Leadership Team

Patrick M. Frawley

Chief Executive Officer

Pat leads Community & Southern Bank with a commitment to the financial industry dating back to the early 1970s. He began his career working for the Comptroller of the Currency in a variety of key regulatory roles, including Director of Bank Supervision for the Southeast U.S. In 1986, Pat moved to the private sector at Citizens & Southern National Bank, then C&S/Sovran, NationsBank and Bank of America. After 15 years with multinational banks, Pat became CEO of two troubled community banks and earned a reputation as a turnaround specialist. He also ran a successful consulting firm that specialized in assisting banks facing severe regulatory and operational challenges. In 2008, Pat began the process of forming Community & Southern Bank, culminating in its first acquisition in 2010. Pat has a solid reputation as a respected voice in the financial services industry.

 

 

Lee M. Sessions, Jr.

President

A lifelong resident of the Atlanta area and longtime banker and community leader, Lee is widely respected in the financial services industry. Lee's leadership experience includes an extensive career as a senior executive at Citizens & Southern National Bank, C&S/Sovran (now Bank of America), and at Bank South where, as Principal Operating Officer, he helped orchestrate one of the most impressive market share turnarounds in banking history. In addition, Lee was Chairman of Bank South Investment Services, Inc., a director of Bank South Life Insurance Corporation and served on the board of various subsidiary banks in Georgia and Florida. He served on the Policy Committee (the Senior Policy Group) of Bank South and chaired the ALCO Pricing Committee and Management Committee for Community Development. Lee also served on the Credit Policy Committee, Donations Committee, EDP Steering Committee and Community Development Committee of the Board. Prior to joining Community & Southern Bank, Lee was a founder, investor and Director of Atlantic Capital Bank in Atlanta.

 

 

Stephen R. Stone

Chief Administrative Officer & General Counsel

Steve brings a broad range of legal and financial market expertise to Community & Southern Bank. Having previously worked as a successful attorney at Alston & Bird LLP in Atlanta, Steve has experience assisting companies in the financial services and real estate industries with private and public securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions, corporate formations, restructurings, corporate governance and a host of related regulatory issues. Steve oversees the Bank's legal, enterprise risk management, human resources and resolution management groups.

 

 

 

Management Committee Members

Michelle H. Banks

Director of Strategic Planning

Michelle has vast experience serving the strategic planning and corporate finance needs of financial institutions. Prior to joining Community & Southern Bank, Michelle held key positions at Robinson-Humphrey, Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young. Her expertise includes assisting depository institutions with FDIC-assisted transactions including target evaluation, due diligence, purchase & assumption agreement advisory, valuation and recommendation of documentation.

 

 

Betty L. Cowell

Chief Products and Pricing Officer

An expert in product and channel development, sales and service processes, network management, segmentation and customer analytics, Betty joins Community & Southern Bank with over 30 years of experience in retail and small business banking growth. Betty has also served on several boards in the industry that support the banking community including BAI, CBA and Visa. Throughout her distinguished career, she has held positions with C&S Bank, Bank South, Wachovia and most recently Whitney Bank. Betty is responsible for leading CSB’s product and pricing strategies.

 

 

David R. Edwards

Chief Credit Officer

David's career in banking began in Atlanta over 25 years ago with the Citizens & Southern National Bank.  He spent 16 years with C&S through its transition to NationsBank and ultimately to Bank of America.  After that, he worked for five years with a Synovus affiliate bank and then became a project manager working with the FDIC to resolve failed financial institutions.  He has held a variety of senior level credit positions in his career.  David offers expertise and leadership in all aspects of loan administration, including loan underwriting and monitoring, loan policy & procedure development, loan loss reserve analysis and problem asset resolution.  He currently leads the credit team who is responsible for achieving pristine credit at Community & Southern Bank.

