| 
Bopha Malone
Bopha Malone
Title: Former Vice President and Regional Business Advisor, Eastern Bank; current candidate for MA District 3
Age: 36
Experience: 12 years
Born in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge communist regime, it took Bopha Malone many years to achieve her dreams. At the age of three, Malone’s mother took her on foot to Thailand, and the family lived in a refugee camp for six years until they were able to move to the U.S. and settle in Lynn. Malone would go on to graduate from Lesley University and work at Lowell-based Enterprise Bank for more than a decade. Now the 2014 Lowell Sun Woman of the Year and 2015 Community Bank Hero has her sights set on Washington, D.C. Malone announced last November that she would run for the 3rd Congressional District seat to replace U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas, who will retire when her term ends. She joins a crowded Democratic field that includes experienced politicians such as Dan Koh, the former chief of staff of Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Rufus Gifford, the finance director of President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign, as well as many municipal and state politicians.
Malone came to work at Enterprise Bank through her interaction with the bank’s founder and current executive chairman George Duncan. After graduating from college, Malone wrote a grant proposal to spend a year in Cambodia to learn about her native culture, and Duncan and his family helped fund the trip. After it was over, Duncan hired Malone for the bank’s leadership development program. In her roughly 12 years with Enterprise Bank, Malone fell in love with the culture and climbed the ranks, eventually becoming vice president and regional business advisor, which deals with business development, sales and community work. She also serves on the board of directors of Girls Inc. of Lowell, an organization that helped her a lot in her youth, Women Working Wonders, Working Cities Challenge, Community Teamwork Inc., Middlesex Community College and Lowell General Hospital.
Q: Why did you decide to run for Congress?
A: I was raised in a traditional family where I was not supposed to talk back because I was a girl. I was lucky I had Girls Inc. to teach me that my parents, while incredibly courageous people, didn’t always know how to help me. My goal now is to always give back because I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for organizations like Girls Inc. helping and advocating for me.
One of Enterprise Bank’s core values is community and I have served on different boards in the area, all experiences that have given me the chance to advocate for people and help create success. It has been such a great experience helping people that when this opportunity came up, I just felt this is a wonderful way to give back and help people achieve their American dream.
I’m very lucky that I have been able to achieve my American dream, work for a great company and be part of a great community. But the American dream is still out of reach for many, and with the political environment, I think it’s important to be a part of this and be a voice to help others. Just seeing the environment right now and what is going on in our political climate, it’s important for people to step up and help people like I’ve been helped.
I think I could be strong voice for young people and immigrants and having been a part of the business world and community since 2006, I feel I have been talking with the Massachusetts [District] 3 people and I know what these people need. I think Washington needs a different voice that is not part of the system to bring fresh ideas to the table.
Q: What issues is your campaign focused on?
A: My platform is to help everyone achieve their American dream. The issues I am concentrated on are education, health care, infrastructure, climate change, immigration and drug abuse which, in talking and listening to people of my district, is a major issue, but also one that affects every community.
Q: Why do the skills you have learned at Enterprise Bank make you qualified to serve in Congress?
A: To me, I feel the role of Congress is to represent people and advocate for them and help connect them to resources. The skills I learned at Enterprise is the value of community and being able to listen to people and advocate for them and make sure others understand what they need. Enterprise’s combined bank and our footprint is the same as the 3rd Congressional District so I’ll already have relationships with a number of different people in the community.
Q: What are your thoughts on the proposed Dodd-Frank relief bill?
A: I have been more on the side advocating for people and connecting resources, but I am a strong proponent of making sure consumers are protected and in terms of the Dodd-Frank Act, I am all for some relief to small banks. But at same time, I want to make sure we are continuing to take steps to protect consumers and workers, and are not going backward.
Q: If elected, what other banking issues might you focus on?
A: With the advancement of technology, a lot of things we have been hearing about is cybersecurity and data breaches. I want to make sure companies are investing enough in protecting the information and protecting against a lot of the elder abuse I would see in the industry. At Enterprise, we do a lot in educating elders and the people that take care of them about abuse. Massachusetts 3 is the most diverse district and I work in the Greater Lowell area, and Lowell has the second biggest population of Cambodian people [in Massachusetts].
A lot of what I’ve been doing is educating the banking community about the banking system, and helping individuals reach success by buying their first home or building a business. I also worked a lot in educating immigrants so they had the resources when they were ready to buy homes or open bank accounts. I am working on ways to make it easier for everyone to have equal access to the banking system.
Malone’s Five Ways to Bring New Communities into the Banking System:
- Build trust: Partner with local organizations and key leaders and invest time in being a part of the various communities to get to know them.
- Create a welcoming environment: Strive to have offices that fit into the communities and be mindful to hire staff that reflect the residents of the communities.
- Education: Provide financial education, guidance and pathways to help customers achieve their goals and dreams.
- Reach out: Use appropriate communications channels, such as local newspapers in their native language, support community events and invite members of the communities to bank events.
- Be patient: Understand some communities are not accustomed to the U.S. banking system and perhaps come from parts of the world where trust in banking institutions is low.
