Welcome to the NextGen Banker Podcast
Technology has created unprecedented opportunities in the banking industry over the last decade. And at the same time, consumers have renewed their expectations around how financial institutions – and, for that matter, corporations in general – should respond to pressing social issues.
The next generation of bankers needs to be technologically savvy and look for opportunities to create environmental, social and financial sustainability. Listen as host David Reiling talks with the changemakers responsible for creating a financial sector that’s more diverse, values-driven and better-equipped to support all consumers.
Episode #18: Sonia Reinhardt
Featuring: Sonia Reinhardt
Sonia Reinhardt is a senior human resources advisor with GLS Bank and the alumni manager and human development senior advisor for the Global Alliance for Banking on Values Leadership Academy. Sonia talks with Bryan and Becca about how she got into banking, her experience with microfinance and what the Leadership Academy offers to values-based banking executives. She also discusses what she feels is the main difference between traditional banks and their values-based counterparts. Featuring music from Mason Zgoda.
ListenEpisode #17: Mike Bechtel
Featuring: Mike Bechtel
Mike Bechtel makes his living as a futurist – but in order to make predictions about tomorrow, he grounds himself in the past. “Futurists are just secretly historians,” he says. Bechtel is Deloitte’s chief futurist and talks with David about how companies can prepare for the future while also tempering their expectations based on experience. He gives insights into what he feels will drive the technology of tomorrow – “going beyond the screen,” says Bechtel – and how corporate leaders can devise a plan to keep up. Bechtel also says the banker of the future will “lead with need.” Featuring music from Phil Madeira.
ListenEpisode #16: Jan Köpper
Featuring: Jan Köpper
Jan Köpper is the head of the impact transparency and sustainability department at GLS Bank in Germany. Jan talks with Becca and Bryan about his role at GLS as well as how the bank measures its impact and why it’s important for financial institutions to track metrics other than revenue and the bottom line. In addition, Jan talks about how he wound up in values-based banking and what he’s excited about in 2022 and beyond.
ListenEpisode #15: Melanie Holdsworth
Featuring: Melanie Holdsworth
Melanie Holdsworth is the Organizational Process Excellence Manager for Teachers Mutual Bank Limited, one of the largest customer-owned banks in Australia. Melanie helped to create Hiver, a digital bank geared towards essential workers. Melanie talks about how Hiver got its start as well as values-based banking and Teachers Mutual Bank Limited’s work in the sustainability space. Featuring music from Stephen Munoz.
ListenEpisode #14: Marilyn Waite
Featuring: Marilyn Waite
Marilyn Waite knows a lot about sustainability and climate – she also knows the global community has much work ahead if it wants to make real positive change in the long-term. Waite leads the Climate Finance Fund, a $75 million philanthropic platform covering the markets of China, Europe and the United States. She’s also worked in renewable and nuclear energy, climate modeling and investment. Waite talks with David about what she learned at COP 26, the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials and the role fintech can play in environmental sustainability. Waite, a published author and frequent contributor to major publications, also touches on her hopes for tomorrow’s banker and how climate-friendly practices can – and need to be – implemented into not only our personal lives, but our careers. Featuring music from Alice Peacock.
ListenEpisode #13: Kate Hammer
Featuring: Kate Hammer
Kate Hammer’s career path is anything but conventional. Hammer, currently Vancity's director of government relations, wound up in banking after beginning her career in journalism, working at the New York Times and the Globe and Mail. She’s also been involved in politics, serving as an advisor to Canada’s first female, openly gay premier. Hammer’s varied career path has given her an array of skills that help in her current position, where she advocates for financial policy that helps consumers gain access to banking products and services. She’s also worked to shape Vancity’s climate commitments. Hammer talks about the urgency banks and other corporations face to save our planet as well as how to make sure all individuals are included in digital transformation. Featuring music from Jesse Sprinkle.
ListenMore from David Reiling
Concerns over the Regulatory Environment Facing Banks
Addressing Racial Equity in a Time of Crisis

Sunrise Banks CEO David Reiling Named Chair of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values

Fintech for Good: Five Innovators Changing the Banking World

Fintech4Good
What does it mean to succeed in the business world?
The traditional definition of success usually entails a corporate structure based on earnings and earnings alone, without much thought put into what’s been given back. This model tends to think of a company’s mission and profit margin as being mutually exclusive.
At Sunrise, we believe the opposite: By being mission-focused and helping others, companies can do even better financially — mission times margin.
This belief is what prompted Sunrise CEO David Reiling to write his new book, Fintech4Good. The book chronicles five financial technology entrepreneurs who saw issues of economic inequality first-hand and created products to fix them.
Touching on the student loan crisis, credit-building roadblocks for refugees and the lack of small-loan options for the average American, Fintech4Good explores financial technology (fintech) and its myriad possibilities to affect positive change.
Fintech4Good is available on Amazon.

About David
David Reiling is an innovative social entrepreneur focused on empowering individuals through community banking and financial technology. David is the Chief Executive Officer of Sunrise Banks and has been in the community development banking industry for more than 25 years.
David believes that doing well and doing good are not mutually exclusive. Under David’s leadership, Sunrise has financially outperformed banks of the same size while also providing products and services that help low-income individuals in the Twin Cities Metro achieve financial wellness.
David has spoken at conferences around the world and is the author of Fintech4Good.