Exchange Bank promoted Mary Leonard-Wilson to its executive committee as senior vice president and chief credit officer, reporting directly to Troy Sanderson, president and CEO of the bank. Leonard-Wilson was previously senior vice president and senior credit officer and has more than 20 years of community banking and executive experience. She had been fulfilling this new role on an interim basis since May.
“Mary and I have been peers in community banking in Northern California for many, many years,” Sanderson said. “Her reputation was beyond reproach back then, and that reputation has only been surpassed by my actual experience working with her here at Exchange Bank. We are very lucky to have her in this role and on our team.”
Before joining Exchange Bank, Leonard-Wilson served in lending and credit capacities with several independent community banks in the San Francisco Bay Area. Before that, she held a range of positions managing teams of lenders in New York, Chicago and New Jersey, with a focus on commercial loan origination and loan portfolio management. She also participated in due diligence and integration teams for multiple bank mergers.
In 1994, Leonard-Wilson relocated to Napa Valley, CA, and joined National Bank of the Redwoods (NBR) as head of commercial lending, assuming additional responsibilities as senior loan officer and chief credit officer until the bank’s merger with Westamerica Bank in 2005. In 2006, Leonard-Wilson co-founded Presidio Bank with the former CEO of NBR and served as its chief credit officer, growing the bank to more than $900 million in assets and more than $700 million in loans before merging with Heritage Bank of Commerce in October 2019.
