Our active involvement in important community-based causes, projects and programs helps define Western Alliance Bank. Across our markets, we give back through grants, donations and impactful employee volunteer efforts. We also work diligently to strengthen local economies and assets through powerful community lending and community investments, plus the committed leadership of our people in vital charitable and civic organizations. Areas of focus include:

Affordable Housing

Bolstering the availability of affordable housing is a priority for Western Alliance Bank. In 2019 alone, we:

• Made $296.1 million in total loans and investments supporting affordable and low-income housing.
• Provided 4,132 employee community service hours,* assisting first-time homeowners eligible to receive down-payment assistance through the Federal Home Loan Affordable Housing programs.
• Helped low- to moderate-income families with down payment assistance totaling more than $3.2 million, via our partnership with the Federal Home Loan Bank. Western Alliance Bank is the largest bank source of these grants year after year in all of Arizona, California and Nevada.

* All community service takes place during work hours and is part of the bank’s commitment to helping our people give back to their local communities.

Small Business

Creating opportunity for people across the economy spurs our active engagement in small business lending. In 2019, we:

COVID-19 Support

Dedicating resources to combat the significant negative impacts of COVID-19 in our communities, we:

• Supported business in the first half of 2020 with access to critical CARES Act funds through the Paycheck Protection Program. Western Alliance funded loans totaling $1.9 billion, which benefitted more than 4,700 organizations and their 150,000 employees.
• Committed $2 million in 2020 in needed resources for communities in response to the global coronavirus pandemic. The funds help to address shortages of personal protective equipment for first responders, mitigate food insecurity, invest in technology to aid online learning, aid struggling small businesses, support pediatric care and provide assistance to some of the most vulnerable in the communities Western Alliance serves.

Education

Supporting education at every level in our communities is a key focus across the bank – from volunteering in classrooms to helping to create the workforce of the future. Examples of our work in 2019 include:

• Underwriting and teaching the Financial Cents digital financial education program at 28 Title 1 schools, providing 11,429 hours of financial literacy training to 2,717 students. As a result, test scores indicated students’ financial knowledge improved 78%.
• Providing via other programs 1,870 service hours* teaching financial literacy to 19,271 students at Title 1 schools.

Recognizing the importance of limiting our impacts on the environment, Western Alliance makes a concerted effort to incorporate sound practices – large and small – within our overall operations.

Environmental Risk

Considering the range of environmental risks to our business operations is an essential function at Western Alliance. Our approach includes:

• Following the guidance of our Environmental Risk Officer, who has nearly two decades of experience performing environmental risk assessments in the private, municipal and government sectors, and most recently served as the ERO for GE Capital-Franchise Finance.
• Through the adoption and consistent application of our Environmental Risk Policies and Procedures, we are able to identify environmental risks, establish mitigants and perform thorough due diligence.
• When environmental problems are identified, we require remediation and cleanup of properties as necessary to protect our people, our customers and the environment at large.