“We Exist to Help Each Other”

Mary O’Connor earned the 2021 George Bailey Distinguished Service Award, honoring a non-CEO bank employee who demonstrates outstanding initiative, commitment to their customers and community, and the ability to inspire others. Mary strives to live by the mantra, “to whom much is given, much is expected”. Profoundly affected by family tragedies, Mary exemplifies how one can turn grief into positive community action. As executive vice president of logistics and creative brand management at Country Club Bank, her attitude is central not only to the bank’s internal culture, but to the bank’s brand in the community. 

Mary works to spotlight local nonprofits, small businesses and civic initiatives throughout Kansas City via her weekly podcast, Banking on KC, which connects these organizations with people in need of their services. She even altered the bank’s local billboards, co-branding them with these nonprofit groups, to further their reach. 

A fierce advocate for women in the workforce, she broke through the 50-year gender barrier at The Carriage Club as the first female president. Mary also persuaded bank leadership to lease a rent-free, 9,000-square-foot building on its campus to University of Missouri-Kansas City’s E-scholar program for entrepreneurs, and the Women’s Employment Network (WEN). Mary’s fervor for volunteerism inspires Country Club Bank associates to follow suit, and make a difference in the community at large.

As a community leader by word and by example, Mary’s efforts are guided by a firm belief that when even one person is lifted up, we are lifted up as a community too, and that giving is not a “program.” Rather, it is an ongoing, everyday approach to life. It is life. As Mary concluded her remarks at the Nonprofit Connect celebration: “What is the point of existence if not to help each other?”

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