Webster Bank’s Kathy Luria, senior vice president, director of Philanthropy and Community Affairs, has been named the 2019 winner of the American Bankers Association Foundation’s George Bailey Distinguished Service Award.

This national award is in recognition of her efforts to enhance the bank’s commitment to supporting the people and communities Webster serves throughout its footprint. She will be honored at ABA’s Annual Convention in Seattle on October 29.

Established in 2014, the George Bailey Distinguished Service Award is given to a non-CEO bank employee who demonstrates outstanding initiative, commitment to their customers and community, and the ability to inspire others. The ABA Foundation selects the winner after a review of nominations submitted by banks of all sizes across the country. The ABA Foundation honors seven banks annually for their commitment to their communities. This is the only award given to an individual.

“Since our founding in 1935, Webster has been a values-guided, community-minded bank. Our bankers demonstrate this throughout our everyday interactions in the communities we serve,” said John R. Ciulla, president and CEO. “We are honored to receive this prestigious award on behalf of our 3,400 bankers and congratulate Kathy on this well-deserved recognition.”

Webster supports its bankers’ volunteer efforts by providing each employee with 16 hours of paid volunteer time to utilize as they wish in the communities where they live and work. Each year, bankers volunteer nearly 130,000 hours to nonprofit organizations across the footprint.

During her tenure, Luria has refined the corporate giving program from an immediate, grant-based entity and incorporating partners who are at the front lines to help identify root causes, while including bankers in volunteer opportunities to add value to the organizations Webster supports.

She advanced and enhanced the bank’s work with Junior Achievement and United Way, fostering a lasting culture of employee engagement. She also spearheaded efforts to bring the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Working Cities Challenge to Connecticut. In 2018, she designed and launched initiatives targeting food security, financial empowerment and a unique volunteer recognition grant program for our bankers.

For the past 12 years, Luria has served as an adjunct professor in the School of Business at the University of Connecticut – Waterbury Campus. She is also the board chair of the Connecticut Council of Philanthropy and has served as a board member since 2014.