NEW CHIEF COMMUNITY OFFICER AT COMERICA BANK ‘HONORED, HUMBLED’

NEW CHIEF COMMUNITY OFFICER

By Isaiah Robinson

DALLAS – Irvin Ashford, Jr. the new Chief Community Officer at Comerica Bank, is extremely grateful for his new role and is on a mission to empower the community he serves. Ashford will be responsible for leading Comerica’s diversity business resource groups, community reinvestment nationally and all associated activities including development, lending, community investments, volunteerism and data analysis. Ashford will also maintain the responsibilities he previously served as Comerica’s National Director of Financial Education and External Affairs, and will report directly into the Office of the Chairman.

“I feel honored, humbled, and encouraged.” Ashford told African-American News&Issues. “Honored because Comerica has a long, successful history in the financial services industry and they could have selected someone else for this position, but I was chosen. Humbled because of my personal journey and because I have worked hard to be impactful in my career.”

Ashford joined Comerica Bank in 2000 and has continued to strengthen relationships with the communities served by Comerica through various financial literacy and community development initiatives.

“My goals are very simple, to fulfill the Comerica Promise of ‘raising expectations,’” Ashford said. “It is paramount that we increase the financial education and economic wherewithal of more people particularly individuals in diverse communities. We can and will do more to provide our expertise to help vulnerable communities to achieve economic parity by lending our expertise on economic and community development, financial and wealth building strategies. “

Last year, he and his team established the Comerica Money $ense Program to address the critical need of teaching sound financial principles to a wide range of audiences from pre-K to senior citizens, as well as small businesses.

“The launching of Comerica Money $ense, which expanded to Comerica Business, Education, Sports and Senior $ense programs, is all designed to provide critical financial knowledge to empower individuals and communities to make sound financial decisions,” Ashford said. “This year we’re expanding our outreach to include financial education for nonprofits including churches through our Comerica Community and Church $ense programs.”

Ashford has remained a pillar in the community, aiding various civic and community groups that include serving on the board of directors for the Texas Women’s Empowerment Foundation (TWEF), Dallas Theater Center, Kym’s Kids and Focus on Teens.

He also serves the Board of Trustees for the Webb School, in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, where Ashford was one of the school’s first African-American graduates.

In 2019, Ashford was inducted into the University of Dallas’ Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business Hall of Fame for his contributions to community and economic development initiatives in diverse and underserved communities.

Ashford is a Woodrow Wilson International Studies and Public Policy Fellow, an American Marshall Fellow and British American Project Fellow.

A graduate of Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, Ashford earned dual master’s degrees – public affairs from the University of Texas and business administration from the University of Dallas.