Santander Bank announced it is expanding its Commercial Banking presence in the Southwest region by naming Joanna Ridgway as its market head.
As Corporate Market Director for the Bank’s Commercial Banking business in the Southwest, Ridgway brings years of diverse experience in corporate and commercial banking to this new role. Based in Dallas, she and her team are responsible for serving clients in Texas and the surrounding Southwestern states, including Oklahoma, Arkansas, New Mexico and Louisiana.
“We are adding investments and resources to support our growing commercial business in Texas and the Southwest where Joanna’s expertise is proving to be invaluable,” said Robert Rubino, Santander Bank’s co-president and head of Commercial Banking. “She is a seasoned, effective and proven leader who knows these markets well and is helping Santander Bank thrive in this region.”
This investment underscores Santander Bank’s commitment to adding resources in markets that enjoy its distinct value proposition namely, bringing valuable ideas to clients and prospects by leveraging its international, industry and capital markets capabilities and expertise, the company said. Ridgway joins more than 3,300 Santander employees based in Dallas from the Bank’s Commercial Banking Dealer Floor Plan business and from its sister company, Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc., which provides auto finance and consumer lending services nationwide.
Ridgway comes to Santander Bank after serving as global relationship manager for Fifth Third Bank in Dallas where she built and managed relationships with CEOs and CFOs of high-revenue generating international companies based in Texas. Previously, she served as vice president of Commercial Banking for JPMorgan Chase, where she successfully managed new business development prospects and client relationships with companies earning annual revenues of $20 million to $500 million.
Among her recognitions for leadership, Joanna was awarded the Marshall Memorial Fellowship in 2012, a transatlantic leadership program granted by the German Marshall Fund, and she subsequently served on the Fellowship Selection Committee. She is also a graduate of Leadership Dallas, a premier leadership development program, and joined the Dallas Regional Chamber on a June 2018 trade mission to London and Paris.
She has a B.A. in business administration from Rhodes College and is an advanced level Spanish speaker, having lived and worked in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is also an accomplished musician and co-founder of June Blount, a professional fiddle duo that includes six-time national champion Roberta Rast Smith. The duo performs at private and public events and, in November 2016, delivered a TEDx talk on the evolution of American fiddle styles.