Two Winona area residents were among the 30 Minnesota professionals selected for Finance & Commerce’s 2022 Top Women in Finance awards. WNB Financial Senior Vice President And Chief Operating Officer Erica Jerowski and Let’s Erase The Stigma founder Kathy Sublett were honored last month.
This is the 22nd year the magazine has celebrated accomplished women in finance from around Minnesota. Honorees were profiled in the Finance & Commerce magazine and honored at a November 10 dinner.
Sublett founded the nonprofit Let’s Erase The Stigma to help people navigate the challenging path to expunging criminal records and get back on their feet after addiction, incarceration, bad credit, or medical problems. Its programs include free workshops that help ex-offenders expunge their criminal records — records that can often hold people back from securing housing or jobs even long after their sentence is completed — and education on budgeting and financial literacy.
“Out of my own experience, I developed a program to meet them where they are,” Sublett told Finance & Commerce. She added, “It’s about helping people come up out of the hopelessness enough to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Jerowski’s career with WNB spans 23 years. She currently serves as senior vice president and chief operating officer, but she has also held the roles of chief credit officer, business banking manager, and mortgage manager. She also serves on the WNB Financial Board of Directors. As a community volunteer, Jerowski serves as a board member for both the Winona Area Youth Hockey Association and Cotter Schools, where she also contributes to the finance committees. She and her husband, Mitch, live in Winona with their children, Jack and Elle.
“On behalf of the entire team at WNB Financial, I’d like to congratulate Erica …” said David Vaselaar, WNB financial president and chief executive officer. “Erica is an extremely talented banker, and throughout her career, she has proven to be a gifted financial advisor to her clients. She’s always willing to share her time and talent with numerous organizations in the community. We’re fortunate to have such a strong leader at WNB.”
