Move Your Money

Join WDN members to discuss Arianna Huffington’s suggestion for a New Year Resolution.

Arianna publicly suggested that “collectively we, the people, can take a big step toward re-rigging the financial system so it becomes again the productive, stable engine for growth it’s meant to be.  It’s neither Left nor Right—it’s populism at its best”.

Speakers: Martha Easter-Wells and Mary Mountcastle

Martha Easter-Wells has been a WDN member since 1999 and is part owner through a holding corporation of Farmers Trust and Savings Bank in Spencer, Iowa.  This is a small community bank in a rural area of Northwest Iowa.  Spencer is a small town of 11,000, but is the largest town in several counties and so serves as a regional commerce center.  The bank serves the local community through deposits and loans and active participation in the community. She serves on the board of the bank and travels monthly 6 hours each way to attend the board meetings and participate in additional meetings by phone.   She is an expert in the world of community banking and keeps current through reading articles and attending conferences regularly.

Mary Mountcastle is a Senior Fellow at Self-Help, a nonprofit community development lender that has made over $5 billion in loans to over 55,000 low-wealth families across the U.S.  She previously was President of the Center for Responsible Lending, Vice President of Economic Development for MDC Inc, a nonprofit policy research and demonstration organization, and Director of the Social Investment Program for MetLife Insurance Co. She has also worked at various levels of government. She serves as a trustee of the Z. Smith Reynolds, Mary Reynolds Babcock and Triangle Community Foundations and on the boards of the Neighborhood Funders Group, the National Center for Family Philanthropy and the Corporation for Enterprise Development.  From 1996 – mid 2004, she served on the board of the Council on Foundations, the last two years as board chair.  In 1992, she received the Scrivner Award for Creative Grant making from the Council on Foundations.  She holds a MBA from the Yale School of Management and a BA degree from Williams College.