“We are inspired by the good works within our communities and are pleased to support these endeavors by providing the resources needed for local organizations to grow and prosper,” said Craig L. Montanaro, President and CEO of Kearny Bank.
KearnyBank Charitable Foundation
Our employees have a long-standing history of community service, enhanced by the support of the KearnyBank Foundation. Through the Foundation, we fund charitable causes within Kearny Bank’s market areas in New York and New Jersey, demonstrating our commitment to local communities.
The Foundation focuses on organizations active in four areas: Education, Housing, Community Betterment (Arts, Culture, Stewardship) and Quality of Life. During the calendar year 2024, the KearnyBank Foundation provided grants totaling $597,385. Broken down by category, contributions were $272,885 to Community; $142,000 to Education; $92,500 to Quality of Life; and $90,000 to Housing.
Since 2020, the Foundation has distributed approximately $4,000,000 to community causes.
Kearny Bank ChangeMakers
The Kearny Bank ChangeMakers program provides training to empower our employees with the skills and resources to be leaders at Kearny Bank and within our local communities. Specifically, the program focuses on supporting small businesses including those owned and operated by women.
Program ambassadors, or ChangeMakers, host various financial literacy and networking events throughout the year to connect business owners within the community and provide resources to enhance their businesses. This year our ChangeMakers volunteered with Table to Table, a community-based food rescue program that collects fresh, nutritious, perishable food that would have otherwise been discarded and delivers it free of cost to organizations serving individuals with food insecurities across New Jersey. Our ambassadors also supported a Dress for Success clothing drive, collecting clothing, shoes and accessories for women in need entering the workforce.
Increasing Digital Access
As a community bank, we offer a comprehensive suite of personal and business banking services with options for personalization to meet the individual needs of our clients and help them succeed in their day-to-day lives.
We continue to focus heavily on leveraging technology to enhance client experience and to increase access to banking services. While we recognize technology’s ever-expanding reach and importance, we are also mindful that access is not always equally available. Our goal is to meet clients where they are at, whether that’s in-person or virtually while protecting their personal and financial data along the way. See more on our approach to data security and client privacy below.
Our People
“I am extremely proud of the high level of commitment displayed by our employees while serving our clients which ensures the delivery of premier banking services within the communities we serve,” said John J. Mazur, Jr., Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Employee Engagement
We are focused on fostering a positive, productive and committed workforce where all employees feel included. To help assess employee satisfaction and engagement, we conduct a formal employee survey on an annual basis. Our survey measures employees’ self-reported perceptions of various aspects of organizational culture and the impact to our mission and values. This feedback is invaluable as we strive to create a positive workplace experience, support individual career development and increase employee engagement.
To foster an inclusive workforce where employees are engaged in the work they do, we support various Employee Resource Groups including Caregivers, Professional and Cultural ERGs. These ERGs are open to all and provide a space for employees with shared interests, backgrounds or experiences to connect with and support each other.
Additionally, our mentorship program facilitates one-to-one mentoring relationships that connect employee mentees with senior leaders within the organization to enhance learning and development. Our program helps employees develop skills, gain knowledge and advance their careers.
Training and Development
We recognize the importance of providing the tools required to help our employees thrive in today’s competitive workplace. Our training and development strategy includes access to the Kearny Bank Learning Center with over 1,000 class offerings, career mentoring, tuition reimbursement and continuing education to ensure employees have the skills and support they need to build fulfilling careers. In fiscal 2025, we developed and implemented a suite of management training modules to provide guidance and support to our managers to help successfully lead our teams and enhance our business.
Recruiting and Retaining Employees
In partnership with our leadership team, our recruitment team continues to advocate for development programs and form partnerships with community groups to broaden the pool of qualified candidates for employment consideration. We participate in various career workshops for students to learn about careers in banking, providing information and opportunities available in our industry.
Supporting Employee Health and Wellness
Kearny Bank is committed to supporting our employees and their families by providing access to a variety of health and wellness programs, contributing to a healthier and more productive workforce. Our program includes benefits that promote physical, mental and financial well-being. Through our Human Resources Department, we offer employee assistance programs to provide confidential support services to employees in need. We encourage a work-life balance through flexible working hours, remote work where appropriate and paid time off. On an annual basis, we host an employee wellness week which provides an opportunity to highlight these programs within our workplace.
The Environment
We are committed to advancing practices that reduce the impact of our operations on the environment and continue to look for ways to reduce our carbon footprint. We are also committed to managing the risks posed to our business due to the effects of climate change.
We acknowledge our organization’s impact on the environment and will continue to take steps towards operating in a manner consistent with responsible environmental practices.
We are also committed to managing the risks posed to our business due to the effects of climate change. For more information, please refer to our Environmental Mission Statement, which can be found in our Resource Library below.
