Success story: Alison A. Winter.

President and Chief Executive Officer of Northern Trust Bank

In 1988, Northern Trust opened its doors in California and named Alison Winter as its first President and Chief Executive Officer. Nine years later, Northern Trust has grown to be one of the largest trust companies in California with trust assets exceeding $8.8 billion.

"We have enjoyed tremendous growth and success in California but that success was certainly not a solo effort. It was accomplished by many people working hard to achieve our goal. We remain the only bank in California wholly committed to the concept of 'private banking' with nine offices across the state.

"Our commitment to our clients has made us the premier institution for those who want reliable, customized service for everything from a checking account to the most comprehensive asset management plan," she said.

Her leadership of Northern Trust has been recognized in professional circles outside of banking. Mrs. Winter has been an active member of the Executive Committee of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and in January she will be inaugurated as Chairman of the Board of this prestigious organization. Alison Winter will be the first women to have been named Chairman in the Chamber's 110 year history.

In addition, her philanthropic interests also include serving on the Board of Visitors and Executive Committee of UCLA's Anderson Graduate School of Management; she is a Director of the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles and active in many other Los Angeles community organizations.

"One organization close to me is the Union Rescue Mission. I have helped to establish the "Women for Women" program which assists women with transitional housing and provides them with the tools to emotionally, financially and spiritually gain control of their lives," Mrs. Winter said.

"I have been fortunate to be a part of a corporate culture that encourages this philosophy of giving back to the community in which you live. It has been a pleasure for me to be able to pass on that culture to our staff here in California" she said.

In the early years of Northern Trust Bank's development, there was rapid growth within the organization in a short period of time as five branch offices including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Newport Beach and San Diego opened within a period of two years. "With the acquisition of our bank charter in 1991, we were able to offer banking services as an added benefit to our clients", Mrs. Winter said.

The growth of the organization was further enhanced in 1992 with the acquisition of the trust business, Trust Services of America, which put Northern Trust Bank in the top 10 bank trust departments in California. During that same year an office was opened in Westwood. "Since that time, the continued success of our bank has enabled us to open offices in Montecito, La Jolla, and Indian Wells," she said.

"The future looks bright for our company. Our clients give us extremely high marks for the quality and the experience of our personnel and they are asking us to expand our office locations. In the future we hope to expand further in Los Angeles County as well as in several Northern California locations" she said.