LITTLE ROCK, ARK – Southern Bancorp Community Partners (SBCP), a 501(c)(3) loan fund and Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), recently announced the hiring of Charlton Seward as Director of Lending. In this role, Seward will lead SBCP’s lending activities throughout the Southern Bancorp footprint, deploying targeted capital aimed at helping financially underserved communities build wealth.
“After an extensive search, we are excited to welcome Charlton to the Southern team and back home to Arkansas,” said Darrin Williams, Southern Bancorp, Inc. CEO. “His expertise will significantly increase SBCP’s lending capacity, and his passion for development finance will be an asset to the people, families, and small businesses we serve.”
Seward brings to SBCP more than 30 years of experience in lending, small business development, and personal financial development services. After the 2008 financial crisis, Seward started his own financial consulting business serving clients like Capital One throughout the U.S. and Mexico. He has held management roles for several large financial institutions across the country, including most recently in Wells Fargo’s Chicago market.
“I am honored to join a mission-driven organization like SBCP that welcomes change and innovative thinking, as my personal mantra is ‘getting comfortable with the uncomfortable’,” said Seward. “I believe integrating new ideas and new technologies into the traditional lending space is needed in order to best deploy capital to those for whom it has traditionally been inaccessible. I am excited to now do this important work in my hometown.”
An Arkansas native, Seward received his bachelor’s degree from Hendrix College in Conway in 1993, and did his graduate work at the University of Houston. In 2014, he graduated from compliance school.
SBCP works in tandem with Southern Bancorp, Inc. and Southern Bancorp Bank to increase access to capital in underserved markets through financial development services, public policy advocacy, and flexible lending.
About Southern Bancorp
Founded in 1986 by some of the nation’s leading political, business, and philanthropic leaders with an initial investment of $10 million, Southern Bancorp, Inc., along with its development partners – Southern Bancorp Bank and Southern Bancorp Community Partners, has grown into a $1.9 billion asset organization with 52 locations serving 65,000 customers across two states with a unique array of financial products and services designed to help individuals at all stages of life’s financial journey – from teaching kids how to save to helping entrepreneurs and families realize the American Dream. Southern Bancorp is a certified Community Financial Development Institution, certified B-Corp, and proud member of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values. Learn more at www.BankSouthern.com and www.SouthernPartners.org.