Bank of America Alumni Spotlight: Meet Anna Colton
Since retiring from Bank of America in 2021 Anna has found a deeper meaning in the connections she has with family and friends.
Growth through opportunities outside her comfort zone
Looking back, Anna sees how the experiences throughout her 40-year Bank of America career fit together. “I’ve always enjoyed the opportunity to do something that took me out of my comfort zone. Others may prefer to go more deeply in their area of expertise, but I always thought of my career more broadly than that.”
Anna began in the healthcare and institutions group with predecessor company Shawmut Bank. Then through a series of mergers and acquisitions, new opportunities led her to roles as New England market executive for the Middle Markets business and as a sales performance executive for the Northeast region. Anna finished her career in the consumer bank with roles as the Retail Banking Regional executive for the Metro New York and Mid-Atlantic areas and strategic planning for the financial centers.
Being asked to start the small business banker platform was one of Anna’s most impactful roles for the bank. Building that platform from the ground up and then taking it nationally with the resources Bank of America brings to market was one of the honors, Anna feels, of her career.
With the unexpected come new lessons about loved ones and connections
Anna retired in late 2021 announcing her retirement six months after her husband closed and sold his company. She felt that the timing was right with three grandchildren and two more on the way. And with such strong, younger talent at the bank Anna was cognizant of not being a “blocker” for good talent by staying in her role for too long.
Retirement plans for Anna centered on spending time with her husband and doing things they’d long dreamed of once they were both retired. Plans changed, however, when Anna’s husband suddenly and unexpectedly passed away shortly after she announced her own retirement. Anna still chose to retire, knowing it would give her the space to breathe and time to help her children through their own shock and grief.
Anna reflected on the lessons that grief has taught her, “I’ve learned that it can’t hurt this much to lose someone if the people in your lives are not the most important thing in your life—it wouldn’t make sense any other way.”
She added, “I have focused on really showing up for people and to staying connected in a way that I hadn’t before. It’s so critically important, and it’s easy to underestimate how important people are to you. It also has become painfully clear how many other people are suffering loss and grief. There is a community of people who need each other!”
One labor of love that has kept Anna busy for the last year and a half is establishing a memorial scholarship fund in her husband’s name at University of Massachusetts Amherst. It is the first named athletic scholarship in the school’s history. Fundraising for the scholarship has kept Anna busy and connected with others through a successful golf tournament last September and another planned for September 25, 2023.
Anna with her family
Carrying the meaning of connections forward through the Alumni Network
Joining the Bank of America Alumni Network resonated with Anna, especially as she’s come to think about the importance of relationships.
“Staying connected with people is so important. I feel that this network is a way to show up for people and is a wonderful demonstration of what really matters when it comes to the people we work with, laugh with and have spent so much time with.”
Pride in how the company’s values come to life
Anna feels that the Alumni Network speaks volumes about Bank of America’s executive leadership team and how the company’s values come to life for employees and alumni.
She takes pride in the potential for connecting alumni to volunteer activities as an extension of our commitment to building stronger communities. It also reminds her of how the bank helps companies grow and is a place where young people begin their own careers.
“When you think of the impact that our company has in so many ways—from a business standpoint, for employees and the affect that has on the broader community—that’s why I’m proud to have spent my career at Bank of America.”