Jay Kim has joined Heartland Financial USA as executive vice president, general counsel reporting directly to President/CEO Bruce Lee.
Kim has more than 30 years of experience working with banking and financial services clients, spending half of his career as general counsel and in senior management roles and the other half as an attorney in private practice.
As a partner with Dorsey & Whitney in their banking and financial services industry group, he focused on advising banks, trust companies, wealth management firms, commercial and residential mortgage brokers and retirement plan administrators on mergers and acquisitions and regulatory and operational matters.
Before joining Dorsey & Whitney, Kim was executive vice president, general counsel and director of corporate development for Alerus Financial, Fargo, N.D. As general counsel and senior vice president with Marquette Financial Companies, he served on bank and trust company boards, the M&A team, and supervised the legal and compliance functions.
Kim has a Bachelor of Science degree from Iowa State University, Ames, and a law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School, Minneapolis.
“Jay has had an impressive career, and brings to Heartland extensive experience having advised executives in the financial services industry on growth, strategy and wealth initiatives,“ Lee said. “Having someone of Jay’s experience, integrated with our already exceptional Heartland team, strategically aligns us to meet and exceed our growth objectives. Jay is a key figure in building for our future and executing on a comprehensive succession plan.”
Kim is actively involved in his community, having served on several boards, including the University of Minnesota Law School Board of Advisors and several YMCA branch and program boards.
He currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Nature Conservancy for Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, The Food Group, a Minnesota based food security organization, and is an active volunteer with the Wounded Warriors in Action Foundation.