Webster Bank invests in community success through outreach and innovation
By StoryStudio on December 14, 2022 11:19 AM
A modern bank is much more than just a vault. Today’s financial institutions know that they have a responsibility to reach beyond the secure walls of their physical buildings. They see themselves as a vital part of the local landscape, a business like any other that serves, employs, and gives back to its neighbors. A wise bank invests in the people and places around it, not just when it’s profitable, but also when it’s the right thing to do. That’s because the success of the community depends on the future of each family, individual, or small business.
Webster Bank, a leading commercial bank in the Northeast with a long history of corporate responsibility, has taken that commitment to community a step further than most. Earlier this year, Webster created an Office of Corporate Responsibility to oversee all of Webster’s community investment initiatives and other public-facing activities across the company.
“We believe in a future where every community and every individual should be empowered to excel,” says Marissa Weidner, who heads the new office as Webster’s Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer.
Weidner and her office administer departments like Webster’s Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), Fair and Responsible Banking, Engagement and Philanthropy, Government Relations and Public Affairs, Supplier Diversity, and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG). But Weidner also spearheads special programs and initiatives, like the bank’s $6.5 billion Community Investment Strategy, a three-year commitment to invest in affordable housing, community development, and small-business lending for individuals and families that are low-to-moderate income (LMI) and businesses that are minority- and woman-owned.
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“Our Community Investment Strategy demonstrates our commitment to creating opportunity and economic vitality in neighborhoods all across our footprint,” says Weidner. “We’re proud to have developed this strategy with input from more than 100 community organizations from New York to Boston,” says Weidner. “This commitment allows us to support the creation of opportunity and economic vitality in neighborhoods all across our footprint,” said Weidner.
This initiative was one of the first created under the new office in its first year — but it was far from the last.
It’s important to offer LMI communities financial aid, whether it’s to buy a house or start a business. But the long-term success of any community depends on the ability of its citizens to help themselves. That’s why Webster sponsors Finance Labs to empower schoolchildren to take control of their future financial wellbeing.
For instance, Webster partnered with Eagle Academy Foundation, which runs six schools in New York City and Newark, N.J., and Yonkers Partners in Education, which serves 1,200 high schoolers in Yonkers. Each received a $100,000 grant from the Webster Bank Charitable Foundation to set up Finance Labs for their students. These grants will pay for dedicated lab instructors, financial literacy software and curriculum, financial experts, and outside speakers that will teach kids basic accounting skills, as well as hands-on learning opportunities, such as job-shadowing, internships, and sessions with mentors from Webster.
Webster additionally announced its first Connecticut Finance Lab in collaboration with the Wakeman Boys and Girls Club in Bridgeport on Dec. 7.
“Webster is committed to investing in programs that foster youth leadership and help build our future workforce,” says Weidner. “This will allow us to educate and empower more people in the communities we serve.”
This commitment allows us to support the creation of opportunity and economic vitality in neighborhoods all across our footprint.
Finance labs for investors of the future
Webster Bank's Finance Labs empower schoolchildren to take control of their future financial wellbeing, offering unparalleled access to financial literacy curriculum and software, financial experts, and insight from outside speakers that will teach students basic accounting skills and offer job-shadowing, internships, and sessions with mentors from Webster.
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Ensuring access
Before you can help your community, you must first be able to reach them. Webster offers clients online banking technology supported by a network of physical banking centers in communities from New York to Boston. But Webster is also open to new ways of getting out among its customers and neighbors.
For instance, Weidner oversaw the formation of an innovative partnerships with a Bronx-based citizen advocacy group, the Bronx Financial Access Coalition (BxFAC) to set up a mobile branch for the people of The Bronx, which launched in September.
The Bronx People’s Federal Credit Union, as the mobile branch is called, increases access to financial services in an area that historically experienced decline in local banking centers. The effort also includes financial education programming and promotion of services. Weidner says it’s just the first step in establishing a permanent Bronx expansion site of the Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union — and another sign that Webster is listening to its neighbors.
“Our team worked with numerous community partners who shared their vision to create greater access, inclusion, and opportunity for wealth building in the Bronx. We listened and saw the opportunity to act,” says Weidner. “This investment in the Bronx is one example of our commitment to increase convenient access to financial services and economic empowerment in our communities.”
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Providing funding, education, and access to financial services to the community is a natural fit for Webster. But it’s not the limit of Weidner’s mission. After all, financial success is only a part of an individual’s overall wellbeing. Physical health — of both people and their environment — are also critical when it comes to building and maintaining a thriving community.
To that end, Webster’s Office of Corporate Responsibility also administers donations, grants, and volunteering opportunities outside of the financial realm. For instance, in August Webster continued its founding sponsorship of the RiMaConn Relay, a 95-mile team relay race that spans 21 communities in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. The race is run along and promotes the scenic trails of the East Coast Greenway.
As part of this commitment, Webster also presented the East Coast Greenway with a $5,000 donation to maintain, protect, and preserve the trails.
It’s just one more way that Weidner and her new office made a positive impact on the communities that support Webster Bank in its first year. To follow what’s in store for next year, visit www.websteronline.com.
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SPONSORED BY Webster Bank
SPONSORED BY Webster Bank
Expanding their reach
That’s why Weidner has extended her reach by establishing a network of Community Liaison Officers (CLOs) to support communities in Webster’s footprint and provide support and financial education to LMI and minority borrowers. These CLOs will be based in Bridgeport, Hartford, and Waterbury, Conn.; White Plains and Queens, N.Y.; and Boston. In addition to working directly with local borrowers, they are building relationships with community-based and charitable organizations, hosting workshops about topics like first-time homebuying, and work closely with Webster’s consumer lending team to meet local credit needs, such as a Down Payment Assistance Program to offer assistance in putting money down for their first home.
“The contributions of the CLO team will be an important part of our investment as we deepen and amplify our corporate responsibility efforts,” says Weidner.
The power of knowledge
Not all dollars and sense
For a bank like Webster, whose footprint extends from New York to Massachusetts, community investment means something different for every region. After all, every community has a unique identity with a different set of values, goals, and needs. And it’s hard to see all that from headquarters in Stamford, Conn.
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Webster Bank's Finance Labs empower schoolchildren to take control of their future financial wellbeing, offering unparalleled access to financial literacy curriculum and software, financial experts, and insight from outside speakers that will teach students basic accounting skills and offer job-shadowing, internships, and sessions with mentors from Webster.
Finance labs for investors of the future