EDPA Coffee & Collisions – September 26th

Innovation Portal will be hosting EDPA’s Coffee & Collisions on September 26th.

Join us at Innovation Portal to hear from Charlie Pond, SSBCI Executive Director at Innovate Alabama!

Meet Charlie Pond

Charlie Pond is the Executive Director for the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) at Innovate Alabama. In this role, he leads the state’s SSBCI program team, manages partner relationships, and assures compliance with state and federal rules and
regulations.

He joined Innovate Alabama in 2024 after a decade at Regions Bank. Most recently, he served as a senior leader on the Consumer Growth Initiatives team, working directly with executive leadership across the enterprise to identify strategic growth and soundness
opportunities, build cross-functional working teams, drive execution, and monitor performance.

As Vice President in Strategic Execution and Business Transformation, Charlie earned his Six Sigma Black Belt certification while leading cross-functional projects with a validated financial impact of $26 million in revenue generation and cost savings.

He began his banking career in Private Wealth Management, where he served in a customer-facing advisor role and administered Trusts, Estates, Individual Retirement Accounts, and other Investment accounts totaling more than $175 million in investable assets.
He is a 2014 graduate of the Management Associate Program, Regions Bank’s flagship leadership program.

He earned his Juris Doctor (JD) and Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Samford University, and his Bachelor of Science (BS) from The University of Alabama, where he had a double major in Marketing and Political Science.

Charlie is an advocate for continuous learning. He is a 2020 graduate of the City of Birmingham’s Academy of Civic Engagement (ACE) program, and in 2023, completed the Business Strategy Certificate program through Cornell University.

He resides in Birmingham, AL, with his wife Maggie, their two children, Isabel and Arthur, and two miniature Australian Shepards, Fitz and Scout. In his free time, Charlie is an avid reader, writer, and podcast listener. He also enjoys playing golf and cheering
for his beloved Alabama Crimson Tide.

NOTICE OF FILMING AND PHOTOGRAPHY

Photographers and/or news media may be present at this event. By participating and/or being present during the event, you give Innovation Portal and partner organizations the right to use photographs or video/audio recordings taken of you during the event for educational or promotional purposes and for sharing with external news media.

If you do not wish to appear in photographs or be recorded, please avoid this area at this time or contact an event administrator.