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Executive Team
Ellen Sas became President of Seattle Bank in April 2008. She was formerly the Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of Northstar Financial Corporation, a bank holding company previously headquartered in Seattle prior to its sale to Frontier Bank in 2006. Ellen led the growth of Northstar Bank, quadrupling its asset size in five years and generating record profitability and returns. She was recognized in 2005 as one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking by U.S. Banker Magazine. During her tenure at Frontier, Ellen was a member of Frontier's executive team and served as Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer. In this role, she was responsible for the initialization and adoption of an enterprise risk management governance structure for the $4 billion commercial bank. Ellen has also been an independent consultant to banking clients and a partner in the public accounting firm of Knight, Vale & Gregory (now McGladrey & Pullen LLP), where she specialized in the financial services industry. Ellen is a graduate of the University of Washington.
Brian Devereux joined Seattle Bank as executive vice president/chief operating officer in April 2009. He oversees all aspects of strategy and planning for bank operations, including product development and delivery, information technology, banking center operations and marketing. Brian also serves on the company's executive committee in an integral role, assisting in the development of the strategic direction for the bank. Brian has been in the financial service industry for nearly 20 years, most recently serving as executive vice president/chief operating officer for Columbia Bancorp. He has also worked for the FDIC's Division of Supervision in the San Francisco Region as a Bank Examiner. He is a graduate of the University of Oregon earned an M.B.A. from the University of Portland.
John Grogan, executive vice president/chief credit officer, is a senior executive with more than 30 years of successful experience in banking operations and all phases of lending. Grogan's professional career has encompassed the management of key line units including branches, regions, divisions and groups. In addition, he has served as a Special Assets Group Officer, Chief Credit Officer and Credit Administrator. Grogan began his career with Seafirst/Bank of America as a management trainee and through the years has worked for several banks including Crocker National Bank, Bank of California, Washington Mutual, and Community Bank of Central California. Before coming to Seattle Bank, Grogan was the Credit Administrator for First Independent Bank in Vancouver, WA. In this role, he managed credit policies, practices, procedures and a credit portfolio of $743 million. Grogan received his Bachelors Degree from California State University. He is also a graduate of the University of Washington Pacific Coast Banking School.
Derin Bluhm is senior vice president/chief information officer. Derin joined the company in 2006 and manages enterprise-wide technology strategy and implementation. Prior to joining Seattle Bank, Derin worked at FiServ, Pfizer, Boeing and was a technology consultant. He holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
Gary Carlson is senior vice president/credit officer of Seattle Bank. Gary has 30 years of experience in commercial and real estate banking with large national and international banks. He joined Seattle Bank in 2003 and is responsible for commercial lending activity and is a member of the executive management team. Gary holds a bachelor's degree in finance and accounting from the University of Washington and is a graduate of Pacific Coast Banking School.
Stephanie Yates is Senior Vice President/General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Seattle Financial Group. Stephanie manages the legal affairs for the company and its subsidiaries. She joined the company in 2005, bringing more than 20 years of legal experience in the financial services sector. Stephanie received her bachelor's degree from Scripps College and her law degree from the University of Washington.
Bruce E. Groom is Senior Vice President, Special Assets Group Manager. Bruce joined Seattle Mortgage in 2002 as Manager of the Income Property Group and later the Residential Construction Group. Through his 34-year career, Bruce has been in Mortgage Banking, Commercial and Residential Construction Lending, Real Estate Brokerage and a Senior Manager of Corporate Real Estate. Bruce is a graduate of Washington State University in Business Administration.
Michelle Clay is senior vice president/retail operations, leading the teams responsible for banking policy and process. This includes Banking Center Communications and operations manuals, treasury management services, electronic banking, account services, project management and business systems supporting core applications. She joined the company in 2009, bringing 30 years of banking experience working in both small and large bank environments, most recently as vice president, deposit loss & fraud mitigation manager for WaMu.
Jean Ciesynski is the Senior Vice President, Director of Community Banking. Jean joined the bank in 2009, and oversees the sales, service, deposits, and operations of Seattle Bank's retail banking centers. She is also responsible for developing, evaluating, and implementing new deposit products and associated regulatory requirements. Jean has 30 years of banking experience, including eight years as Senior Vice President of Retail Banking at Sound Community Bank. Jean is a graduate of Kennedy Western University and BAI's Graduate School of Retail Banking.
Nancy Steele is senior vice president/ human resources. Nancy has nearly 35 years in financial services industry and has been with Seattle Bank since 2004 as Senior Vice President, Human Resources. She has earned an MBA and a BBA in Human Resources Management and has also earned the SPHR (Senior Professional Human Resources) and CPIW (Certified Professional Insurance Woman) professional designations. Nancy has guest lectured at local universities and appeared in panel discussions for regional professional associations relating to Human Resources topics.
Mark Nelson is Senior Vice President, Capital Markets for Seattle Bank. Mark manages the Bank's investment portfolio as well as directing the Bank's secondary marketing, shipping and servicing of 1-4 family residential mortgages. Mark received his bachelor's degree from Vanderbilt University and his MBA from the University of Washington's Foster School of Business.
Diana Steiner is Senior Vice President, Controller of Seattle Bank. Diana joined the Bank in 2004 and has direct responsibility for the preparation of the Bank's monthly financial statements, budgets, and long-term forecasts. Diana is a CPA with 10 years of audit and accounting experience in the financial services industry.
