Investment Banker Suzanne Shank named on Kresge Foundation board of trustees

Investment Banker Suzanne Shank was recently added to the Kresge Foundation Board of Trustees. Shank was appointed along with Michael Barr, as trustees, to serve on the leadership of the national foundation.

The Michigan-based nonprofit is one of the nation’s leading social services philanthropic organization, with an investment of more than $160 million a year to promote economic and social change.

The Kresge Foundation has, so far, invested in millions of programs, especially those aimed at economic development in urban areas with a major focus on Black entrepreneurs.

Shank is also the president/CEO and the largest shareholder of the nation’s largest minority-and women-owned financial firm, Siebert Williams Shank & Co., L.L.C. (SWS). The firm was formerly known as Siebert Cisneros Shank L.L.C before joining a merger in 2019. Shank co-founded the initial firm and helped grow it to become the first MWBE firm to rank among the Top 10 U.S. municipal debt underwriters, and also the first MWBE to lead a municipal underwriting of more than $1 billion.

Barr is the Dean of the Joan and Sanford Weill’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, a Professor of Public Policy at the Frank Murphy Collegiate, and a professor of Law at the Michigan Law School. He is also the founder and faculty director of the U-M Center on Finance, Law, and Policy.

The Kresge Foundation Board Chair, Elaine D. Rosen describes Shank and Barr as “extraordinary additions” to the organization’s board, in a news release.

“Their individual expertise in fiancé and banking and combined community development leadership—specifically in low-income communities—will further, bolster the foundation’s effort to expand opportunity for people living in America’s cities,” Rosen said.

After their expected initial 4-year terms, according to the organization’s governance rules, Shank and Barr’s appointments can be extended to 16 years, maximum.