Organizers of the proposed First Women's Bank filed de novo applications with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
The organizers include Marianne Markowitz, former acting director of the Small Business Administration under President Barack Obama, and Amy Fahey, who held various senior roles in her nearly 29-year career with JPMorgan Chase & Co. Markowitz will be CEO of the proposed bank, while Fahey will be chairperson.
First Women's Bank, which will be headquartered in Chicago, expects to open in 2020 and will focus on the women's economy. It will be a commercial bank serving small- and mid-sized businesses and individual depositors. Markowitz said in a release the bank will provide clients "with a platform to promote gender equity and help bridge the gender gap in access to capital."
Other organizers include Beth Wnuk, Melissa Widen and Lisa Kornick. Wnuk held various executive roles in financial services companies in her 25-year career, Widen is a lawyer and Kornick owns a restaurant group in Chicago. Misha Blackman, Ann Danner and Kim Vender Moffat are also organizers of the proposed de novo bank.
Wnuk will also be a director for First Women's Bank. Other proposed board directors include Steven Bangert, Gary Gage, Kristie Paskvan, Christina Rashid and Winslow Sargeant.
