“Country kid” turned bank boss recognised

MARNIE Baker isn’t your average top flight executive.

Growing up on a Cohuna dairy farm, she’d always planned to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a primary school teacher, until a self-described sliding doors moment in year 12 led her to choose to study accounting at university.

She also began working at Sandhurst Trustees while still studying, and stayed with the organisation as it evolved into what is now Bendigo Bank, taking over the reins as chief executive officer and managing director in 2018.

“I’ve grown up in the bank and a lot of people have asked me over the time how I could stay with an organisation for that long,” she said.

“It was very small when I started with only a few branches in Victoria, and when I left (Bendigo Bank) it was a seven billion dollar company.

“The reason I stayed is because it didn’t change who it was, being very purpose-led.

“The work that’s (been) done in communities has resonated and aligned really well with who I am as a person and my own purpose.”

Ms Baker said her childhood as a “country kid” on a dairy farm taught her resilience.

“I got to see my parents do it tough,” she said.

“But I think that gave me grit and determination, which held me in good stead.

“When you’ve got that upbringing you don’t wait for people to do things for you, you get on and do them yourself.

“That really aligned with me when I started working at Sandhurst Trustees.

“It didn’t wait for handouts and it helped communities to actually build models (such as) the community bank model, which was self-empowering and they didn’t have to rely on anyone else.”

For significant service to the financial and banking sectors, Ms Baker has been named a Member of the Order of Australia in the King’s Birthday Honours.

Ms Baker left the Bendigo Bank last year and now sits on the RBA Monetary Policy Board and La Trobe University’s Regional Advisory Board among others, with more to be announced soon. She’s also a director of the Regional Australia Institute.

“(Leaving) was a pivotal time for me, because there were decisions I was making then about whether I’d go into other management roles or not,” she said.

“But, it did give me pause to reflect on my career at the time, a career that’s given me so much and I’m immensely proud of.”