By Elizabeth Fenton
I’ve written articles for WBA publications for a little over a year. In that time, I’ve had the unique privilege of connecting with bankers on a personal level to gather everything from subject matter expertise on fraud and regulatory issues, to the everyday anecdotes about customer relationships.
We know, in the general sense, that Wisconsin banks strengthen their communities — they finance small businesses, help families purchase homes, support local organizations, and sponsor community development. However, I believe the broad statements hardly capture the deeply personal and out-of-the-box acts of generosity that bankers show to their neighbors.
In past issues of the “Wisconsin Banker,” I’ve had the opportunity to share several of these stories. Chad Achenbach of Peoples State Bank described traveling deep into Amish horse-and-buggy country, where he’s signed loan documents around a family’s kitchen table. Jenna Raisbeck of Community First Bank shared how her team delivers lunches to farmers during harvest season so they can remain in the field during one of the busiest times of the year. Samantha Routheau of The Peshtigo National Bank told me how her bank purchased $600 in Chamber Bucks to give away to customers, encouraging support of businesses affected by road construction. These real, lived experiences — among dozens more I’ve collected over the past year — serve as a testament to the unmatched generosity of the industry. Bankers go above-and-beyond to form warm, personal connections with the people in their community.
I believe the Wisconsin Bankers Foundation (WBF) serves as a vehicle for extending bankers’ generosity even further. Through the Foundation’s grants, scholarships, research, and resources, bankers can invest their time and financial support into education, community development, and mentoring the next generation of banking leaders.
The success of WBF can be quantified in the thousands of hours bankers dedicate annually to volunteering in classrooms, teaching fraud seminars at local libraries, serving on advisory boards, mentoring students in financial education programs, and partnering with non-profits during WBA Power of Community Week. What’s more: many bankers I’ve interviewed reported serving the same schools, libraries, and community organizations year after year, often building decades-long relationships with these institutions.
This year, WBF was proud to announce that $30,000 in grants were given to six organizations working to improve financial literacy in Wisconsin. The 2026 grant recipients include Asset Builders, EconomicsWisconsin, Catholic Charities, Literacy Network, River Valley Charities, and CAC-South Central Wisconsin. In the same spirit of providing multi-year support that bankers bring to their volunteer efforts, WBA is now in the third year of its commitment to both Asset Builders and EconomicsWisconsin.
One of the Foundation’s longer partnerships has been with Asset Builders, whose Finance & Investment Challenge Bowl competition introduces high school students to financial topics through a fast-paced trivia-style academic competition. Thanks in part to year-after-year WBF support, the program continued to expand in 2026 with new regional competitions in West Bend and Hayward. To help launch these new locations, WBA put out a call for volunteer bankers through multiple WBA publications — and bankers answered! Those events would not have been possible for those regional students without volunteer bankers to serve as judges and scorekeepers.
I had the opportunity to volunteer at this year’s State Finance & Investment Challenge Bowl Championship in Madison, which easily became one of my favorite days of the year! Student teams from all corners of Wisconsin competed by answering questions on budgeting, credit, investing, taxes, insurance, and other personal finance issues with impressive ease and speed. I witnessed groups of teenagers explain trade deficits with unflappable confidence and perform mental math on home equity. The teams were emotionally invested, audibly celebrating their successes and bemoaning their misses, which served as palpable evidence of the value of making education interactive and exciting. Just a few hours of volunteer service from a couple dozen bankers made the championship come to life.
Similarly, WBF is in its third year of partnering with EconomicsWisconsin and supporting their initiative, The Stock Market Game. The success of the program relied on banks both sponsoring and mentoring schools in their communities and helping students with lessons in investing, markets, and long-term financial planning. In Fall 2025, institutions including One Community Bank, Stephenson National Bank & Trust, and First Business Bank successfully partnered with local schools, while several additional institutions explored opportunities to participate in the future.
From my time collecting stories from bankers, I’ve come away with a consistent truth: A banker’s generosity doesn’t end at 5:00 p.m. The same bankers who go above and beyond for their customers are often the first to volunteer in their communities after they leave the branch. The Foundation is a catalyst that allows bankers to combine their financial support and industry knowledge to create meaningful opportunities for their communities. Whether a banker treks through muddy farmland or serves as a Challenge Bowl judge to inspire the next generation, bankers continue to remind the public that banks function to uplift their communities.
Fenton was the WBA communications coordinator — her last day with the WBA was July 30, 2026.
