Lisa Anderson, 31

By Mary Erpenbach

Lisa Anderson, an assistant vice president with M&I Bank in Beloit, believes in the golden rule and in “paying it forward.” So the community organizations for which she volunteers—Junior Achievement, the Stateline Boys &Girls Club, the YMCA, and others—fit right in line with her role as the mother of three young children.

“I try to pick the groups that involve children,” she says, “because my kids are young, and I want to be involved in what’s going on in their age group and in helping kids their ages.”

Making a difference in people’s lives appealed to her from the time she was young. As a high school student she volunteered as a candy striper at Beloit Memorial Hospital.

“In college I was looking for something with a lot of interaction with people,” she recalls. While her degree from the UW-Whitewater is in business administration, Anderson says she wouldn’t have considered banking except that a part-time job as a teller helped her realize how much interaction the profession offered.

Today she’s a preferred-services provider for M&I’s clients, and has established a reputation as an on-the-job leader and a community-action dynamo. In addition to her work with children’s organizations, Anderson also serves as a campaign coordinator for United Way, is a member of the executive council for a career and technical education organization, and volunteers for Meals on Wheels.

And, lately, she’s passionate about golf. Which is why, in addition to golfing with her husband whenever she can, Anderson held a clinic at a recent Boys & Girls Club outing. If you love something, she believes you should want to pass it on.