We are profiling just some of the Regions associates who make a difference by giving so much to their communities in our United Way Volunteers series. We hope these stories will inspire others to reach out and make a difference.
Mark Evans, market executive and commercial banking leader for Regions Bank in Shreveport, Louisiana has a passion for helping his community. And in the United Way of Northwest Louisiana, he has a partner to help make a difference.
In a community where 70 percent of children are living in poverty, this father of four is dedicated to helping bring much-needed resources to Caddo Parish.
From serving as a volunteer for United Way partner organizations, such as Junior Achievement of North Louisiana, Common Ground, and the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana to his role as a board member of the local United Way in Shreveport, Evans has been giving back to his community in many impactful ways. At Junior Achievement, he has been an active volunteer at Cherokee Park Elementary School where he can be found in third grade classes teaching various lessons to eager students. At the annual “JA in a Day” event Evans is joined by close to 20 Regions Bank colleagues as they step into classrooms throughout the low-income elementary school.
“Mark and his team have volunteered to teach Junior Achievement lessons at Cherokee Park Elementary for more than 10 years,” shared Nita Cook President/Executive Director at Junior Achievement of North Louisiana. “They have filled 18 classrooms each year reaching 400-plus students with lessons in financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship. Through leaders like Mark, JA helps kids connect the dots between academic and economic success.”
Mark and his team have volunteered to teach Junior Achievement lessons at Cherokee Park Elementaryfor more than 10 years. Through leaders like Mark, JA helps
kids connect the dots between academic and economic success!
Nita Cook, President/Executive Director at Junior Achievement of North Louisiana
The United Way of Northwest Louisiana is focused on providing resources for the Asset Limited Income Constrained Employee (or ALICE) population in the region where 50 percent of the residents are either living in poverty or are considered working poor. The organization focuses on four pillars to help assist community members with access to resources such as the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, which see more than 5,000 local children from birth to age 5 receiving monthly books to grow strong and engaged readers from an early age.
In 2011, the city of Shreveport started BankOn, with Regions Bank was as a program founder. A few years ago, the city turned this program over to the United Way which now manages this program. Financial stability is one of the key pillars of United Way, and Evans was actively engaged in the formation of the Center for Financial Empowerment, which manages the process of hiring financial counselors and financial education to the unbanked and underserved population. He has spent much of his past three years of board membership with UWNL helping establish and get the Center up and running.
“The United Way touches all walks of life,” Evans said. “I am so proud to be part of a giving community through many different United Way partner programs.”
The last two pillars of the UWNL mission are empowering healthy lives and comforting in crisis, programs that provide financial assistance for prescription medicines and basic comfort needs, such as payment programs for utilities, respectively.
In addition to his work with the United Way and its partner organizations, Evans is currently serving as president of the Committee of 100 Shreveport and is a board member of the BioMedical Research Foundation (BRF), which serves as an economic driver focused on attracting businesses and corporations to the Shreveport areas. Evans joined this board at the beginning of this year and foresees an active role with BioMed‘s Entrepreneurial Accelerator Program. Regions Bank recently donated $30,000 to the program to help local businesses develop prototypes for their companies.