Amalgamated Financial named Priscilla Sims Brown its next president and CEO.
Brown will join Amalgamated Financial on June 1 from Commonwealth Bank in Australia. Brown served as group executive of marketing and corporate affairs at Commonwealth Bank, with responsibility for end-to-end marketing, branding, stakeholder insights, government and public affairs, and environmental and social policy. Brown has more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry, having held leadership positions in companies spanning banking, wealth management, retirement and insurance.
Prior to Commonwealth Bank, Brown held senior positions at AXA Financial, Sun Life Financial and Lincoln Financial Group. She has advised several digital startups and served as the CEO of Emerge.me, a digital health insurance broker.
Brown was a member of the AXA Financial U.S. executive committee, serving as chief marketing officer (CMO) and directing all aspects of U.S. marketing and leading global digital marketing initiatives.
Prior to AXA Financial, Brown served as CMO at AmeriHealth/Caritas, where she developed a new go-to-market strategy for the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Medicaid company in response to the Affordable Care Act.
At Sun Life, Brown served as CMO and chief strategist, negotiating and managing Sun Life Stadium naming rights as well as the Pro Bowl, Super Bowl and other major events with the Miami Dolphins.
During her 18-year tenure at Lincoln Financial Group, Brown held multiple leadership positions and integrated acquired companies, established new businesses and led the consumer brand. She established the firm’s first investment management profit center, targeting midsized insurance companies. She also started and chaired Lincoln’s first family of standalone mutual funds and served as president of the broker-dealer. Brown also led the investor relations function before expanding her responsibilities to include corporate and strategic marketing.
For the past three years, she has served as a member of the board of trustees of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA), a U.S. Fortune 100 financial services firm with more than $1.2 trillion in assets under management. She served on the TIAA investment, nominating and governance, and corporate governance and social responsibility committees. She also served on the trustee and CEO selection subcommittees.
“Priscilla is exactly what we need to take Amalgamated to its next stage: a highly experienced and inspirational leader whose vision aligns perfectly with ours, and we are thrilled that she has agreed to serve as our next CEO,” Lynne Fox, board chair and interim president and CEO of Amalgamated Financial, said. “Her track record of success with major national and global financial institutions makes her uniquely qualified to take on this role at this important time in our bank’s history and in our society.
“As the nation’s socially responsible bank, we believe that a financial institution should use its resources, money and influence to help move its customers, its community and society forward. Thousands of forward-thinking companies, organizations, unions and individuals choose to bank with us because we not only share and support their financial goals, but because we also support their missions and values. Amalgamated has an incredible opportunity to grow our share of this $90 billion market, and we believe that Priscilla’s experience and track record building and growing leading brands in the financial services sector will accelerate our growth strategy and expand our reach in this large and attractive market.”
“I have watched Amalgamated become the leading socially responsible bank in America, and I fully embrace their vision to be the bank that furthers economic, social, racial and environmental justice,” Brown said. “At a time when consumers and businesses care more than ever how their decisions impact the people and places around them, Amalgamated is ideally situated to become the bank of choice for those who care what good their money does in the world. I believe Amalgamated can achieve significant growth by increasing awareness of the brand it has built over the last 100 years, expanding into new markets across the country and better serving our loyal customers with products and services that are future-fit. I am proud to lead this work alongside the board of directors and leadership team to pursue a business strategy that will accelerate Amalgamated’s growth and profitability through our mission.”
