Western Alliance Bank appointed Jake Smith as director within the bank’s public and nonprofit finance group. In his new role, Smith focuses on creating and providing unique capital solutions to a wide variety of municipal and nonprofit borrowers, nationally. These responsibilities build on his prior role as a vice president, underwriting supervisor for the public and nonprofit finance group. In that position, he has covered municipal issuers throughout the United States, structuring and underwriting unique credits for municipal and nonprofit issuers.
Based in Denver, Smith has nearly a decade of investment banking and public finance experience. His work has focused on general government, utility and special purpose issuers.
“Jake’s extensive experience in structuring and underwriting debt obligations issued to finance new development or redevelopment secured by lease revenue, tax revenue, general obligation, special assessment and more brings valuable insights and skill in putting together deals for our Public and Nonprofit Finance customers,” Monika Suarez, managing director of the municipal finance, nonprofit finance and multifamily housing finance groups at Western Alliance Bank, said. “Our clients benefit from Jake’s knowledge and his thoughtful approach to financing, which helps customers accomplish their goals and better serve their communities.”
Before joining Western Alliance in early 2024, Smith was a vice president at Piper Sandler, where he specialized in sourcing capital through negotiated and private placement offerings for city and local governments, municipal utility issuers, 501(c)(3) entities and special districts.
“Western Alliance Bank offers a unique set of services and expertise to serve the financing needs of nonprofit and public sector organizations,” Smith said. “During my time with Western Alliance, I have been proud to be part of a team that provides unparalleled industry knowledge and responsiveness. I look forward to continuing our support of municipal and nonprofit borrowers and providing them capital solutions tailored to fit the unique environments in which they operate.”
Smith earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Denver and a master of science in finance from Daniels College of Business, University of Denver.

