Southern Bancorp Community Partners, a loan fund and Community Development Financial Institution headquartered in Arkansas, has hired its next president, Anthony Young. The organization initiated a nationwide search for a new leader after its former president Dr. Karama Neal was appointed Administrator for Rural Business-Cooperative Services at the US Department of Agriculture by the Biden-Harris Administration in Spring of 2021.
Working alongside the Southern Bancorp organization, SBCP is able to provide an array of services that increase economic opportunity where it’s needed most. SBCP provides to both Southern and non-Southern customers, access to financial education, credit coaching, and HUD-certified housing counseling services, and operates a public policy department focused on creating change at the state, federal and regulatory levels to support underserved communities.
“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.”
Young is a Louisville, Mississippi native and an alumnus of the University of Mississippi. He 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, Young 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, the CDFI holding company that provides 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.”
In 2018, Young 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.
“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.
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