Promotion at Bankwell - Chief Risk Officer becomes SVP

For immediate release

For more information, contact Diane Knetzger at (203) 652-6319

 Johnson Promoted to Senior Vice President at Bankwell

Michele Johnson, Chief Risk Officer at Bankwell Financial Group, has been promoted to Senior Vice President.   Bankwell Financial Group is the holding company for Bankwell, the community bank that serves the banking and lending needs of businesses and residents throughout Fairfield and New Haven counties. 

Michele has been in banking since 1982 and “in compliance” since 1985.  Having been a Compliance Officer in several banks in Connecticut, she was also Assistant Director for the New England Region of Integrated Compliance Solutions. 

Michele has attended the American Bankers Association Risk Management Forum, Compliance School, Graduate Compliance School, and ABA and BAI national regulatory compliance conferences.  She became a Certified Bank Compliance Officer with the highest score in the nation in 1994 and is also a Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager.  She was an instructor for the American Institute of Bankers, and has been a speaker at Connecticut Mortgage Bankers Association, New England Bankers Association, and Bank Compliance Association of Connecticut programs.  She has also published an article in the Secondary Marketing Executive on HMDA changes and an article in the Commercial Record on ways to improve a Compliance Program.  She has also been a reviewer for the ABA’s Reference Guide to Regulatory Compliance.  Michele received the University College Alumni Leadership Award from Sacred Heart University in 2014. 

In 1989, she founded the Bank Compliance Association of Connecticut.

Outside of banking, Michele has been a Troop Committee member with Boy Scout Troop 88, of Fairfield, and is a Merit Badge Counselor.  Michele has completed Wood Badge Training, which is the Boy Scouts’ highest form of leadership training. 

A graduate of Sacred Heart University, Michele lives in Fairfield, CT, with her husband and two sons. 

More information about Bankwell can be found at www.mybankwell.com.