Cristiane AbouAssaly has always recognized the importance of connections.
“I’m very relationship-driven,” Ms. AbouAssaly said one recent morning. “I love creating connections and meeting people and fostering those relationships. I think the bank relies on that. It’s something that’s very innate in me, very natural for me.”
Forging and maintaining personal connections led Ms. AbouAssaly to become associate vice president for private banking at Bankers Trust in 2014. She and husband Nick AbouAssaly, now in his second term as Marion’s mayor, came to the Des Moines-based bank as customers shortly after it expanded to Cedar Rapids in 2002.
“The banker we had been with at a former institution had come here to develop this opportunity, to open up this branch and generate new business,” she said. “Because of our relationship, it made sense for us to make that transition. So nine years ago I got a phone call and someone wanted to have lunch with me. I said ‘absolutely.’”
“Cristiane has a remarkable ability to connect with people and promote change through positive interaction, relationship building and by making meaningful connections,” Jack Gonder, Bankers Trust senior vice president and Eastern lowa market president, wrote in a letter supporting her WoI nomination. “Her influence and power are balanced with a tactfulness and respectfulness that few others possess.”
Ms. AbouAssaly’s aptitude for personal connections goes back to her childhood. Her parents immigrated to Cedar Rapids from Lebanon before she was born.
“It was family that helped bring other family,” she said of the area’s vibrant Lebanese community. “It’s all about relationships, and how people can help.”
Those connections convinced Ms. AbouAssaly to stay in her hometown after graduating from Cedar Rapids Washington High School in 1996. She earned her BA in business administration and Spanish from Coe College in 2000.
“I love this community,” she said. “I don’t think there’s any other community that I could be as successful in as I am here. People generally want to see you succeed, so I love my life here.”
Ms. AbouAssaly “never thought I would be in banking,” but found her natural way of connecting with others fits the industry.
“What I enjoy doing is developing relationships and taking care of people,” she said. “They said ‘We’ll teach you the banking second. This is something you really love to do and are passionate about, meeting people and creating relationships.’”
Before Bankers Trust, Ms. AbouAssaly was an associate for US Bank, executive director of Cedar Rapids’ Uptown District – now known as the College District – and a media sales consultant for the CBJ. She maintains her connections with Coe and with local civic organizations she’s encountered during her career.
Ms. AbouAssaly joined the United Way of East Central Iowa’s board last August – again a case of personal connections, as she and Kristin Roberts, UWECI’s president and CEO, met more than 15 years ago while working with another civic organization.
“She really has a super warm and caring spirit,” Ms. Roberts said. “She was really committed to bettering herself and her community. It’s been super fun to watch her grow and see her leadership in giving back.”
“I had thought, ‘If I could get to be asked to be on the board of United Way, that would be such a huge achievement for me,’ because of the work they do in this community,” said Ms. AbouAssaly. “They’re all serving women, children, the needs of people in the community. If I could be a small part of it, that would be such a huge honor.”
Attending a Women Lead Change event as a guest about 10 years ago led Ms. AbouAssaly to serve on the organization’s steering committee.
“That just ignited my passion, watching how women are changing their communities, whether it’s personally or professionally,” Ms. AbouAssaly said. “I wanted a seat at that table.”
Just another connection in a life of them.
“There have been other very strong, incredible female leaders in our community that have wanted to see me succeed, and I would love to have that chance to pay it forward,” she said.
This profile was originally published in the CBJ’s 2023 Women of Influence publication. The 2023 Women of Influence are an inspiring group of community leaders who have each overcome adversity, taken chances and challenged themselves to make a positive impact in their community, despite demanding schedules in their personal and professional lives.
The CBJ will host the 2023 Women of Influence banquet from 5-8:30 p.m. Thursday, May 4, at the Hotel at Kirkwood in Cedar Rapids. Tickets are still available to this event, which includes networking, dinner and remarks from the winners. To learn more and purchase tickets, visit https://corridorbusiness.com/event/women-of-influence/
