Gary Hess
Joined the Board of Directors in 2019
I am a retired attorney residing with my wife of 42 years in Greater Minnesota; St. Cloud to be exact. I spent my career as a banking attorney and consultant to financial institutions. My wife and I have three children: an actuarial fellow; a patent attorney; a marketing director. They frequently make their way into my presentations to financial institution executives. Having been born, raised and educated in Minnesota, I have finally realized there is life “beyond Minnesota” and we now split our time between Minnesota and Florida. I will let you guess which seasons are spent in which location.
As a banking attorney, I was well aware of the misery caused by payday lenders and comment on them in some of my public presentations. I read an article about Prepare and Prosper, and reached out to Anne Leland Clark to see if there may be an opportunity with them for a person with my background. She introduced me to Sara Nelson-Pallmeyer at Exodus Lending. One of my first comments to Sara was that “payday lenders need to be put out of business”. She saw my passion for the cause, and I could represent Greater Minnesota, and as they say: The rest was history!
Who is one person who inspires you and why?
Mark Twain. A keen wit with a remarkable delivery style.