“This award is important to me because it reminds me how many amazing women have inspired and helped me along the way. I am eternally grateful to them.”
Trish Stark is managing director for First Western Trust, Scottsdale, a boutique financial services company whose clients are high net worth, entrepreneurial and, in many cases, self-made. She is responsible for developing, building and strengthening new and existing investment management, trust, commercial and private banking clients for the bank. She was part of the founding team of financial professionals who established the Scottsdale office more than 13 years ago, and has been instrumental in growing it from scratch to one with more than $180 million in deposits, $96 million in loans and more than $400 million in investment assets under management. She has done so by orchestrating a diverse team of financial professionals to provide exceptional, holistic solutions to clients, their families and their businesses.
One area she focused on is assisting women to get comfortable understanding and overseeing their financial assets, developing a series of luncheons entitled “Women and Wealth” at which a unique, non-financial topic is presented to a small group of women on a semi-annual basis. These luncheons generated significant interest in learning more about a wide array of financial topics for the women as well as their spouses.
Prior to joining First Western, Stark served in several senior executive roles for Bank of America’s Treasury Management Division, starting out in a regional management role and moving into the position of National Treasury Management Sales Executive focusing on business banking clients. Her division generated more than $800 million in annual revenue for the bank. A core element of her ascent at Bank of America was her in-depth knowledge of the sales process, as, in addition to her “day job,” she trained the entire national/international division in value-based selling principles.
Stark has also been very actively involved in her community, starting out as an ASU Alumni Association Board member (and ultimately board chair) during her first year after graduation from ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business with a bachelor’s degree and MBA. Over the course of her career, she has served on several nonprofit and advisory boards, including the Phoenix Children’s Hospital Operating Board and Catholic Community Foundation Board. She served as chairman of the board for both organizations. During her tenure on the PCH Board, the hospital grew from a hospital within a hospital at then-Good Samaritan to a free-standing regional hospital with an outstanding national reputation in multiple specialties. She also served on the ASU Foundation Board/Board of Trustees for more than 10 years.
Stark currently is a member of the ASU Lodestar Center for Non-Profit Leadership Advisory Board, the Arizona Community Foundation Board (currently serving as chairman) and the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy Board (currently serving as treasurer).
She was named a Phoenix Business Journal 2013 Dynamic Woman in Business Leaders and an Arizona Business Magazine 2016 Influential Women in Business. She co-chaired the 2019 Crozier Gala, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Phoenix Catholic Diocese.
Stark is married to Greg, and has one adored son, Matt, age 24. She and her family love to travel, ski and play golf.
Organization Name: First Western Trust, Scottsdale
Main Office Address: 7025 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, Arizona
Phone: (480) 596-1800
Website: myfw.com
