Meet Shaun Gordon, a commercial banker who’s all in for kids and community

While serving businesses and helping kids may seem like very different activities, these two passions come together nicely in Shaun Gordon, our Senior Commercial Relationship Manager in the Tri-Cities, Wash. Shaun likes the challenge of assisting businesses because each one is different and “there’s no cookie-cutter approach.”

The Senior Vice President said, “I really enjoy being brought in and relied on as a financial partner. I love helping people and being directly involved.”

And involved he is, well beyond his role as a banker. Raised by a single mom, Shaun recalls the kindness of strangers when he was young. Now, determined to make a difference for other kids, he and his wife have fostered about 30 children over the past seven years. They founded Mo’s Place with another couple in 2019 to support foster youth and their caregivers. The nonprofit aims to fill the gaps between the child welfare system and caregivers, meeting immediate needs when a child is placed in a home. They provide everything from diapers and cribs to shoes and clothing, and host annual events including a shoe drive, back-to-school event and a Christmas party with gifts for the kids.

Of course, the challenges and rewards of being a foster parent differ from those of serving commercial clients. Foster parents can grow attached to children who may be with them for weeks, months or even years. For Shaun’s family, the longest placement so far was a child they had from infancy to age four. They also witness the struggles foster kids can face. Shaun acknowledges fostering can be hard, and lives by the words, “It’s not about you; it’s about the kids, and providing a positive bridge.”

“It’s my passion,” he said, adding it means a lot to “help a kid feel that they matter, that someone cares.”

At the time this was written, Shaun and his wife were caring for two young foster children as well as two kids of their own—a daughter in high school and a son in late grade school. An avid football fan, Shaun coaches his son’s team and officiates middle and high school football games. He also finds time to routinely work out at a gym and deliver Meals on Wheels on Thursdays in rotation with two other Banner bankers.

“I’m very thankful Banner allows me to do this,” he said. “The fact that Banner accommodates employees to go out and be involved in the community is huge.”

Shaun began his banking career unexpectedly at age 18 when he cashed a check at his bank, which had an opening for a full-time teller. He wasn’t looking for a job, but applied, was hired and rose over three years to vault teller, Escrow Department manager and consumer loan assistant.

He joined our team as a commercial credit analyst in 2005, and served as a junior commercial relationship manager prior to his current role. Along the way he earned a degree in business management. He credits the mentorship of a senior banker, now retired, who was a father figure to him, encouraging a life of service and guiding his path as a banker.

“He gave me an opportunity I’m forever thankful for,” Shaun said. “I try to pass it along.”