MADISON, Wis. – On Thursday, November 21, 79 Wisconsin bankers and 21 banks were honored by the Wisconsin Bankers Foundation (WBF) for their efforts in promoting financial literacy to Wisconsin’s community members. WBF is the nonprofit arm of the Wisconsin Bankers Association (WBA) whose mission is to promote financial literacy and financial capability to the public and to broaden consumer empowerment in the financial services industry through research, education, grants, and scholarships.
The outstanding efforts of all honorees were celebrated at the recent WBA FLEX Retail and Marketing Summit held in Wisconsin Dells on November 21, 2024. During the 2023–2024 fiscal year, the individual and bank-level WBF Excellence in Financial Education award winners helped WBF expand its financial education to reach over 30,000 people throughout the state. These efforts included giving presentations in local classrooms to teach children about saving and managing money, leading homeownership workshops, and hosting fraud prevention seminars, among many other initiatives.
“Wisconsin bankers are very passionate about promoting financial wellness and helping their communities to thrive,” said Rose Oswald Poels, chair of the Wisconsin Bankers Foundation Board. “We are glad to recognize the remarkable work of these banks and individual bank employees in equipping Wisconsinites with skills to make informed decisions about money and build bright financial futures.”
This year, Sue Krause of Fox Valley Savings Bank in Fond du Lac was awarded the prestigious Financial Literacy Banker of the Year Award. Krause completed 138 financial education presentations over the year. Paige Vieth, of Royal Bank in Elroy, was recognized with the Financial Literacy Banker Award for completing 70 financial education presentations.
In addition, Krause and Vieth were honored with the Certificate of Excellence alongside Rachael Ehrenberg, Farmers State Bank of Waupaca; Tammy J. Tongusi, Forte Bank, Hartford; Katlein Detloff, Ladysmith Federal Savings & Loan Association; and Jenean Friedl, Ashley Lombard, and Jen Yager of Royal Bank, Elroy, for exceeding 20 financial education presentations in their local communities during WBF’s 2023–2024 fiscal year.
Seventy-one individuals received a Certificate of Recognition completing at least five financial education presentations. This year’s recipients are Katelyn Hodel, Shane Moen, Ty Neupert, Peter Schleicher, and Sharilyn Zimmerman, Bank of Lake Mills; Laurie Janowski, Heather Kadletz, Sue Neuzil, Kala J. Schmitt, and Stephanie Slaby, Bank of Luxemburg; Tiffany Hilliard, Bank of Wisconsin Dells; Ann Cooley, Shari Huza, Sara Pahl, and Kim Rabska, Community First Bank in Boscobel; Rachael Danielson, Tami Miller, Emily Pfannes, and Amy Weiss, First National Bank of River Falls; Aaron J. Mork, FNC Bank in New Richland; Carol Swanson, Ladysmith Federal Savings & Loan Association; Jade Brindley, Tami Brogley, Amanda Brown, Kari Geyer, Jeffery Glass, Kayla Hamlin, Donna Hoppenjan, Linda Kress, Erika Nemitz, Courtney Pickel, Trisha Rehlinger, Sarah Rogers, Barb Skaife, Jenni Thomas, and Sheryl Tierney, Mound City Bank in Platteville; JoNell Empereur, Molly Gilbertson, Dan Lenz, Morgan Payne, Kendra Ruenger, Jaclyn Rutkowski, Amanda Schultz, and Tammy Wagner, National Exchange Bank & Trust in Fond du Lac; Ameilia Abraham, Hannah Corning, Jace Gustafson, Nona Havey, and Tracy Odegaard, One Community Bank in Oregon; Christine Buckman and Erik Thompson, Pillar Bank in Baldwin; Gina Patzer, Premier Community Bank in Marion; Silvia Donday-Selenske, Rochelle Mitchell, and Marisa Rivera, PremierBank in Fort Atkinson; Cody Belken, Courtney Dean, Morgan DeGuire, Brandie Howell, Luke Manke, Jessie Preston, Shania Sake, Holly Shelton, Maizee Splinter, Michael Starks, and Ashley Tabbert, Royal Bank in Elroy; Veron Gray and Mario Monterrey, The Equitable Bank SSB in Wauwatosa; and Jenni Badtke, Traci Chisholm, and Eric Hopfensperger, Wolf River Community Bank in Hortonville.
The WBF Excellence in Financial Education Award was presented to 21 WBA-member banks for their bank-wide dedication to financial education: Bank of Lake Mills; Bank of Luxemburg; Bank of Sun Prairie; Farmers & Merchants State Bank, Waterloo; First Federal Bank of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; First National Bank of River Falls; FNC Bank, New Richmond; Forte Bank, Hartford; Horicon Bank; Ladysmith Federal Savings and Loan Association; National Exchange Bank & Trust, Fond du Lac; One Community Bank, Oregon; Pillar Bank, Baldwin; Premier Community Bank, Marion; PremierBank, Fort Atkinson; River Bank, Stoddard; Royal Bank, Elroy; The Stephenson National Bank & Trust, Marinette; Waukesha State Bank; Waumandee State Bank; and Wolf River Community Bank, Hortonville.
