Charley started Walden Mutual to help people grow their savings while supporting local farms and food businesses daring to do things differently. After 8 years as founder and CEO of Walden Local - a sustainable meat company, which now serves thousands of families across the Northeast - Charley has brought the shared name and ethos to the banking world (though the two companies do not share a formal relationship). Before Walden (1 and 2) Charley played key roles in companies and non-profits covering commercial-scale composting, offshore wind energy, and management consulting. Charley is a New Englander through and through, from growing up on Cape Cod and the White Mountains, to studying in Rhode Island and settling down in rural New Hampshire with his wife, two children, two dogs, eighteen chickens and a growing flock of Kitahdin sheep.

Jackie comes to Walden Mutual as an expert in community, from banking to social programs leading the way in food access and gender equality. Before joining Walden, she served as Chief Risk Officer and SVP of IT and Project Management at PeoplesBank—the same bank where 35 years earlier she began her career working in customer service. This commitment to her home led her to serve as President of the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, Treasurer of Girls, Inc. and President of the South Hadley-Granby Chamber of Commerce. Jackie is a true ambassador of Western Massachusetts, where she has made deep roots and supported community growth across food and business. She is an active reader and enjoys hiking and travelling with her family.

Debbie comes to Walden Mutual with a wealth of industry experience—from playing key roles in the startup, growth, and eventual sale of Centrix Bank, to leadership positions at several long-term local institutions. Before joining Walden, Debbie was the CFO of the NH Community Development Finance Authority and Executive Director of Finance and Human Resources of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Debbie is committed to New Hampshire, where she has grown up, attended college, and dedicated her career to developing financial and community institutions across the state. She currently lives with her husband and two daughters in Auburn, NH.

Christina brings a diverse range of experience across marketing and sustainable food. She has played key growth roles at various startups—including Walden Local where she led marketing from start to profitability. Her entrepreneurial background led her to manage marketing for the innovation team at global design firm, IDEO, and deepen her experience in media and business through a Fulbright Grant in Spain. Christina is driven by food and agriculture from her roots in New York's Hudson Valley to her Environmental Science studies at Brown University. She is an avid cidermaker and currently lives with 3000 chickens and several peacocks on an egg farm and sheep dairy in New Hampshire.

Joe comes to Walden with a deep interest in money – how people choose to use it, what it means to them, and the emotions it elicits in them. With an undergraduate degree in finance and a graduate degree in design, he’s examined those questions from a myriad of perspectives – including product, customer success, research, and design. Prior to Walden, Joe spent 10 years at Visa. As a director of their Innovation Studio he helped many of North America’s largest financial institutions incubate new products and services – while leading Visa’s inclusive design practice. Joe is very excited to return to New England after a 15-year hiatus. He’s an avid runner, reader, cyclist, and cinephile. In his spare time, he runs a small design consultancy with three co-founders who are based in Toronto, New York, and Mexico City.

Christine is a passionate advocate for local, community business. She comes to Walden with an 11+ year record of crafting tailored, commercial banking services for her partners. Prior to joining our team, she held several leadership roles including Chief Lending Officer and SVP at Litchfield Bancorp - A Division of Northwest Community Bank and VP & Commercial/Wholesale Banker at United Bank. In her hometown of Torrington, Connecticut, Christine was part of the startup commercial banking department at Torrington Savings Bank and aided in significant loan growth across many industries. Christine has an MA in Psychology from the University of Chicago and a BA from Clark University. She is also a graduate of Connecticut School of Finance and Management. She loves spending her free time outdoors, at the gym, and enjoying quality time with her family.

Jean joins Walden Mutual with deep agricultural roots. For 36 years, she and her family owned and operated an 80-cow dairy and 160 acre corn, alfalfa, and grass crop farm. She brings first-hand, owner-operator experience to her lending relationships, which she cultivated over 18 years as a Sr. Ag Lender with Yankee Farm Credit and the Vermont Economic Development Authority prior to joining Walden. Outside of lending, Jean is active in the dairy community--having worked as a dairy specialist with the UNH Cooperative Extension, a 4-H leader, and as a judge at both the Northeast and National Dairy Challenges. Jean lives along the northern Connecticut River in Haverhill, NH.

Alejandro joins Walden Mutual with a passion for food and creative problem solving, as well as eagerness to tackle the data bridge between banking and the complexities of food business. He is a recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania where he concentrated in Economics, Political Science, and Data Science. He has worked in the Ministry of Economy of his home country of Paraguay, at Itaú Bank, and at an education NGO. Alejandro brings curiosity and confident experimentation to his relationship with food - from fermenting Tepache to making homemade jam from blackberries he gleaned on his first visit to Concord.

Chloe comes to Walden Mutual with a strong interest in creating healthy, resilient, and inclusive communities. Chloe was introduced to the power of food systems through working in the field of public health while pursuing an MBA exposed her to innovative finance and the notion that capital can and should be accessible and inclusive. In an effort to blend innovative finance (and ownership) to food systems, Chloe found Walden Mutual. A native Buffalonian, she has lived in Boston, Providence, the Adirondacks, and England. Outside of the office, Chloe can be found in the pottery studio, running or biking on trails, or cooking up something tasty.

Leslie comes to Walden Mutual with deep curiosity and passion for making people feel understood and valued. She is dedicated to sustainable living and founded a network of consignment retail businesses in Massachusetts, which ran for 10 years and worked to return money to the local economy. Upon moving to NH, she found a home at the Concord Food Co-op where she connected Member-Owners to local growers and other sustainable food companies. With years in Operations at local nonprofits such as the Crisis Center of Central New Hampshire and Concord Coalition to End Homelessness, it became clear to her that local banks have the opportunity to fuel real change. Leslie has traveled to all continents except Antarctica and has lived in Washington D.C., Colorado, California, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts (where she worked at Carlson's Orchards at age 14), and now New Hampshire. In her free time you can find her exploring Concord with her rescue dog Althea, hiking, playing tennis and visiting to the seacoast as often as possible.

Victor comes to Walden Mutual with an abundance of banking experience including accounting, compliance, and commercial underwriting. He is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys hunting, fishing, and camping - you can find him bear hunting during the month of September in NH. Victor stays active in his community while coaching his children’s local sports teams. Like you, Victor is excited to learn more about our regional food ecosystems and work to bridge the gap between individuals and the local food economy.