Who We Are

Genesis Bank is a California-chartered commercial bank organized by a group of highly experienced and successful bankers and business professionals.

Our Focus

We focus on serving the banking needs of small to mid-sized businesses, the owners of such businesses, business professionals, and owners and investors of income-producing properties (including multi-family and commercial real estate), located primarily in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties.

Our products, services, and solutions include traditional commercial business, Small Business Administration (SBA), income property, and owner-occupied commercial real estate loan and deposit products, as well as treasury management services and solutions. We also provide fiduciary banking, escrow, and section 1031 exchange services to serve the banking needs of our clients.

At Genesis Bank, you have a dedicated team of bankers who you know and who all know you and your business. Consolidating your accounts at Genesis allows you to build long-term, valuable, trusting relationships.

Community Impact

To learn more about Genesis Bank’s impact in the community, please check out the Genesis Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship (“GBIE”) and the Genesis For Good Foundation.

LEARN ABOUT THE GBIE LEARN ABOUT GENESIS FOR GOOD

Leadership

Executive Team

Stephen H. Gordon

Founding Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Gordon is the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Genesis Bank. Mr. Gordon has over 36 years of financial industry experience, including serving as Founding Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President of Opus Bank; Founding Chairman and CEO of Commercial Capital Bank and its savings and loan holding company, Commercial Capital Bancorp, Inc; as well as Chairman and CEO of Fremont Investment and Loan and its holding company, Fremont General Corporation. Additionally, Mr. Gordon served as a Partner at Sandler O’Neill + Partners, L.P., a New York based investment banking firm.

Jeff Worden

EVP, Chief Credit Officer

Mr. Worden is responsible for the overall credit quality of the loan portfolio, administrative and operational matters pertaining to lending, and loan servicing and processing for Genesis Bank. Mr. Worden has over 16 years of banking and credit experience, including having previously served as Senior Vice President, Deputy Chief Credit Officer at Opus Bank. Prior to joining Genesis Bank, Mr. Worden was Senior Vice President, Head of Credit Products at Opus Bank with prior banking experience also including positions at City National Bank and Union Bank.

William Han

EVP, Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Han is responsible for Genesis Bank’s finance functions, including financial planning and analysis, asset-liability and treasury management, accounting, and financial reporting. Mr. Han is a CPA with over 20 years of banking industry accounting and finance experience, most recently serving as Senior Vice President – Finance and Deputy Chief Financial Officer of Opus Bank. Prior to joining Opus Bank, Mr. Han was a senior manager at KPMG LLP, working as an auditor in the banking and financial services practice.

Andres Gallardo

EVP, Chief Legal and Risk Officer

Andy Gallardo serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Legal and Risk Officer of Genesis Bank, where he provides enterprise-wide leadership over legal affairs, regulatory strategy, corporate governance, risk management, and internal control frameworks. He partners closely with the Board of Directors and executive management on strategic initiatives, complex transaction and regulatory matters, and key risk decisions. Mr. Gallardo has more than 21 years of experience in the banking and financial services industry, advising institutions through growth, transformation, and regulatory matters. Prior to joining Genesis Bank, he served as Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of Opus Bank and as General Counsel of PENSCO Trust Company, a subsidiary of Opus Bank. His prior experience also includes roles at Silvergate Bank, U.S. Bank, and San Diego National Bank. Mr. Gallardo is an active member of the State Bar of California.

Board of Directors

Stephen H. Gordon

Founding Chairman

Marsie Alford

Director

Ms. Alford has more than 26 years of accounting and finance experience and currently serves as Chief Financial Officer of the Jewish Federation & Family Services of Orange County (JFFS). Prior to joining JFFS, Ms. Alford served as an accounting and finance consultant, advising manufacturing, healthcare, E-commerce, real estate, aerospace, retail, investment, legal, and non-profit businesses with annual revenues ranging from $5M to $15B. Ms. Alford previously held executive finance positions for several nonprofits, including Make-a-Wish Foundation of Los Angeles, Southern California Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation, and East Bronx Daycare Center, Inc., in New York, where she directed the accounting, finance, human resources, operations, fiscal reporting activities, internal control processes, asset management, and policies and procedures at those organizations.

Warren J. Kessler

Director

Mr. Kessler has been a practicing lawyer since June 1973. He currently is a Partner in the law firm of Greenberg Glusker, LLP where he represents institutions, large real estate portfolio owners, corporations, private businesses, and high-net-worth individuals in connection with tax structuring of complex real estate transactions as well as the restructuring of partnerships, limited liability companies, and corporations that own large parcels of real estate. Prior to joining Greenberg Glusker, LLP, Mr. Kessler was a Partner at DLA Piper, LLP (US), a global law firm, and previously spent 30 years at his own law firm, Kessler & Kessler, A Law Corporation. Mr. Kessler is involved in numerous charitable and pro bono activities, most notably having served as General Counsel to, and currently serving as a trustee of, Wilshire Boulevard Temple. He is a representative on the Cornell University Development Fund for his class. He is also a former Chair and Director of California Housing Partnership Corporation.

Tam Nguyen

Director

Tam T. Nguyen is a second generation entrepreneur and community leader with extensive experience in business ownership, governance, and civic engagement. He is Chairman and owner of Advance Beauty College, a nationally recognized institution that has graduated over 50,000 professionals in its 39 year history. Mr. Nguyen serves as a Director of Genesis Bank and is a Founding Board Member of the Genesis for Good Foundation. He also serves on the boards of the Orange County Transportation Authority, MemorialCare Orange County Hospitals, and the Orange County Community Foundation. He commissioned the first Little Saigon, Orange County: Demographic & Economic Profile with Cal State Fullerton to support data driven economic development. During COVID 19, he co founded Nailing It For America, delivering over $30 million in PPE and 80,000 meals nationwide. Born in Vietnam and raised in Southern California, he holds an MBA from Cal State Fullerton and is a UC Irvine graduate. He and his wife, Christine, have three children.

Ruben A. Smith

Director

Ruben A. Smith is the Partner-in-Charge of the Orange County offices of FBT Gibbons LLP, following its merger with AlvaradoSmith, a leading business law firm that Mr. Smith co-founded in 1993 and where he served as Managing Shareholder. With over 41 years of legal experience, Mr. Smith advises clients on corporate, transactional, and regulatory matters across industries including banking, infrastructure, energy, and real estate. He is a founding member of the Hispanic Education Endowment Fund. Mr. Smith has held leadership roles with organizations such as the Orange County Business Council, Latino Food Industry Association, UCI Foundation, St. Joseph’s Hospital, and the Orange County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He earned his B.S. in Public Affairs and M.P.A. in Inter-Governmental Management from the University of Southern California, and his J.D. from Yale Law School. Mr. Smith is an active member of the State Bar of California.

Sandor Valner

Director

Mr. Valner is the founder VALOR, a Los Angeles based merchant banking boutique focused on real estate and financial services which he founded in 2018. Prior to VALOR, he was a founder/leader of two investment banking platforms and a private equity real estate investment management group. Through these companies, he has led more than $20 billion in capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, and real estate investment transactions. Mr. Valner also held positions as a partner at Walton Street Capital. Additionally, Mr. Valner worked at Credit Suisse/First Boston, where he became the CEO of the bank's Mexico operations. Mr. Valner's current board activities include Leadership Council of UCLA´s Depression Grand Challenge, YPO´s Alliance to End Homelessness, IngeniousIO, Fidelity Marketing, URBIUM, and FIHO.