16 million in home mortgages, small business loans, and larger commercial real estate loans. SBCP also participates in loans with Southern Bancorp Bank (SBB) across SBCP's CDFI target market, the entire state of Arkansas and Mississippi, with planned expansion to match SBB's expanding geographic footprint.
2. ASSET BUILDING – SBCP's team of counselors, coaches, and financial educators deliver a wide range of financial services including HUD certified home buyer counseling, general financial education, and credit counseling. Additionally, SBCP manages several products and programs that are key to wealth building, such as matched savings accounts and free tax preparation.
3. PUBLIC POLICY ADVOCACY – Public policy is another key focus. SBCP works to advance local, state, and federal public policies that support wealth building initiatives, focusing on those that address generational poverty and help close the racial wealth gap. SBCP actively opposes laws and regulations that harm economically distressed communities and families. SBCP also routinely publishes research papers on issues informed by its products, programs and services.

Financial Strength

SBCP is a financially strong organization with a 2021 operating budget of $2.6 million and $40 million in assets. SBCP's track record and commitment to mission attract support from local and national funders interested in helping SBCP expand its work. In October 2020, for example, SBCP received an unrestricted gift of $2 million from Mackenzie Scott, who has targeted her philanthropy toward organizations addressing the racial wealth gap.

Board Leadership

SBCP is governed by a diverse 10-person board that includes people with CDFI experience and knowledge of the communities SBCP serves. The Board meets quarterly. Darrin Williams, the CEO of Southern Bancorp Inc. (SBI), serves on the Board and Appalachian Community Capital CEO Donna Gambrell is the current Board Chair.

Inter-Relationship of Organizations

SBCP's President is part of the leadership team that sets the direction for SBI, SBB, and SBCP. The three entities are all CDFIs and have shared mission, vision and values. SBCP is legally independent from SBI and SBB, though all three work collaboratively to leverage their respective services and strengths. To ensure governance continuity, the entities have several board members in common and SBCP is the largest shareholder of SBB.

POSITION SUMMARY

Reporting to the SBCP Board of Directors and Darrin Williams, CEO of SBI (recognized as one of Bloomberg's top 50 people who changed global finance in 2020), SBCP seeks a strong and visionary leader with a deep commitment to economic justice to lead and advance SBCP's strategic goals and to contribute to the entire Southern leadership team, providing leadership and direction to SBB, a full service bank with $1.9 billion in assets and SBI, the holding company.

The President additionally:

• Provides direct supervision, guidance, and evaluation to SBCP's staff, currently a team of 12.
• Oversees the organization's fiscal activities, including budgeting, reporting, audit, and compliance.
• Implements SBCP's lending strategy to provide capital/credit to entrepreneurs and individuals who have difficulty accessing traditional bank loans.
• Develops innovative lending programs to help borrowers, not served by traditional financial institutions, build net worth.
• Raises loan capital, secures grant funding and produces earned revenue necessary to support SBCP's ambitious growth agenda.
• Creates a nationally recognized public policy program that engages all Southern's stakeholders around policy that facilitates savings and supports Southern' s overall mission, with an emphasis on policy work in Arkansas and Mississippi.
• Nurtures existing and develops new partnerships with local, state, and national organizations that align with SBCP's mission.
• Collaborates with the board of directors from each Southern entity to establish the organization's vision, mission, and goals; ensure the alignment of these goals; and evaluate the impact of programs.
• Engages with stakeholders and stays informed on issues and trends impacting underserved markets, including best practices and innovations in the areas of community development finance, financial development services, public policy, small business growth, and nonprofit services. This includes participation in local, state, regional and national CDFI programs.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education & Experience:

• Undergraduate degree in accounting, business, economics, finance, social work, or related
• Seven plus years of progressively responsible management and executive level experience.

Other Skills & Abilities:

• Strong leadership and management skills.
• Experience providing access to capital to underserved communities.
• Excellent communicator who is comfortable delivering presentations to large and diverse

Preferred Qualifications:

• A track record of fundraising and capital raising.
• Familiarity with the asset building field.
• Experience advancing a public policy agenda related to credit and savings.
• An understanding of the region that SBCP serves.

LITTLE ROCK

The SBCP President's office is located within Southern's Little Rock, Arkansas headquarters. As both the State of Arkansas' capital and most populous city, Little Rock (Pop. 197,958) offers visitors and residents a vast array of cultural, recreational, and entertainment options to suit nearly every taste.

Ranked by U.S. News as one of the top 100 Best Places to Live in America, Little Rock residents and visitors enjoy a vast array of cultural, recreational, and culinary experiences in and around the capital city. Little Rock is a great place to live for those who enjoy the outdoors with popular destinations such as Pinnacle Mountain State Park, Ouachita National Forest, and the stunning Ozark Mountains all within easy driving distance. Residents can also take advantage of numerous golf courses as well as hiking and biking trails within the city limits.

The downtown and midtown areas feature a variety of local restaurants and breweries as well as a thriving live music scene, which ranges from bars and nightclubs to the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. Live theater opportunities abound, and the region also boasts several art galleries, including the soon to be reopened Arkansas Arts Center, which has recently undergone a large expansion.

COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY

Southern is an equal opportunity employer.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender expression, status as a protected veteran, among other things, or status as a qualified individual with a disability.

As a CDFI, Southern desires for its workforce to reflect the diversity of the customers and communities we serve.  Racial and ethnic minorities, people form working class backgrounds, women and LGBTQ people are often underrepresented in many financial service industry professions.  Therefore, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other marginalized communities.

HOW TO APPLY

To apply, upload resume, cover letter, and salary requirements by clicking here*. For other inquiries, contact Olive Idehen at Olive.Idehen@marcumllp.com or Peggy Sand at Peggy.Sand@marcumllp.com. Resume review begins immediately.

About Raffa – Marcum's Nonprofit & Social Sector Group

On behalf of SBCP, Raffa – Marcum's Nonprofit & Social Sector Group is working with SBCP to advance the search. Founded in 1984 and recently merged with Marcum, Raffa is, and always has been, a mission-driven professional services firm seeking to do more for nonprofits and socially conscious companies like SBCP. Learn more about our work at http://marcumllp.com/industries/nonprofit-social-sector.

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Raffa Marcum
Staff
Higher Logics Community Contacts (CDFI CONNECT - DO NOT DELETE)
Washington DC
(202) 227-4281
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