Inclusiveness in her blood

When Lauren Sparks began her banking career in the 80s, she immediately put her International Relations and Spanish degree to use with her ability to speak Spanish as interactions between the city of Houston and its southern neighbor Mexico grew.

That early moment in her career was only the beginning for the path to inclusiveness that Sparks is continuing to pave in banking today.

With more than 39 years of banking experience, Sparks worked her way up from a bank teller in college at Colgate University, to working in several different bank departments, to starting a risk management company, to now being the face of the first new community bank to be chartered by the OCC in 15 years. Her bank, Agility Bank in Houston, is the first minority depository institution-chartered bank founded and ran by women.

Women own 72% of the Agility Bank’s voting stock, more than 90% of the bank’s staff are women and over 70% of leadership and board of directors are again, women.

Closing the gap

Agility, which formally opened in late May, was created with the intent of closing the parity gap between men and women in accessing capital and financial services. Sparks said when she and her team were raising money to start the bank, “women were keenly interested in being a part of something that’s for them.” She continues, “They understood that women sometimes have different insights and needs, and they were excited to be a part of building a bank that includes women and men at the table.”

Sparks, founder and CEO of Agility, said it has been an interesting process to see how the bank has enabled a diverse group of people, particularly small and mid-size business owners, to be involved in helping develop financial services and owning a bank from the ground up. “That just sort of rolls over into who we are as a bank — it’s about engaging with people who look and think like you and are attuned to find workable solutions.”

Building for the future

The name of the bank, Agility, was chosen when Sparks and her team thought of being nimble and responding to modern banking ecosystems. “As a bank we want to always be moving forward for our clients. We’re willing to think outside of the traditional banking box.”

The bank takes pride in utilizing forward-leaning technology that can constantly adapt to the changing digital world. Sparks said she chose the route of creating a digital stack rather than being stuck in a rigid technology structure. “We can easily add products and services, some that you might not think a bank would have. While we may be a primarily digital bank, relationships will always be our North Star.”

A small business owner herself, Sparks said there’s a real need for commercial community banks with their focus on relationships, especially for women. “Women are the market segment that, at the moment, are starting businesses nationally at a higher rate than men. We are seeing that in Houston, and in Texas.”

Community involvement opportunities

As a diverse bank itself, Agility represents the make-up of the Houston region, one of the largest and most diverse in the country. Sparks said there is a lot of opportunity for Agility to be involved in the community, describing it as “almost overwhelming.” She continues, “but in a good way, because then we can really focus on our mission.”

Role models

Sparks’ inspiration comes from her mother, as well as the people on the bank’s board.

“One of the board members, Edna Meyer-Nelson, has been a big part of helping this whole vision come true about a women-owned and women-led bank because she’s a former banker herself. When you get older and you can still meet people who inspire you, that’s exciting,” said Sparks.

But it’s the wise words from her mother that guide her daily. “She has always said, ‘If you can’t say something kind, don’t say anything at all.’ I don’t know if I achieve that on a daily basis, but I certainly think about it,” she laughs. “Starting a bank will put you through your paces: who you are as a person, who you are as a woman, who you are as a leader. You can only hope that you’ll do better every day.”

Finding down time

When she’s not busy running the bank and changing the way women are involved in banking today, Sparks enjoys spending her free time with her husband and their four-legged children. She and her husband enjoy traveling when their schedule allows them, with Italy being their favorite place to visit.

When asked why banking after all these years, Sparks simply said, “It’s about the people.”