Board of Directors

Ray Christman resides in Naples, Florida. He was elected to the Naples City Council in April 2019. He is also the President and CEO of RPRC Consulting, providing consulting and advisory services to community banks, non-profits, foundations, and state and local governments.

Ray’s career has included work in urban and economic development in his home town of Pittsburgh. He served as head of the City’s Urban Redevelopment Authority, as Secretary of Commerce for Pennsylvania, and as President of the Pittsburgh Technology Council.

Ray subsequently worked in the banking industry serving first as chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh and then as President and CEO of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta. He later helped establish and lead Hamilton State Bank in Georgia, which grew to become one of the ten largest banks in the state before its sale in 2018.

Ray has a long history of involvement in the conservation field, including serving as Senior Vice President of the Trust for Public Land. He helped found Appalachian Community Capital (ACC), which provides capital to CDFIs located in the Appalachian Region, and continues to serve on ACC’s board. He has served on the board of Southern Bancorp Community Partners since 2017.

Darrin Williams’ career is a unique combination of law, business, and politics. Currently serving as the CEO of Southern Bancorp, Inc., Williams oversees the strategic direction and operations of each of Southern’s three Community Development Financial Institutions: Southern Bancorp, Inc., a bank holding company; Southern Bancorp Bank, one of America’s largest rural development banks; and Southern Bancorp Community Partners, a 501(c)(3) development finance and lending organization – collectively known as “Southern.”

Southern was founded nearly thirty years ago when some of the nation’s most notable political, business and philanthropic leaders, including Bill Clinton, Rob Walton, Muhammad Yunus and the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation to name a few, came together around a central idea – that the economic challenges facing many underserved communities could in part be addressed through the creation of a values-based financial organization focused on providing these services to those who most need them. With an initial investment of approximately $10 million and a mission to create economic opportunity, Southern has grown to become one of the most effective and largest community development organizations in the United States, as well as a model for an entire industry of mission-focused financial institutions known as Community Development Financial Institutions. Southern Bancorp today is a $1.2 billion asset organization with over 80,000 customers and 43 branches located primarily in underserved markets in the Mid-South.

Prior to leading Southern, Williams served as managing partner at the law firm of Carney, Williams, Bates, Pulliam & Bowman, PLLC, where he focused on representing institutional investors and consumers in class action litigation against some of the nation’s largest publicly traded companies. Williams also served three terms of elected office in the Arkansas House of Representatives (2008-2013), serving as Speaker Pro Tempore of the 89th Arkansas General Assembly. As a lawmaker, he was recognized nationally for his legislative accomplishments, including being named a Champion of Small Business by the National Capital Coalition, an Aspen-Rodel Fellow in Public Leadership by the Aspen Institute, and listed as one of 12 state legislators from around the country to watch by Governing Magazine. Williams received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Hendrix College, his Juris Doctor from Vanderbilt University School of Law, and his Master of Laws degree in Securities and Financial Regulation from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C.