Walter Pryor

Southern Bancorp, Inc., Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel

As Southern Bancorp’s Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel, Walter Pryor oversees, leads, and directs the administrative operations for the CDFI, as well as its legal, regulatory, and compliance functions.

The Arkansas native brings more than 25 years of experience in both law and leadership to the role. Prior to joining Southern Bancorp in 2023, he served as Interim General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Vice President of Legal Affairs for Chicago State University. Before this, he spent nearly a decade with Ceannate Corp in Buffalo Grove, Ill., first as Vice President of Government Relations and later as its Senior Vice President and General Counsel.

He has held similar roles and responsibilities for a number of other noteworthy organizations and groups throughout his career, including Vice President of Government Affairs for Career Education Corporation (now Perdoceo Education Corporation); Principal and General Counsel of The Podesta Group; Legislative Director for U.S. Senator Mark Pryor; Deputy Director and Managing Attorney for the National Association of Attorneys General; and Acting Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Division.  

Pryor was raised in Pine Bluff, Ark., and currently resides in Charlotte, N.C. He is a graduate of Hendrix College in Conway, Ark., where he studied political science, and earned his Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. He has served on the Hendrix College Board of Trustees since 2012, and is also a member of the Boards of Trustees for American InterContinental University, Washington Children’s Foundation, and the Latin School of Chicago.

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