Dominik Mjartan

Dominik Mjartan (he/him) is CEO of American Pride Bank.  Under his leadership, Optus Bank transformed from a troubled bank to a high performing innovative digital mission driven bank.  Optus’ total assets increased from $47 million to $500 million and loan portfolio has increased from $27 million to more than $300 million in 6 years.  Dominik is also a founding director of Climate First Bank, a director of the Community Development Bankers Association, a director of the National Bankers Association and was formerly Chair of the CDFI Coalition.  He is a regular guest on NPR’s Marketplace and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, American Banker and other national platforms discussing banking trends, innovations and financial inclusion. In 2022, Dominik was appointed by the Chairman of the FDIC to the FDIC Community Bank Advisory Board.

Prior to Optus Bank, he spent more than a decade as a senior executive officer at a leading community development bank, Southern Bancorp, most recently as the Executive Vice President of Southern Bancorp, Inc. (SBI), a holding company for Southern Bancorp Bank and CEO of an affiliated lending company Southern Bancorp Community Partners (SBCP). He led the strategic realignment and transformation of the Southern Bancorp enterprise from a $400 million community bank to a $1.2 billion financial institution.  He has also served as Chair, Finance Chair or Director of numerous community development, education and social justice organizations.

Dominik immigrated to the U.S. from the former Czechoslovakia at the age of 16. He graduated Summa Cum Laude and as a Donaghey Scholar with a B.S. in management from University of Arkansas Little Rock. He then earned an MBA at the University of Ulster in United Kingdom, graduating with distinction.