Patricia A. Mitchell

Patricia A. Mitchell
Executive Vice President
Industrial Bank
Washington, D.C.

Patricia A. Mitchell never planned to be in the family business — banking. “My plans were to be a store buyer, which is why my major was in design and merchandising,” she says. Her grandfather Jesse H. Mitchell founded Industrial Bank in 1934. The oldest and largest African-American bank in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area today, Mitchell is its executive vice president. Her brother, B. Doyle Mitchell Jr., is president.

Mitchell has a bachelor’s degree in design and merchandising from Drexel University and an M.B.A. from Marymount University. While at Drexel, she had co-ops at Neiman Marcus, Woodward & Lothrop and Clover Stores. “After college, I was in retail for a minute then went to work at Industrial Bank part time while looking for a job. Part time later became full time.” She now oversees all lending activities, branch banking centers and sales and marketing. “The personality of staff, colleagues and anyone you have a business relationship with is just as important as skill set,” she says, articulating an important lesson she has learned. 

Mitchell volunteers with local families to help them better manage their   finances. “I love seeing people live within their means and still have and do the things they want. We don’t have to have so much and such expensive things in order to enjoy a fulfilled life,” she explains. She wants children to be “money smart,” so she speaks often at local elementary schools on the subject. She was the driving force behind the creation of a standardized Industrial Bank-branded financial literacy curriculum, through which banks operated by students were established in several elementary schools.

Relaxation for Mitchell means biking, hiking or walking. She is a member of the National Council of Negro Women, and a board member of Industrial Bank, the Metropolitan Community Development Corp., Prince Georges Financial Services Corp. and Roots Public Charter School.