About Us

Darrin L. Williams is the CEO of Southern Bancorp, Inc., one of America’s oldest and largest community development financial institutions (CDFIs) working to expand economic opportunity in rural and minority communities throughout the mid-South that are increasingly abandoned by other financial institutions. With more than $4.7 billion in assets and more than 60 locations around and throughout the Delta region, one of the nation’s most impoverished communities, Southern Bancorp focuses on the net worth building strategies of homeownership, entrepreneurship, and saving. A frequent commentator in the national press, Williams is a former legislator, securities and consumer protection attorney, and passionate advocate for financial inclusion who is recognized nationally for his work to increase financial access. Darrin is a recent addition to Business Insider’s 100 People Transforming Business as well as a past member of the Bloomberg 50, an annual list of individuals who defined global business for the year. Williams is active in many organizations including serving as Immediate Past Chairperson of the Community Development Bankers Association; the North American board representative to the Global Alliance for Banking on Values; a board member of the St. Louis Federal Reserve’s Little Rock Branch, and a White House appointee to the CDFI Fund Community Development Advisory Board. Williams received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Hendrix College in Conway, Ark.; his Juris Doctor from Vanderbilt University School of Law in Nashville, Tenn.; and his Master of Laws degree in Securities and Financial Regulation from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C.

Kenya Gordon serves as President of Southern Bancorp Community Partners, a nonprofit loan fund CDFI headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. As President, Kenya leads the organization’s vision in providing flexible lending options, asset building strategies to help families and communities build wealth, and public policy advocacy. Prior to joining Southern, Kenya was an attorney who practiced complex civil litigation and family law in Central Arkansas and Memphis, Tennessee. She has managed her own law firm and served as of Counsel at the law firm Gill Ragon Owen, P.A. in Little Rock. In addition to a significant legal career, Kenya’s career includes a background in finance as a financial advisor and in education as an algebra teacher in Memphis Public Schools. Kenya is a graduate of Tennessee State University, an HBCU in Nashville, Tennessee and of Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tennessee. She received her law degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Bowen School of Law. She is married with two children, and is active in several local and national community organizations and professional boards.

Mary Warner Bell is responsible for all of SBCP’s accounting functions, compliance issues, funder reports, budgeting, all financial reports, auditing, and tax returns. She also prepares financial documents, transfers, and financial reporting for programmatic and lending efforts, and is experienced in managing the financial aspects of federal government grants. Ms. Bell also manages both compliance with diverse grants and loans providing loan capital for SBCP’s lending and the deployment of all loan funds.  Ms. Bell has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Henderson State University and more than 30 years of experience in non-profit and bank-related accounting.

For two decades, Michael Coulter has been spent assisting small business owners and families realize their financial dreams, a passion and expertise that he is proud to bring to the Southern Bancorp Community Partners team as Chief Lending Officer. Prior to joining SBCP, Michael spent over 8 years at LiftFund, a CDFI in Houston, Texas, where he worked with a team of dedicated and passionate lenders and technical assistance providers in a 15 state footprint. In his role at SBCP, Michael oversees all lending operations for the nonprofit CDFI loan fund, helping to grow its services and expand its impact in underserved communities across the South.