Sonia Alleyne has been able to leverage her helping instincts into a full-fledged dual career, both in banking and in the non-profit sector.

In her current role as CRA manager for Sovereign Bank New England, she translates her intimate knowledge of Dorchester’s neighborhoods onto a super-regional scale covering Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. And as a tireless and energetic advocate for the non-profit world – and a funder, through the bank – she knows which organizations are working effectively in their communities to promote reinvestment and growth.

The lessons Alleyne learned in Dorchester – how to protect homeowners against predatory lenders, how to create and keep economic life in diverse neighborhoods and how to reach out to and form alliances with institutions and organizations that can make a difference – now play out over the four New England states in which Sovereign Bank has a presence.

“It’s a wider net, but one of the consistent things is that the needs are all the same,” she says – small-business development, child care and other essential services. Her networking skills helped Sovereign Bank navigate the world of Boston non-profits when Santander, Sovereign’s Spain-based parent company, installed a new management team, and the bank’s funding list is as diverse as the communities the organizations serve.

Her advocacy for Sovereign’s participation in Massachusetts’ most affordable mortgage program has earned the bank special recognition from the Massachusetts Housing Partnership. Her term as president of YouthBuild Boston has resulted in an increase in its fund balance and capital assets. Its reputation and its performance have improved significantly.

Alleyne has a talent for winning people over to her view with simple statements of fact. Just ask Paul DeBassio, chief development officer of United Way-MassBay Merrimac Valley. Just before the organization’s 2012 fall campaign, Hurricane Sandy struck. Sovereign Bank, which mounted an internal hurricane relief effort of its own, considered not participating in United Way for the year. But Alleyne advocated to senior management that United Way helps communities in trouble, and that funds raised go to local causes. The bank ended up running a nine-month campaign rather than the usual yearlong campaign. It set a campaign goal of $300,000, but with the aid of a corporate match from Santander, ended up raising $450,000, surpassing the total raised a year earlier.

“That’s the type of person she is,” DeBassio says. “She makes sure the community gets what it deserves.”