Portrait of Dr. Anita Sharma

Dr. Anita Sharma

Professor of Economics, Reed College · Former Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco · Director, Meridian Trust Bank

Portland · Meridian Trust Bank · 911+ connections

About

I spent nine years at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco working on community-bank supervision and writing about small-business credit access. I have taught economics at Reed College since 2012.

I joined Meridian Trust's board in 2019 and chair the compensation and governance committee. In 2020 I redesigned the bank's executive-pay structure so that half of leadership bonuses depend on customer-satisfaction and complaint-resolution metrics rather than profit alone. Several other banks have since adopted the model.

If you want a bank to treat customers well, pay its leaders for treating customers well. It is not complicated. It is just rarely done.

Activity

Dr. Anita Sharma
Professor of Economics, Reed College · Former Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco · Director, Meridian Trust Bank
1 Oct 2026

Six years of customer-linked executive pay at Meridian Trust: half of leadership bonuses tied to satisfaction scores and complaint-resolution time. Complaint-resolution median went from 9 days to 2. Profit went up anyway. If you want a bank to treat customers well, pay its leaders for treating customers well. It isn't complicated. It's just rare.

👍 4022 comments
Daniel Reyes · President & Chief Executive Officer

Half my bonus depends on whether a customer in Bend was called back the same day. I check. Daily.

William Oduya · Director

The complaint summary in the board packet and this pay model are the same idea from two directions. Good.

Dr. Anita Sharma
Professor of Economics, Reed College · Former Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco · Director, Meridian Trust Bank
27 Aug 2026

New semester. 'Money and Banking' has 48 students and a field trip: a Saturday morning at the Salem branch, reading the one-page balance sheet with the CFO who wrote it. Economics is about people making decisions under pressure. Spreadsheets are the notes afterward.

👍 2131 comment
Priya Venkataraman · Chief Financial Officer

Forty-eight students and one page. I'll bring the chalkboard.

Dr. Anita Sharma
Professor of Economics, Reed College · Former Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco · Director, Meridian Trust Bank
5 Jul 2026

The Fed data on small-business credit, which I spent nine years with, says one thing consistently: the loan a small firm gets depends less on the firm than on whether its bank has a person who can say yes. Community banks are the people who can say yes. That's the whole argument for them.

👍 2870 comments

Experience

Director; Chair, Compensation & Governance Committee
Meridian Trust Bank
2019 – present

Redesigned executive compensation (2020) to tie 50% of bonuses to customer outcomes; presented the model at the Federal Reserve's community-banking conference.

Professor of Economics
Reed College
2012 – present

Money and banking, applied microeconomics, the economics of credit access. Full professor since 2018.

Senior Economist
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
2003 – 2012

Community-bank supervision research; small-business credit access papers still assigned in graduate courses.

Education

Ph.D. Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2003

B.A. Economics, Rutgers University, 1997

Skills

Banking economicsExecutive compensationGovernanceCredit-access researchTeachingRegulatory policyHindustani vocalBesan ladoo