Reading Cooperative Bank Appoints Yvonne Garcia to its Board of Directors

Reading Cooperative Bank (RCB) has announced the appointment of Yvonne Garcia, Chief of Staff to State Street’s Chairman and CEO and Global Head of Internal Communication to its Board of Directors. In her leadership role at State Street, Yvonne is responsible for setting and operationalizing the Chairman and CEO’s strategic priorities and State Street’s internal communications strategy for approximately 39,000 global employees and executive leadership platforms.

“Yvonne is a standout leader in the Boston corporate, banking and nonprofit sectors. Her background in business management, operations, communications and marketing will provide important insights and a wide range of experiences to the board as we broaden our market share on the North Shore.” stated Julie Thurlow, President & CEO of RCB “Further, her advocacy for women and Latinas in leadership, specifically in the financial sector, sends a powerful message to our teams about their career opportunity at Reading Cooperative Bank.”

Prior to State Street, Yvonne served as Director of Marketing and Distribution Strategy for Liberty Mutual. Prior to Liberty Mutual, she was a Vice President for Bank of America’s China Construction Bank Strategic Assistance Program where she created and implemented a pilot of five new Wealth Management Centers throughout China, that resulted in the bank having more than 80 centers throughout the country.

As an active leader of local and national communities, Yvonne served as the Chairwoman for the largest Latino professional organization in the country, ALPFA, and is the co-founding Chair of Milagros para Niños, an initiative at Children’s Hospital in Boston.  Yvonne was appointed by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker to serve on the State’s Latino Advisory Commission Board and served as the Chairwoman for the Greater Boston Chamber’s Women’s Network, and now serves on its Executive Committee.

Yvonne has been featured in Fortune Magazine in partnership with ALPFA as one of the Top 50 Most Powerful Latinas in the United States four years in a row and was named to the Boston Business Journal’s Power 50. Last year, Yvonne was recognized by the Boston Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business and by Yahoo Finance on their top 25 HERoes list, which showcases leaders who are championing women in business and driving change for gender diversity in the workplace.

“It is an honor to be asked to join the Board of Directors of RCB,” said Garcia. “The strategic business model and talent management team at RCB is uniquely positioned for the organization to further expand its business into new consumer markets.”

Yvonne holds an MBA in Finance and Marketing from Boston University and a BA from SUNY and is a Six Sigma Black Belt. She was also awarded an honorary degree in Doctor of Humane Letters from Cambridge College in Boston, and most recently an honorary Doctor of Commerce degree from New England School of Business. 

About Reading Cooperative Bank:  

Reading Cooperative Bank is a depositor owned co-operative founded in 1886. This community-centric North Shore financial service provider has branches in Reading, Wilmington, North Reading, Andover, Burlington, Lynn, Nahant and a temporary business office in Lawrence, MA as the permanent office is under construction. They also operate teaching branches at Northeast Metro Tech in Wakefield (open to the public) and at Reading Memorial High School (students and staff only), as well as an online branch at www.readingcoop.com.