Climate First Bank, the world’s first community bank founded to fight the climate crisis, recently welcomed the additions of Vice President, Senior Credit Analyst Reynika McDougal and Vice President, Senior Digital Banker Dema Headley.
In their new roles, they will work to support the commercial lending team and build out digital banking capabilities, respectively.
With 15 years of banking experience, McDougal has a proven track record in assessing the creditworthiness of loan applicants. She has extensive banking experience from various Central Florida banks, including working as Senior Credit Analyst at Seacoast Bank and Credit Analyst at First GREEN Bank, where McDougal met and worked with Climate First Bank CEO Ken LaRoe and President Lex Ford. In her new role, McDougal will be supporting Climate First Bank’s commercial lending team by underwriting loans for approval.
“I cut my teeth doing commercial underwriting with Ken and am thrilled to rejoin him at his latest venture. Ken’s genuine humanity is a rarity in business, and I can’t wait to be part of the Climate First Bank team,” McDougal said. She was attracted to the values-based bank’s eco-friendly mission. As a mother, she believes in climate-friendly solutions to preserve the planet for her child.
Joining the bank’s digital banking team is 14-year banking veteran Headley. Headley worked together with McDougal while in her previous role at Seacoast Bank. In addition to Seacoast Bank, Headley was previously with BMO Harris Bank and U.S. Bank. In her new position, Headley will be working closely with Chief Technology Officer and Chief Digital Banking Officer Marcio deOliveira to fine-tune the bank’s digital banking technology with a focus on ease of use and accessibility for consumer lending and deposits. She will also promote the bank’s digital arm as part of lessening the bank’s physical carbon footprint.
“I’m excited to be joining values-based Climate First Bank and work toward our goal to achieve carbon drawdown,” Headley said. “Being a force for good and having a real impact on the climate is perfectly in sync with my personal beliefs. I used to think that when I left my previous job, I’d leave banking. Climate First Bank’s mission speaks too loudly to be ignored.”
