In a recent press release, City National Bank — the largest bank based in the Los Angeles area with $91.2 billion in assets — has named its first-ever community lending national sales manager, Vanessa Montañez, D.E.L.

In this role, she will work with her team to strategize how to provide financial education and community outreach to expand mortgage lending to serve historically underserved borrowers.

Additionally, her team will develop a community loan program intended to improve homeownership, beginning in California and expanding across all communities served by the bank, including in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, Nevada, New York City, Nashville, Atlanta, Washington, D.C. and Miami.

“Vanessa will play a key role in strengthening our communities, especially those that are underserved, by helping more people achieve the dream of homeownership. She is a purposeful leader with a strong lending background and highly effective strategic management experience,” said Kelly Coffey, chief executive officer of City National in a statement.

Her hire is a part of City National’s commitment to serve underserved communities, which will include Montañez building relationships with nonprofit and community organizations with City National’s Community Reinvestment Act team.

This team also provides grants to community-based organizations across the nation, providing credit, financial education, foreclosure prevention services and homeownership counseling.

Montañez holds more than 25 years of experience in residential lending, and sales and business development management. Before joining City National, she served as vice president of U.S. Bank for the national strategic markets and diverse segments.

In her previous position, she oversaw the creation and implementation of plans to increase sales production and market shares for affordable lending in the company’s West region.

As a part of Montañez’s community outreach efforts, she is currently serving on the board of directors for both Rebuilding Together City of Angels and the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals Regional Corporate Board of Governors for the Southwest Region.

“I am excited to have joined City National with the incredible opportunity to make an impact on sustainable homeownership,” says Montañez, senior vice president and community lending national sales manager, in a statement. 

“Our goal is to expand the mortgage lending business by serving historically underserved borrowers through outreach, education, great programs, and excellent service. Imagine buying a home and building generational wealth through homeownership where our children will live in a better community, build security, and have access to higher education all because it started with a home,” she continued.

Montañez earned her doctorate of executive leadership (D.E.L.) with honors from the University of Charleston in Charleston, West Virginia, and her master's degree in business administration from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.