LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – After a nation-wide search, Southern Bancorp Community Partners (SBCP), a 501(c)(3) loan fund and Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) headquartered in Arkansas, has announced the hiring of Anthony Young as its next president. Young succeeds Dr. Karama Neal, who in Spring of 2021 was appointed Administrator for Rural Business-Cooperative Services at the United States Department of Agriculture by the Biden-Harris Administration.
“To lead our dynamic, growing CDFI loan fund, we sought out a dynamic leader,” said Donna Gambrell, SBCP Board Chair and Former CDFI Fund Director. “I’m excited to say that we found that in Anthony Young. His experience and energetic approach to increasing access to capital will be an outstanding foundation for leading our organization into a greater era of growth and impact.”
A Louisville, Mississippi native, Young most recently served as the Director of Capital Programs for Epicenter, a nonprofit organization focused on growing and supporting the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Greater Memphis area. In that role, he connected entrepreneurs to a variety of capital types and helped ensure equitable access to capital across the Memphis community. Prior to that role, he served as the Economic Development Director at River City Capital, a CDFI loan fund focused on providing access to capital in underserved communities in and around Memphis.
“We are thrilled to welcome Anthony to the Southern Bancorp Community Partners team, and we’re excited about the breadth and depth of experience he brings to the role,” said Darrin Williams, CEO of Southern Bancorp, Inc., the CDFI holding company that provides strategic guidance and support to SBCP. “The entire Southern Bancorp organization is experiencing significant growth, and having a proven, energetic leader like Anthony taking the SBCP reigns will help us focus our efforts to ensure maximum impact in financially underserved communities.”
Working alongside the Southern Bancorp (“Southern”) organization, SBCP is able to provide a unique array of services that bolster the shared Southern mission to increase economic opportunity where it’s needed most. As a less regulated, loan fund, SBCP can often provide the more flexible loan capital needed in underserved areas that traditional, regulated financial institutions cannot. Additionally, SBCP provides to both Southern and non-Southern customers, access to financial education, credit coaching, and HUD-certified housing counseling services, as well as operating a public policy department focused on creating change at the state, federal, and regulatory levels to support underserved communities.
“Southern Bancorp Community Partners has a rich history of being an economic catalyst in underserved communities, and I look forward to furthering that work and fostering transformative impact across our footprint and beyond,” said Young.
An alumnus of the University of Mississippi, Young has been recognized both in the community and within the industry. In 2018, he was one of 27 national economic development leaders selected into the Opportunity Fellows Program, an initiative aimed at leading systemic change through diversity, equity, and inclusion in the CDFI Industry, and in 2020 he graduated from the Executive Class of Leadership Memphis and was selected as a Top 40 Under 40 by the Memphis Business Journal.
Anthony and his wife Shannon have three children, Shane, Blake, and Skye.
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Media kit with Southern Bancorp Community Partners logo: PNG, AI, PDF, JPG
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 $2 billion asset organization with 51 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.