JoAnn Lilek is a bank-management professional who has over 30 years of experience in commercial banking and on corporate boards. In 2021, Lilek joined Amalgamated Bank, a financial institution formerly owned by and as of January 2025 still closely associated with the Workers United labor union, ¹ as a member of the board of directors and as the audit committee chair. ^{2 3}

Career

Lilek has held chief financial officer positions at several institutions, and currently sits on the board and as audit chair for the Datum One Series Trust. ^{2 3}

Lilek previously worked at the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago as their Strategic Financial Advisor, where she advised the CEO on financial strategies to develop programs and build “awareness to empower women and eliminate racism.” ³

Lilek studied finance at Loyola University Chicago and has an MBA in finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. ³

Amalgamated Bank

In 2021, Lilek joined Amalgamated Bank, a financial institution formerly owned by and as of January 2025 still closely associated with the Workers United labor union, ¹ as a member of the board of directors and as the audit committee chair. ²

The Amalgamated Bank is a formerly union-owned bank founded in 1923 by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America labor union to serve female immigrant garment workers, which uses its large financial resources to push for left-of-center corporate governance, including social and environmental justice. For example, the Amalgamated Bank offers a financial product that assists unions in automatically collecting union dues even if state legislatures ban the union from mandating such automatic withdrawals. The bank seeks to pressure corporate boards to adopt left-of-center policies. ^{4 5}

1. Stilson, Robert, and Hayden Ludwig. “Amalgamated Bank: How Did We Get Here?” Capital Research Center, May 25, 2022. https://capitalresearch.org/article/amalgamated-bank-part-1/.
2. “Joann Lilek.” Amalgamated Bank. Accessed January 27, 2025. https://www.amalgamatedbank.com/contact/joann-lilek.
3. “Joann Lilek.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 27, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/joann-lilek.
4.  “Impact Report – Amalgamated Bank.” Amalgamated Bank. Accessed January 26, 2025. https://www.amalgamatedbank.com/sites/default/files/AB428_ImpactReport_FINAL_rev.pdf.
5. “Corporate Governance Timeline.” Amalgamated Bank. Accessed January 26, 2025. https://amalgamatedbank.com/amalgamated-bank-corporate-governance-timeline.