Ron Milsap wants to do everything he can to be an Oracle of Chicago’s South Side

The veteran Chicago banker talks about the higher purpose he sees in banking

1-11-2020

Name: Ronald Milsap

Age: 39

Neighborhood: Chatham (Southside Chicago)

Occupation: Chicago banker with all sorts of banks since I was 16, when I started as a teller.

Where do you bank? I bank with Providence Bank & Trust, GN Bank, and Chase.

Why did you pick these banks? I worked with Urban Partnership Bank (which used to be a Black bank in Chicago) for 7 years prior to it being purchased by Providence Bank & Trust. I bank here because I believe in the bank’s mission. I also have an account with GN Bank because it’s a Black bank in Chicago and I want to support Black-led businesses across the city of Chicago, broadly. And I have some cash with Chase because it acquired the bank where I started my first savings account, First Chicago Bank.

What’s the top thing you need in a bank? Mobile banking. I do all of my banking remotely. I only enter a bank when I go into my office at work.

Describe what you do in your job, in one sentence. I build relationships between our bank and the community we serve by making clear our bank’s focus on community lending. (When I worked at Providence Bank & Trust, I was proud that the bank donated 10% of all of the bank’s profits to local community organizations in addition to the community lending it did day in and day out. 10% is a larger percentage of corporate profits donated to charitable causes than I’ve seen from any other bank – or business, frankly – ever).

What’s a piece of money advice you live by? Live below your means.

Are you a finance person? I’m going to say no. It sounds a bit stuffy.

What’s a finance person, anyway? I can’t say. Neither can Google. I searched the term and couldn’t locate a definition.

What was the name of the first bank you ever had an account with? First Chicago Bank

Do you remember anything from going to the bank as a kid? I remember begging my mom to let me have the $10 she deposited into my savings account on my behalf with every paycheck she got. I knew the answer was going to be no. My mom raised us as a single parent and her discipline of saving shaped the values I now live by, which includes saving at least 10% of my paycheck as I raise my family.

Tell us about a neighborhood that’s special to you, and why it’s special. The Greater Chatham area (Chatham, Avalon Park, Auburn Gresham, and Greater Grand Crossing) on Chicago’s South Side. It’s where I grew up, where I live and work today, and where I’m raising my family. It’s a place where I believe in its potential more than its plight. I want to do everything I can to be an Oracle of this place.

What’s the last thing you used cash for? Chips and candy at the local convenience store for my nephew, and a $2 lottery ticket for me. Before you judge me for the lottery ticket, just know I got hit by lightning once – seriously – so the odds aren’t totally out of my favor to win one day.

Cash, card, or mobile? Card.

What finance-related article, book, or movie has made an impression on you? Beryl Satter’s book, Family Properties: a powerfully raw narrative of red-lining, blockbusting, segregation, and plundering of Black wealth and Black bodies in the urban slums of Chicago and all the personal horror stories, tragedy, and carnage left in its wake.

If you were the professor of an economics class, what would your course be called? There Is No Such Thing as a Free Lunch Unless Of Course You Stole the Lunch and Denied All Traces of the Evidence: A Racial Reckoning of America & The Case For Reparations.

What does wealth mean to you? A strong spiritual awareness, good physical and mental health, quality education, healthy relationships, self-sufficiency, multiple good options to choose from, and the ability to share with others in need.

Can you give a recent example of how you used your money to make a difference? I donated and organized community donations to support a friend in need due to the loss of her husband.

What will you do with all the bank interest you’ll earn in the next year? A lot of banks are actually paying decent interest now so I’ll keep growing my money with community banks that I trust where I don’t have to sacrifice interest and can know my money is serving my values and the well-being of the neighborhood where I’m raising my family.

Finish these sentences:

Money _ is just a medium of exchange… its true power is in the higher purpose of values used to steer it.

Banks _ The original crowdfunding tool: a way for people to organize their money to fund projects for their neighbors & friends.

Mighty _ is a seed of faith that our money can bring about meaningful changes in the lives of others when we’re courageous enough to align our money with our values.

What’s a dream you have for the world? That people are able to see one another’s humanity, respect and embrace one another’s differences, and share their best selves with one another during the gift of time here on Earth.

---

Related links

Banks you make like

More 21 questions with Mighty