Coleman Movers & Shakers – Drew Saito, Mira Srinivasan, and Chris Hemmings

October 14, 2021

Delaney Sexton
Contributing Editor

Coleman Movers & Shakers – Drew Saito, Mira Srinivasan, and Chris Hemmings

Locality Bank IO Announced Drew Saito as a Co-Founder and Chief Lending Officer

“The growing Locality Bank team has the experience to revive community banking in South Florida,” says Keith Costello, CEO & Co-Founder of Locality Bank IO. “Our goal is to empower local businesses to grow with capital from a community bank. We want to provide a digital-first community banking option to local businesses, entrepreneurs, and business owners moving to the area, and this will ultimately positively impact our local economy.”

Mr. Saito’s banking and financial services experience spans two decades in South Florida. He began his career in the securities business and in recent years his primary focuses have been in commercial banking, real estate lending, and treasury. Mr. Saito completed the GABV Leadership Academy (a collaboration between the Global Alliance for Banking on Values, the Presencing Institute, and the MIT CoLab). He has previously served as an adjunct faculty member at The Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship at Nova Southeastern University.

“I am excited to join forces with Keith Costello and Corey LeBlanc to bring this new type of community bank to South Florida,” says Drew Saito. “The digital advancements Locality Bank IO will bring to the community banking industry and the capital it will have available for local businesses will be unparalleled.”

BlueVine Welcomes Their New Chief Risk Officer, Mira Srinivasan

“The CRO will continue to play an integral role in BlueVine’s next phase of growth as they uncover new opportunities to innovate as well as automate and standardize processes using new approaches in data, analytics and technology,” says Eyal Lifshitz, CEO and co-founder of BlueVine. “We are thrilled to welcome Mira to our leadership team and are grateful for the strong foundation that our former CRO, Ido Lustig, built for us over the last seven years.”

Mira brings over 15 years of experience in the financial services industry. In her previous role at Brex, she led the risk team responsible for credit, fraud, and operational risk. Mira drove best-in-class credit performance during the pandemic, led credit conversations for inaugural securitization (A-rated) and multiple warehouse lines, and enabled launch and scaling of new products including Brex Cash. Mira also spent 12 years at American Express in Risk Management leadership roles spanning consumer and commercial underwriting, data science, credit rating, and liquidation risk functions.

“Small businesses are the growth engine of our economy, and I look forward to serving them as BlueVine’s CRO,” says Mira Srinivasan. “My goal is to continuously improve our risk capabilities while delivering outstanding customer experiences, by leveraging data and analytics, and driving innovation across all products.”

Chris Hemmings is Promoted to Summit Bank’s Chief Operating Officer

“With over 13 years of experience with Summit, Chris is the ideal choice for this position,” says Craig Wanichek, President and CEO of Summit Bank. “His knowledge of company culture, banking, risk management, finance, compliance, and operations is exceptional. He has strong leadership abilities both in the office and in our community. Promoting Chris means we are positioning Summit Bank for continued growth and long-term success.”

Hemmings has been with Summit Bank since 2008 and has served in various capacities, most recently as Senior Vice President & Chief Administrative Officer and before that Controller. At Summit, he serves as Chair of the Bank’s Operations Committee, which evaluates and guides efforts that support Summit Bank’s strategic operational initiatives, and as Chair of the Bank’s Compliance Committee. In this new role, Hemmings will oversee Operations, Compliance, Human Resources, Loan Servicing and Documentation, and I.T. Services.