Bank Notes

Elizabeth "Zab" Johnson is a neuroscientist and the Executive Director of the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania, where she harnesses insights from brain science to help understand and improve business outcomes. In this episode of "Banking Culture Reform: Norms, Mindsets, and Decision-Making," Zab helps us to better understand the neuroscience behind the behaviors and decisions that we see, and shares how practices like perspective-taking can help build stronger cultures.

Taya Cohen is an associate professor of organizational behavior and theory at Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business. She studies moral character in the workplace, including the predictive power of guilt proneness in individuals. In this episode of "Banking Culture Reform: Norms, Mindsets, and Decision-Making," Taya discusses why highly guilt prone individuals may have a moral advantage and shares her perspective on individuals' proclivities toward ethical behavior and honesty, as well as how to hire for these traits.

David Grosse is responsible for conduct risk, culture and behavior at HSBC Global Banking and Markets. A long-time banker, he became convinced that understanding human behavior was central to understanding what was happening at a bank, and went back to school to earn an MSc in Behavioral Science. In this episode of "Banking Culture Reform: Norms, Mindsets, and Decision-Making," David tells us about his own experiences with context and group behaviors – including at rugby and soccer matches.

Mikael Down worked as the Executive Director for Assessment, Policy and Insights at the Financial Services Culture Board, an industry body that assesses culture at financial institutions in the UK and helps to design cultural interventions at member firms. In this episode of "Banking Culture Reform: Norms, Mindsets, and Decision-Making," Mikael shares his perspective on how cultural norms in the UK banking sector have evolved in recent years, including the pandemic's impact on firms' relationships with their employees.

In the face of mounting challenges, the citizens of Puerto Rico have taken the future into their own hands. Community leaders are tackling foundational issues on the Island, such as affordable housing, capacity building, workforce development, recovery & resilience, renewable energy, and more. For this episode, we share their perspectives, examine how Puerto Rico arrived at this crucial moment, and reveal how CDFIs and other impact investors can get involved.

What did our small business owners wish they had known when they started? What have they learned? For current and future small business owners, we pull together our guests' best advice on starting a business, developing relationships around financing, working with clients, and training and retaining a diverse workforce.

Kevin Ellis grew up on a dairy farm, and in college he discovered a passion for business. But that didn't keep him away from agriculture for long. He's now the CEO of Cayuga Milk Industries, a small business that processes milk from 30 family-owned dairy farms in New York's Finger Lakes region. Ellis talks about how Cayuga got started and how it's impacting the dairy market.

Ranjini Poddar was in law school when she and her husband started the staffing firm Artech Information Systems in 1992. She is now the CEO at a time when the Bureau of Labor Statistics says there are almost six million contingent workers in the U.S. Poddar explains how Artech grew into a $450 million minority and women-owned business with more than 7,000 employees worldwide.

Arnoff Moving & Storage started in the 1920s with one truck. Now, 95 years, hundreds of trucks, and five generations later, the company is led by Mike Arnoff and has expanded its services to include logistics solutions. Arnoff takes us through the company's history, its philosophy, and how its family culture keeps it moving in the ever-changing transportation space.

Small businesses employ about 50 percent of private-sector workers. Claire Kramer Mills leads the Federal Reserve System's research on this key driver of the U.S. economy through an annual survey that examines small businesses' access to financing. She details trends among small businesses, including how they're performing and securing credit, as well as which firms are seeing the most challenges and where they can go for help.