Environmental Risk Policies
Our Board-approved lending policy requires both environmental assessments and risk reports to be prepared as applicable before commercial real estate loan transactions. Our Flood Disaster Protection Act Policy addresses flood hazard insurance requirements to ensure compliance with applicable laws.
Climate Risk Management
Since 2021, Kearny Bank has conducted a climate risk analysis each year. Developed by the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Department, our Climate Risk Dashboard reports and monitors various risks posed to Kearny Bank’s loans, branches and corporate locations as measured by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)1 National Risk Index (NRI).
Kearny Bank’s current loan portfolio continues to be exposed to only low to moderate risk of natural disasters. We are committed to conducting these risk assessments annually and analyzing data over time to identify any emerging risk patterns and quantify the potential risks posed to Kearny Bank by climate change. The findings of the analysis are reported to the ERM Committee of the Board, with escalation of recommendations and emerging risks more frequently if necessary.
Environmental Management
Kearny Bank maintains an Energy Management System to monitor and reduce energy usage within our Corporate headquarters. We continue to explore additional initiatives to reduce our energy consumption. Significant efforts we have taken in pursuit of reducing our impact on the environment include:
- Using 100% LED lighting for all outdoor locations that we control.
- Utilizing occupancy sensor lighting in over 75% of our locations.
- Sorting and recycling waste through the use of single-stream dumpsters at a majority of our locations.
- Transitioning to paperless processes, relying heavily on electronic document systems.
- Increasing the use of cloud technologies to reduce on-premises data center power consumption.
Responsible Business Practices
We are committed to the transparency, integrity and effectiveness of policy- and decision-making at the Board level as well as all managerial levels throughout the Bank. Our commitment to ethical conduct, sustainability and compliance with legal standards guides our decision making and approach to how we conduct our business. As stipulated in our Code of Conduct, which can be found in our Resource Library below, we strive for the highest moral and ethical standards. All employees are encouraged to report good-faith concerns through our anonymous employee ethics hotline, their manager, Human Resources or Senior Management without fear of retaliation.
Fair Lending Compliance
Kearny Bank is committed to providing fair and equal access to credit to all individuals, in compliance with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Fair Housing Act and related laws. We prohibit discrimination in all aspects of our lending practices. Through training, data analysis and strong internal controls, we work to ensure our products and services are offered equitably across all communities, including underserved areas. Our Fair Lending Policy includes written guidelines designed to ensure all loan applicants receive equitable and impartial treatment. We continuously monitor adherence and periodically review this policy to ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations and industry best practices. In fiscal year 2025, we established and launched a Compliance Fair Lending Analytics Program, which incorporates comprehensive data collection and analysis, used to identify, measure and mitigate the risk of discriminatory lending practices, analysis are provided to management for evaluation and assessment.
Community Reinvestment Act
Our mission is to promote equitable access to financial resources and opportunities for individuals and businesses within our community, especially those in underserved or low-to-moderate-income areas. Through responsible lending, investment and community engagement, we aim to foster economic growth, enhance financial inclusion and improve the quality of life for all residents. We are committed to ensuring that our actions align with the principles of the Community Reinvestment Act and reflect our dedication to creating a thriving and sustainable community for future generations.
Risk Management
Our Board of Directors ultimately oversees the Company’s risk management and delegates oversight of the review of risk management policies and practices to the ERM Committee of the Board. Our Audit and Compliance Committee also works closely with individual business lines and the Senior Management team to advise on and oversee specific risk management activities.
We conduct various stress tests including capital, liquidity, interest rate and credit risk, in order to assess our risk exposure and determine our risk appetite. This information also allows us to make more informed capital allocation decisions.
Data Security and Client Privacy
Under the oversight of our Chief Technology and Innovation Officer and Information Security team, our Board-approved Information Security Program integrates people, processes and layered technologies to safeguard our clients’ sensitive information.
Highlights of our cybersecurity and privacy programs include:
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Alignment with security control frameworks such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework and the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) Cybersecurity Assessment Toolkit
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Periodic Incident Response tabletop exercises over the course of each year to assess and enhance our response to high-risk events
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Annual mandatory security and fraud training for employees
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Security Fraud Center to educate clients on security best practices
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Annual internal and external audits of data privacy controls
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Privacy Policy that adheres to the provisions and intent of Privacy of Consumer Financial Information and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act
Vendor Management
We are committed to conducting our business ethically and expect all vendors we partner with to align with our principles, as stipulated in our Vendor Code of Conduct (the “Code”). We expect any vendor providing products or services to Kearny Bank to act in accordance with this Code and demonstrate commitment to responsible and ethical business and employment practices. Before delivering products and services to Kearny Bank or our clients, vendors are subject to review and assessment in accordance with our vendor management program.