 

 

Michael J. Griggs

Chief Marketing Officer

A customer and marketing executive, Mike brings a proven record of success to Community & Southern Bank. His experience prior to joining the Bank includes branding, sales and marketing positions at The Walt Disney Company and Gap Inc. His past expertise in creating brand strategies and strengthening company operations has led to record-breaking financial performance and improved customer and employee satisfaction.

 

 

Michael F. Hickey

Chief Information Officer 

During his career, Mike has held a variety of senior level positions at a number of large regional financial institutions and has been involved in more than 30 systems conversions and merger integrations. Mike oversees the Bank's technology and operations areas including information technology that includes the Bank's main banking platform networking & delivery channels, its loan and deposit operations.

 

 

Don C. Hooper

Director of Real Estate Banking

Don brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in real estate and senior housing lending to Community & Southern Bank. During his career, he has served as a national bank examiner with the OCC and held various positions with Wachovia Bank, N.A. (formerly First Union National Bank), including Real Estate Credit Officer, Market Manager for the North Florida Real Estate Group and Executive Vice President - Florida Real Estate Banking.

 

 

James A. Pihera 

Director of Enterprise Risk Management

Jim has over 30 years of compliance, regulatory and risk management experience in the financial services industry. He has held a variety of executive-level positions with financial firms including Bank of America, Deloitte & Touche and Regions Bank. Most recently, Jim was Chief Compliance Risk Officer for Regions Bank. Jim brings expertise to Community & Southern Bank's internal audit, compliance, BSA and loan review programs.

 

 

Ray G. Skinner

Chief Banking Officer

Ray has a strong background in leadership of consumer and retail banking operations. Prior to joining Community & Southern Bank, he held a variety of positions with increasing responsibility at super-regional financial institutions including National Bank of Commerce, SunTrust and American Savings Bank. Ray oversees the Bank's consumer banking which includes retail banking, specialized consumer lending, small business banking, residential mortgage banking and El Banco.

 

 

Anthony P. Valduga

Chief Financial Officer

Tony brings a deep background in financial institution finance and accounting to Community & Southern Bank. Having previously held positions at PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP within the firm's Banking & Capital Markets practice, Tony has expertise advising both public and private financial institutions on a wide range of issues including mergers & acquisitions, public offerings and filings, FDIC-assisted transaction accounting and compliance and other complex finance and accounting related matters.

 

 

 

Line of Business Directors

Herman L. Manderson

Director of Corporate Lending

Herm has been a respected and well-known corporate banker in Georgia for over 35 years. His experience includes holding positions with regional and national banks including Citizens & Southern National Bank, Bank of America, Regions Bank and Fifth Third Bank. Herm manages the delivery of corporate and commercial banking services for Community & Southern Bank's clients.

 

 

J. Pat McGoldrick

Director of Small Business Banking

Pat brings decades of banking experience to Community & Southern Bank. Throughout his career, Pat has held senior and executive level positions at Citizens & Southern National Bank, NationsBank (now Bank of America) and a number of community banks. In addition, Pat has served in leadership roles at professional and community organizations throughout Georgia. Pat manages the Bank's Business Banking Division, which focuses on companies with up to $2.5 million in revenues.

 

 

John A. Redmond

Director of Specialized Consumer Lending

John’s Banking career spans 28 years.  He has served in various senior and executive level positions at NationsBank and Bank of America along with a number of smaller regional and community banks.  John has both Retail and Commercial Banking experience and over the past 20 years John has applied these disciplines within the Automobile, Marine, Recreational Vehicle and Aircraft Industries.  John was co-founder of New Beacon, LLC a nationwide Specialty Lending consumer loan origination company.  John now leads Community & Southern Bank’s newly formed Specialized Consumer Lending operations.

 

 

Debra F. Watkins

Director of Residential Mortgage Lending

Debra's career in residential mortgage lending spans more than two decades. Throughout her career, she has held executive level positions responsible for complex mortgage operations including capital markets, loan servicing, treasury management and credit risk at Home Side Lending, Inc. and HomeBanc Mortgage. Debra leads Community & Southern Bank's expanding residential mortgage lending division.