Investing in Community
Lisa Killingsworth of Synovus Bank is giving back to the town that built her
Words by Jenny Lynn Davis | Images by Ryan McGill
In the 1970s, a young girl and her mother would walk hand-in-hand down the streets of a lively downtown. They would go to Woolworth’s five and dime and she would enjoy some ice cream at the store’s lunch counter while her mom shopped. Afterwards, they would head back out and continue their day, spending time together, seeing friends and neighbors, and soaking in the hustle and bustle of their vibrant hometown.
That little girl was Lisa Killingsworth, and that town was Jasper. Lisa never left Jasper, but for quite some time, that vibrancy did. Over the last decade, through a combination of strategic planning and residents passionately believing in the city’s potential, Jasper has once again become a flourishing business and entertainment district. That sparks a sense of pride in most anyone from this quaint Southern town, but even more so for Lisa.
“The importance of community was ingrained in me from a very young age,” she says. “I was taught that, no matter where you live, it is imperative to be active in your community and give back in a way that helps it thrive.”
Lisa took that lesson to heart, to the point that you may consider her one of Jasper’s most involved citizens. In addition to her work in the community with organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce of Walker County, United Way of Walker County, Walker Area Community Foundation, and Pilot Club of Jasper, she serves on the Jasper Industrial Development Board and as Treasurer for Jasper Main Street.
“I’m honored to be part of Jasper Main Street and contribute to restoring vitality to this community that means so much to me,” Lisa says. “I was named Member of the Year for Jasper Main Street in 2020, and I am so proud of that. I love working in this community and with this community to help Jasper reach its true potential.”
Lisa says her community involvement helps her feel more connected to the people she serves as Senior Vice President in Commercial Lending at Synovus Bank. She began at Synovus 29 years ago as a teller, but when then-president John Oliver realized she had a degree in finance, he immediately directed her to working in the commercial lending sector, where she has spent the better part of those 29 years.
“I trained in commercial lending, then moved to internal audit for several years before moving back into commercial lending,” Lisa says. “For the longest time, my roles were not customer-facing, so when my current role came about in 2006, I was actually a little scared to deal with customers. I look back on that and laugh now, because the customers are what makes my job worth doing.”
Helping someone achieve their business goals, Lisa says, will always be rewarding, but when their business contributes to growing the local economy, that’s when her job comes full circle. When she walks the streets of Downtown Jasper with her family, goes into a store for which she helped secure a loan, and purchases an item to help both that store and the community thrive, she knows she has made an impact in more ways than one.
Our home communities play vital roles in our lives. Sometimes those roles are short and come to an end with moving to a new city for work or school, and other times they are lifelong and deeply connected to who we are. For Lisa, it’s the latter. Because of her love for Jasper and belief in its potential, that little girl at the lunch counter has stayed home to invest in her community.
“I could’ve gotten a banking job anywhere, but to me, there was never an option than to come home to Jasper and give back to the community that built me.” 78