Veteran Twin Cities banker Dorothy Bridges, who was CEO of Franklin National Bank from 1999 until 2008, is returning to the Twin Cities from Washington D.C. to take a senior position at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis in late July.
Bridges, who has been CEO of First City Bank of Washington, has been named a senior vice president of the Fed, responsible for community development and outreach.
Bridges, who was an urban commercial banker and branch executive at U.S. Bank for much of the 1980s and 1990s, led Franklin through a period rapid expansion that focused partly on urban renewal and small business lending in core-city Minneapolis that included the revitalization of E. Franklin Avenue.
"We are very fortunate to have someone with Dorothy's background and interests to lead our community development and outreach efforts," said Narayana Kocherlakota, president of the Minneapolis Fed.
"She is well known in the Twin Cities as a successful community leader with a strong track record of building alliances at the local level," said Kocherlakota. "This experience fits nicely with our role ... to facilitate interaction and provide analytical support on issues ranging from the inner-city to rural areas and to American Indian reservations. With Dorothy's leadership, we look to enhance those efforts."
Before joining Franklin Bank, Bridges was a senior consultant for Barefoot, Marrinan & Associates, a bank regulatory compliance firm, where she focused on issues related to the Community Reinvestment Act and the Fair Lending Act. In 1995, Bridges also worked for the Community Reinvestment Fund, which underwrites community-development loans, packages them and sells them as investments to institutional investors.
Neal St. Anthony • 612-673-7144
