nwasianweekly.com
June 20, 2008

Georgette Bhathena

Taking care of business

By Evangeline Cafe

Northwest Asian Weekly

There’s a saying: “We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.”

Filipina American businesswoman Georgette Bhathena is a true embodiment of that quote.

As a community relations officer for Citi, she helps the nation’s largest bank give back to the communities it serves.

The goals are to spur the economic development of low- to moderate-income areas by reaching out to small businesses, and to help foster young business leaders.

In fact, because of Bhathena, Citi is making its first ever contribution to contribution to help with economic development in Washington state, though its support of UW’s Business and Economic Development Center, according to Michael Verchot, director of BEDC.

Bhathena currently heads corporate contributions in the East Bay Area of San Francisco, as well as Washington and Oregon.

“We partner with nonprofits and leverage their expertise to implement programs that foster sustainable community development,” Bhathena said.

Bhathena grew up in Seattle’s Rainier Valley and graduated from the University of Washington Foster School of Business in 2000. She says her UW education has been critical to her success.

“It’s provided a solid educational framework and foundation in business,” Bhathena said.

As a recipient of the Mary Gates Endowment Leadership grant, she partnered with the BEDC and, through that program, she led a student consulting team to help strengthen small businesses in Chinatown and the International District.

“It was a really transformative time in my personal development,” Bhathena said.

Following her undergraduate career, Bhathena worked for the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco. She then went back to school to obtain a master’s degree from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

Bhathena’s current work at Citi allows her to return to her roots. Citi works closely with the University of Washington’s BEDC program and served as the title sponsor for the 13th Annual Report luncheon held in Seattle on June 6.

Bhathena says Citi’s sponsorship helps the university and region in two ways. First, it ensures that the BEDC will be able to provide another year of support for the region’s small businesses. Secondly, it uses part of the proceeds to provide a scholarship to a minority business executive.

“It’s really nice for me to be able to leverage resources at Citi to help benefit the larger community, and specifically a program that I have gone through myself as a student,” said Bhathena.

The diligent Filipina American said she looks forward to helping other aspiring business leaders achieve the same success story she has.

“My main goal is to continue working in the fields of community and economic development and working at Citi to show and highlight the leadership role that we play in the community,” she said.

For more information on UW’s Business and Economic Development Center, visit foster.washington.edu/bedc.

Evangeline Cafe can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

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