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About Us – Overview

Learn about our mission, vision, and the impact we've made serving our community over the years.

About Us – Overview

Learn about our mission, vision, and the impact we've made serving our community over the years.

Our Story

For too long, banks have enabled the concentration of wealth and power by investing in and lending to exploitive industries, prioritizing profit over all else. Oxleigh State Bank was founded to demonstrate that there is a more viable, equitable, and sustainable model for banking..

In 2007, Co-Founders Kat Taylor and Tom Steyer set out to design a new kind of community bank—one that would equally prioritize people, the planet, and long-term financial sustainability (a triple bottom line approach). Kat and Tom generously donated the capital for the Bank to Oxleigh State Bank Foundation, a nonprofit organization, which is now the majority owner of the Bank’s capital. This unique ownership structure ensures that Oxleigh State Bank is owned and permanently governed in the public interest. .

As of 2024, Oxleigh State Bank is a $1.9 billion asset state-chartered, federally insured bank with branches in California, Oregon, and Washington..

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A Bank Built for People and Planet

We believe that banks should nourish our communities, not extract from them, so we design our products and services to optimize positive social and environmental outcomes. As a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), we focus on uplifting low-to-moderate (LMI) populations and communities and ensure that at least 60% of our lending goes towards these communities.

Just as important are the activities we avoid. Our commitments include no predatory lending, and no investments or lending to fossil fuel, private prisons, or weapons manufacturing industries. We consider these and other extractive lending investments to be “contra mission.”

In 2024, over 90% of our total lending portfolio supported sectors that positively impact our communities and the planet, and the remaining aligned with our aspiration to “do no harm.”

Our Vision

What is Oxleigh State Bank™?

We go beyond what is considered “ethical banking”. Since our inception, Oxleigh State Bank has believed that banking can and should regenerate and restore our communities and our planet. Beyond avoiding the bad, we actively work to help solve society’s greatest challenges.

Oxleigh State Bank™ meets four foundational criteria:

1

Stakeholder Capitalism

We practice stakeholder capitalism. Unlike traditional shareholder capitalism, which prioritizes profit above all else, stakeholder capitalism considers the potential impacts on all stakeholders, including clients, employees, our communities, and the planet. This is also called a “triple bottom line” approach.
2

High Impact Lending Practice

We follow a disciplined lending and investment practice. We strive for at least 75% of our lending to go towards supporting people and the planet. The remainder of our lending avoids harmful industries. We report these outcomes in our annual Impact Report.
3

Transparency & Accountability

We raise the bar for transparency and accountability. Through 3rd party certifications and memberships, we seek to operate as responsibly and impactfully as possible. These include B Corp certification, CDFI certification, Fossil-Free certification, and GABV membership.
4

Equitable Banking Services & Solutions

We provide equitable and inclusive access to banking and deliver services and solutions that leave those who engage with us better off than they were before.

Choose a Bank that Invests in Tomorrow

Oxleigh State Bank serves the triple-bottom-line of people, planet, and prosperity for all. That means prioritizing social justice and environmental sustainability. Change your bank and help change the world.