Investors Bank Foundation Supports NJ Non-Profits

Steve Adubato talks with the President and CEO of Investors Bank, Kevin Cummings, about the importance of giving back the community and why the Investors Foundation has pledged $20 million to non-profit organizations throughout New Jersey.

6/3/17 #3009






"Hi, I'm Steve Adubato. We welcome back, by popular demand, our friend Kevin Cummings, President and Chief Executive Officer, Investors Bank. Good to see you Kevin. Good morning. Good to be here. Kevin is a huge fan of basketball. We're taping this right at the end of March Madness. By the time it airs, you will know who the national champion is. We're not gonna talk basketball? Why not? [laughter] My bracket got murdered. Yeah, join the club. I'm still rooting for Kansas. By the way, a graduate of St. Peter's Prep, Jersey City, right? That... growing up in Jersey City, going to St. Peter's Prep, in fact has had, no joke, a big impact on your life and your approach to being a CEO? A corporate executive? Sure. Describe it. I'll tell you, the Jesuit tradition, being a man for others, being a leader who serves, not a self-serving leader, has been our motto here at the bank. And we have our core values. Character, commitment, community, cooperation. And we want to be a bank that makes a difference for our customers, our employees, and the communities that we serve. In fact, as we do this program, literally tomorrow morning, it'll again air after, one of the partners you have that we're very close to is the Montclair Film Festival. There's a big opening happening tomorrow. It's arts education initiative they're involved in, a building, that's happening there. That's just one of the many. And we'll just go through some of these. When you talk about corporate social responsibility, I want to go through some of these. One, talk to us about The Scholarship Fund for Inner-City Children. What is it? And why does it matter? Okay. It's a scholarship fund, local businesses, corporate support, through the Diocese... the Catholic Diocese of Newark. It's a separate organization, and it gives scholarship funds... provides scholarship funds to Catholic high schools in Bergen, Union, Hudson, and Essex County. It's a great program, and it's all to kids of all denominations, all races. No... you don't have to be Catholic or anything like that. And it really helps those parents in those neighborhoods that want a value based education. It gets them over the hump to afford the education. But why do you support...? Like, why have... when the foundation, when your... when the bank's foundation picks who you choose to try to make difference with? I mean you get asked by everyone. Including public broadcasting. Sure. Right? Sure. And others? Yeah. How do you decide? Well case in point. St. Benedict's Prep. Amari Frazier. A great school. He's on... By the way, my son teaches there right now. So go ahead. Okay, right..."