Building Sound Relationships for Advocacy

November 15, 2016

By Kerry OLeary

aurie Stewarts bank is in the other WashingtonWashington state, that is. But her

connection to both legislative centersin the state capital of Olympia, as well as in our
nations capitalhas positioned her as a leader in advocating for the banking industry.
Members of Congress from her home state know the $540 million Sound Community Bank,
where she is currently president and CEO, and Stewart knows the potential that name
recognition can have on the floor in Washington, D.C.
With Sound since 1989, when she joined as president, shes had a personal interest in
government affairs since college. I remember being excited about primaries, and going to
events and learning about candidates and just being engaged in the process, recalls
Stewart, a member and former chairman of ABAs Government Relations Council who was
named by American Banker as one of the 25 Women to Watch for her leadership in
advocacy. She attributes some of her success in forging relationships with lawmakers to the
lawmakers themselves. Hes had a long relationship with bankers, she says of Rep. Denny
Heck (D), and he really understands them, so when he travels to Washington, D.C., its just
natural for him to engage with bankers.

Stewart addresses ABAs Summer Leadership Meeting in Seattle in July 2016.

Stewart regularly invites up-and-coming employees to legislative lunches in Olympia to talk
to lawmakers. And Sounds executive development program also takes emerging leaders on
annual visits to D.C. Part of the legacy I would like to leave is that other people get as
excited about advocacy as I do. And I try to extend that beyond the C-suite, Stewart says.
The legacy she speaks of stretches past handshakes. Weve also got to put dollars behind
our presence, she says, and thats a big part of advocacy. Her bank makes a corporate
contribution to the 501(c)(4) Fund for Economic Growth and solicits support for BankPac at
the management and board level. Its no different than the other things that we build into
our operating budget, she sayslikening BankPac and Fund contributions to investments in
infrastructure, software or training at the bank. Each year, her board includes an agenda
item on BankPac and the Fund and suggest what Stewart calls a fair-share contribution.

She also anticipates instituting an employee-wide drive in the future and sees the potential
to reach a wider pool of contributors as a necessary next step.
Making it personal
Stewart also advises doing homework before meeting a lawmaker. During one of her first
conversations with Sen. Patty Murray (D), Stewarts strategy was to build a bridge by
leading off with something shes passionate about, which for Patty is veterans affairs.
The goal, says Stewart, is to tie any subject back to banking. Everything has financial
ramifications. So if you can engage [your lawmaker] to begin with, when they talk to their
colleagues or when somebody asks their opinion, they are then more educated on more
issues. It will ultimately pay off.
Stewarts tireless efforts led Rep. Derek Kilmer (D), whom she refers to as a rising star, to
visit Sounds Tacoma branchone of only a few branches that has an in-house lending and
retail unitlast fall. Employees raised topics like fair lending and credit, and Kilmer left with
anecdotes and information to help him better understand what regulations mean to the
people he represents in D.C.
I cant tell you how great that was, says Stewart. Not just because we got to talk to
Derek, but because the dialogue came from our employees and their stories about what
they do every day.
This grassroots storytelling is what Stewart says ignites the whole advocacy process. And
thats the whole goal of advocacy. When lawmakers think of bankers they think of a real
person and not just an institution.