Bill Atkinson Interviews Kathleen Murphy, President and CEO of Massachusetts Bankers Association

Kathleen Murphy is the president and CEO of the Massachusetts Bankers Association, which represents banks of all sizes and charters and is the premier partner and trusted resource for the Commonwealth’s $580 billion banking industry.

With a career spanning state and national banking associations, Kathleen joined MBA in 2020 following twenty-one years at the helm of the Maryland Bankers Association in Annapolis. Before joining the Maryland association, Kathleen served as Director of Community Banking for the American Bankers Association in Washington, D. C. where she led the Association’s largest constituency group of community bank CEOs which influenced policy, education, communication and service strategies.

Kathleen’s earlier career highlights include working as Director of Communications for the Ohio Bankers Association and for Bank One in Columbus.

She serves on the Board of Directors of the BDC Capital Corporation and the Savings Banks Employees Retirement Association (SBERA) and recently completed service on the ABA Foundation Board of Directors. Kathleen was elected by her peers to chair the State Bankers Association Alliance and in this role served on the Board of Directors of the American Bankers Association in 2010-2011. She also served from 2012-2019 on the Board of Trustees of Marietta College and chaired its Audit Committee. Kathleen is recipient of numerous awards including the 2021 Marietta College Distinguished Alumni Award; 2019 Maryland Government Relations Association Community Service Award; the Daily Record’s Top 100 Women in Maryland in 2017 and one of fifty Influential Marylanders named by The Daily Record in 2009, 2014 and 2017 and inducted into its Circle of Excellence in 2017.

Kathleen is a graduate of Marietta College in Marietta Ohio and has completed Executive Education courses at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. Kathleen and her husband Mike are avid boaters and reside on Boston’s South Shore.

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Bill Atkinson launched Atkinson Strategic Communications in January 2020 after 15 years in the public relations business and 21 years as a newspaper reporter. Clients include, Coca-Cola Consolidated, the largest bottler of Coca-Cola products in the country, the American Beverage Association, Howard Bank, Ambu, a Danish medical device maker with its U.S. headquarters in Columbia, Md., and Think Systems, a Baltimore-based management consulting firm.

Prior to starting his own firm, Atkinson was a partner in 212 Communications, which he joined in June 2015, and focused on strategic and crisis communications, media relations and grassroots strategies. Before that he was a senior vice president at global public relations agency Weber Shandwick. At Weber’s Baltimore office Atkinson specialized in strategic and crisis communications as well as reputation management. Clients included Constellation Energy, Honeywell, General Motors, Bank of America, Promontory Financial Group and 1st Mariner Bank.

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Interview Questions:

Introduction |Can you provide an introduction to the Massachusetts Bankers Association? Ie number of banks, types of banks, banking professionals etc.

Career | Your career has included stints at the Ohio Bankers Association, American Bankers Association, Maryland Bankers Association and the Massachusetts Bankers. Tell us about your career.

History | The Massachusetts Bankers Association was founded in 1905. Can you share some highlights of the history?

Highlights | You became CEO of the Massachusetts Bankers Association in September 2020. What are some of the most important changes?

Legislative | What role does the Massachusetts Bankers Association play in legislation? Are there any bills that you want to highlight?

Financial Education | What role does the Massachusetts Bankers Association play in financial education?

DEI |What is the state of diversity, equity and inclusion in Massachusetts banks?

Fintech | How is fintech impacting Massachusetts banks?

Future | What is the strategic vision for the Massachusetts Bankers Association?

The Massachusetts Bankers Association represents 120 commercial, savings, cooperative, and federal savings banks and savings and loan associations, which hold nearly $500 billion in deposits in over 2,000 banking locations in Massachusetts. Member banks employ 72,000 professionals across the Commonwealth and in New England and contribute more than $105 million annually to social agencies and charitable organizations across the Commonwealth. For more information, visit www.massbankers.org.