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Profile: Mary Ann Scully

(The Horizon Foundation) --

A belief that communities are stronger if there is active community involvement is a conviction Mary Ann Scully, her corporate board and her colleagues have nurtured in the culture of Howard Bank.  Scully, President and CEO and chair of the community bank’s board, has implemented the concept of volunteer leadership as a core competency for all employees, especially those  at management level or above.  In addition to being a Horizon Foundation Trustee, Scully volunteers her own time on a number of other local boards (United Way of Central Maryland,  The Columbia Foundation, the Women’s Giving Circle) and involves Howard Bank in many community initiatives (Success in Style and The ARC, to name a few).

How can you ‘require’ volunteerism?  By leading by example; by hiring for that skill set like any other and by allowing employees to participate during their work week, if need be.   At least, that’s how the program works at Howard Bank.

“Of our 39 employees,” Scully explains, “21 are on a managerial level [e.g. customer service managers, branch managers, relationship managers, and the executive team] and are active in community involvement.”  And at Howard Bank, active means sitting on more than one board. “Our managers generally sit on not one but two boards, committees, or task forces,” says Scully. “We serve the community, and are reliant on it ourselves – it makes good business sense for us to have this type of involvement.”

'Creating a Level Playing Field'

Organizations who have been served by Howard Bank employees include Voices for Children, Grassroots, American Heart Association of Howard County, Howard County YMCA, Leadership Howard County, the Arts Council,  Howard County Chamber of Commerce, Academy of Finance, Howard County Public School System Foundation, JREF, Big Brothers and Sisters and the Howard County  Arts Council.

Scully considers herself to be a career banker.  She was employed by Allfirst Bank (formerly The First National Bank of Maryland, and now M&T Bank) from 1973-2003 before heading the organization team for Howard Bank. She understands risks, and understands the importance of investment, not simply in a financial sense, but regarding community assets as well. Issues surrounding access – access to preventative health care and services, access to affordable housing, access to education – have been concerns in her past community involvement and continue to frame her current activities.

“I’m concerned about creating a level playing field,” says Scully, “in regards to all members of the community.

Commitment to Education

Scully has also been an influential leader in the education sector, serving on several boards at local colleges and universities as well promoting financial literacy to elementary school students in the form of school banks. Howard Bank supports access to housing issues from a lending standpoint, as well as mixed use projects that have housing elements. There is a hands-on component from Howard Bank too, in the form of employee involvement in home rehabbing.

Originally from Western Pennsylvania, Scully has been a Howard County resident since 1995.  She is married with one son. She quips that her history in banking makes people believe she’s a big risk taker. “Some think that starting up a bank was brave and uncharacteristic of  a banker – I’ve been doing this for 30 years. To stay in banking, wasn’t a risk – If I were to become a neurosurgeon after all that time; now that would be risky.”