On April 24, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced four new members of its minority depository institutions (MDI) subcommittee to the advisory committee on community banking. Arturo “Art” Ortega, chairman and CEO of Alamo-based Freedom Bank, is one of the four named to the subcommittee, along with John Tom Anderson, president and CEO of Edmond, Oklahoma-based F&M Bank; John Lewis, president and CEO of Baltimore, Maryland-based The Harbor Bank of Maryland; and Alfonso Macedo, president and CEO of Miami, Florida-based Ocean Bank.

On May 1, the MDI subcommittee will meet to share insights into key challenges and opportunities facing minority financial institutions and the communities they serve. The meeting will also spotlight an innovative partnership that is improving health care access in a Native American community. The MDI subcommittee serves as a resource to the FDIC and informs the agency’s strategies to fulfill its statutory goals for MDIs. The subcommittee also provides a platform for MDIs to collaborate, build partnerships and to showcase the work of MDIs in their communities.

Ortega has more than 35 years of experience in the financial industry. “I started with Texas State Bank in 1985 as a teller and worked my way up to become a lender,” he told Texas Border Business in 2020. “I then pivoted into the world of investments and worked for three Fortune 500 companies in 16 years.” Ortega earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from Pan American University, now the University of Texas–Rio Grande Valley. An active member of the community, he currently serves as a board member for the McAllen Chamber of Commerce, Make-A-Wish Rio Grande Valley and the First Baptist Church finance committee.

Established in 1958, Freedom Bank has branches in Alamo, Freer, McAllen and San Diego, Texas.