Brown, Gimenez hired in commercial lending at Bell Bank

Brandon Brown has been hired as SVP/commercial banking manager, and Adaliz Gimenez has been hired as VP/commercial banker at Bell Bank, located at 2710 E. Camelback Road, Suite 205, in Phoenix.

In his new position, Brown leads a team of commercial bankers in Arizona, focused on developing account relationships with a range of businesses. Brown’s team facilitates complex transactions and helps customers secure suitable credit as well as treasury management or other financial services their businesses need.

Originally from Parker, Col., Brown has lived in Arizona for 13 years. He graduated from Metropolitan State University in Denver and the Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington. Prior to joining Bell, he worked at Wells Fargo for 15 years, where he specifically focused on lending to healthcare- and legal-related firms in Arizona.

Brown and his wife live in Verrado and have three children.

Gimenez develops relationships with commercial customers, with professional segments including physician groups, surgery and imaging centers, dentists, veterinarians, legal firms and accounting firms. 

Originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico, Gimenez earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Puerto Rico and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix. She has been in banking and lending for nearly 20 years, and worked for 15 years at Wells Fargo Bank, specifically focusing on lending in the legal and healthcare industries, including healthcare equipment lending.

Gimenez lives in Phoenix. She and her husband have two children.

Arizona’s Children Association names new executive suite

Arizona’s Children Association (AzCA), one of the state’s oldest and largest child welfare and behavioral health nonprofit agencies, is pleased to announce the addition of Barbara Krusko, Ken Goranson, Henry Behr and Vicki Helland to its executive team as chief development officer (CDO), chief financial officer (CFO), chief compliance and quality officer, and chief behavioral health officer respectively. 

Krusko holds dual bachelor’s degrees in English and education from Syracuse University and a master’s degree in public relations from Iona College. Prior to joining AzCA, Barbara served as chief development officer at West Bergen Mental Healthcare in Ridgewood, New Jersey, and has more than 25 years of experience in managing fundraising, marketing and public relations programs for healthcare and educational institutions.

In her new role, Krusko will direct staff and build broad-based fundraising strategies that emphasize donor retention, major and planned giving, and expansion of AzCA branding through traditional marketing and social media.

Goranson brings a mix of for-profit and not-for-profit experience in health care, manufacturing, and service-related organizations with more than 30 years of professional accounting and finance experience. Ken is a certified management accountant and has an MBA from Babson College. He was most recently the CFO at Benson Hospital, a 22-bed, rural, critical-access hospital. 

As CFO, Goranson is responsible for all fiscal areas and activities of the agency and reporting to the CEO. He will provide leadership, advice, information, training and assistance in the areas of fiscal and business management. He will also serve as a liaison with investment counsel and bank management, insurance brokers and carriers and the Finance and Audit Committees of the Board of Directors. 

Henry Behr was born and raised in Arizona and received his bachelor’s degree in political science from Arizona State University, as well as his MBA from Grand Canyon University. Behr joined the team in 2019 and is responsible for all compliance, performance and quality improvement activities across the state. Henry has more than 10 years of experience helping organizations measure and improve the quality of services, manage risk, comply with regulations and achieve accreditation.

Vicki Helland has more than 15 years of experience in behavioral health working for non-profit for-profit, and managed care organizations in the state. Helland’s expertise includes development and implementation, tribal programming and grants management. Helland received her bachelor’s degree in counseling from Grand Canyon University and master’s degree in social work from Arizona State University. She is also a social work doctoral candidate. Most recently, she was the executive director for United Healthcare and President of Resilience Treatment Group Consulting.

“I am extremely confident and excited about the changes we’ve made on our executive leadership team,” said Jacob Schmitt, president and CEO. “We have assembled a remarkable team at AzCA with a diverse set of experiences, expertise and backgrounds to accelerate our development and performance, carry out our strategic plans, and inspire our amazing employees to be the best they can be.” 

For more information about Arizona Children’s Association, visit arizonaschildren.org and like on Facebook.

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