Banking leader named CEO of equity-focused development group

Dorothy Bridges was recently named interim president and CEO of the Minneapolis-based, equity-focused Metropolitan Economic Development Association. 

Bridges brings more than 40 years of banking experience to Meda, much of it focused on commercial and community development lending in minority, small business and development markets. Founded in 1971, Meda aims to support the success of entrepreneurs who are Black, Indigenous and people of color. 

Bridges worked for Twin Cities-based Sunrise Community Banks and Franklin National Bancorp from 1999-2008, Securian’s Advantus Series Mutual Fund from 2006-11, and was CEO and president of Washington, D.C.-based City First Bancorp from 2008-11. She joined the U.S. Bancorp board of directors in 2018 following a seven-year career as a senior vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. 

Bridges has a liberal arts degree from the University of Montana, Bozeman.  

“Her passion for Meda’s mission is unmistakable and her decades’ worth of work in numerous financial institutions and capacities will be of immense value for the organization,” said board member Jashan Eison.