As Rondout Savings Bank’s first woman President and CEO in its 150^th year history, Cheryl Bowers has been an integral part of Rondout’s Executive Leadership Team since 2008 after joining the mutual bank in 2001 as a founding Business Banking Department Team member. She has a strong track record of supporting technology advancements, strengthening consumer and business relationships, and developing high performance teams built on trust, integrity, and empowerment, as well as creating a culture of goal setting, coaching, and mentoring that supports employee growth and strategic initiative execution.

As an accomplished financial industry leader with more than 30 years of banking experience in a multitude of areas including Executive Leadership, Commercial and Retail Banking, Branch Management and Marketing, Cheryl has a deep commitment and passion for developing female leaders and creating more diversity in the financial services industry. She is a founding member and co-chair of the New York Bankers Association Women’s Leadership Conference, where she regularly speaks, moderates, and participates as a panelist. Most recently, she was a panelist at SUNY, New Paltz Women’s Leadership Summit, and a Session Speaker at the “Own It” Conference, hosted by Entrepreneurial Studies at SUNY, Ulster.

Cheryl is dedicated to civic participation and volunteerism. She serves on the boards of the American Bankers Association, Ulster Community College Foundation, New York Bankers Association, NYS Department of Financial Services, Kingston Boys and Girls Club, and the Dutchess County Chamber of Commerce. She is a member of the ABA Core Platforms Administrative Committee, Ulster Strong, Lions Club of Kingston, Dutchess Chamber Foundation’s Executive Leadership Committee, and the NYBA Education Committee. Cheryl is a Past Board Chair of the Ulster County Regional Chamber of Commerce and board member of Vassar Brothers Medical Center.

In recognition of her community commitment and professional achievements, she is a past honoree of the YWCA Tribute to Women and recipient of the Life Time Achievement Award and Volunteer of the Decade award given by Gateway Community Industries. In April of 2018 she was named Businessperson of the Year and was inducted into the SUNY New Paltz Business Hall of Fame. In October of 2018 she was an honoree at the annual SUNY Ulster Community College Foundation Gala and was awarded Woman of the Year and was the recipient of the 2019 United Way of Ulster County 2019 Raising Hope Honoree. Cheryl was a 2021 Athena Award Honoree, and the Ulster Chamber of Commerce’s Chamber Champion in 2023.

Cheryl is a high honors graduate from the American Bankers Association Stonier Graduate School of Banking at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA and attended Wharton Business School, where she earned her Leadership Certificate. She is also a graduate of the Chamber Foundation’s Executive Leadership program.