Finance/Insurance: VICTOR BRANCH

The first Black president of Bank of America’s Richmond market is intent on chipping away at some of Richmond’s toughest problems.

In March, Virginia Union University announced Bank of America had given $1 million to fund a financial literacy and financial services workforce development program that will serve both students of the historically Black university and the city’s underserved minority communities.

Bank of America executives also credit Branch with being instrumental behind a decision, announced in 2021, to increase its $1 billion commitment to fund efforts advancing racial equality and economic opportunity to a $1.25 billion commitment.

An employee of Bank of America for nearly four decades, Branch was named president of the bank’s Richmond market in 2015. He graduated from William & Mary in 1984 with a degree in sociology. In July, Branch rotated off the university’s board of visitors.

PERSON I ADMIRE: Oliver Hill, the Richmond civil rights attorney and one of the first African Americans elected to Richmond City Council. I stand on his shoulders.

WHAT I WAS LIKE IN HIGH SCHOOL: Nerdy

BEVERAGE OF CHOICE: Cabernet Sauvignon from Upper Shirley Vineyards