Katie Hart
Vice president and private banking officer, Bankers Trust
Age: 36
Children: Brenna, age 5
Reasons she is a Forty: Katie serves on the John Stoddard Cancer Center board of directors and founded the annual International Women’s Day fundraiser, EmpowHER. She mentors our community’s future leaders and has taught financial literacy classes at Roosevelt High School, helping students with small business plans, college applications and FAFSA. Katie helped raise $10,000 for a friend who was diagnosed with leukemia and added 25 new people to the Be the Match bone marrow donor registry. She fosters trusted banking relationships with many of Central Iowa’s most successful business leaders and helps her clients achieve their financial goals.
What are your goals in your role at your company? As a private banker at Bankers Trust, I strive to build quality relationships with my clients and streamline their banking needs to provide peace of mind, whether it’s working alongside their team of advisers to protect their wealth, helping purchase their dream home or assisting with their company’s stock acquisition.
What are your goals for your community involvement? My goal is to promote emotional well-being and self-empowerment. I do this through youth mentorship at Roosevelt High School, where I recently helped one senior with FAFSA and a plan to save for college, as they will be a first-generation college student.
What's your biggest passion, and why? Relationships. I strive to share my gifts in ways that benefit others because I’ve had the privilege of working with and learning from so many amazing people, from successful business leaders to the youths I mentor, who teach me just as much as I teach them.
What is it that drives you? I love connecting people with opportunities, so I bring others along in my community involvement. For instance, my friends and I created an International Women’s Day fundraiser featuring local artists for the John Stoddard Cancer Center’s Empower Boutique and Salon in 2020. It continues to grow, raising $26,000 last year!
What are your future aspirations? I would love to create a program that provides personal finance education for every stage of life. This could include rhetoric for existing math and economics curriculum, help with navigating college and the transition into the workforce, and education on budgeting and preparing for retirement.
Three hobbies: Fitness, house plants, reading a book with a cup of coffee in hand.
Fun fact: Katie taught third grade English in the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe after college. She is still fluent in French and sometimes dreams in French.
One word to describe you: Enthusiastic.
What is your wish for the Central Iowa business community? For all women to have access to mammograms – an important part of our fight against breast cancer. Uninsured or underinsured women have limited or nonexistent access to preventive health screenings. You can support this work through John Stoddard Cancer Center’s EmpowHER fundraiser!
What's one piece of advice that you would give to a young professional? Love big, assume the best in people and act. We have one of the best communities you can be part of – it’s just the right size to get involved in whatever lights your fire and truly feel like you can make an impact.
What is one issue you would like to see Central Iowa leaders address? COVID inspired temporary support for health care workers, but they continue to need community support. Burnout, supply chain issues, tight budgets and aggression toward staff put a tremendous burden on local health care systems. Whether it’s renewed social recognition or financial support for their programs, I’d love to see our community rally to support them again. We need to care for those who care for us, as a healthy health care system will reap long-term benefits for all Iowans.
Anything else you haven't addressed that people must know about you? My maiden name of Hart is fitting with my big heart. I love big and feel very fortunate to be surrounded by so many wonderful people in my life.