Bahari Harris

Bahari Harris is the Director of Financial Inclusion Initiatives within the Consumer and Small Business Banking line of business at Truist Financial Corporation. As such, Bahari leads consequential initiatives
including a branch-based consumer and small business owner financial coaching program (Operation HOPE©), a workplace banking model, and student banking initiatives at Florida State University, where
Truist is the official banking partner. Bahari brings a wealth of experience, passion, and expertise related to financial inclusion spanning his 20-year career in financial services and non-profit executive leadership.
In his previous role as Retail Strategy Manager at Truist, Bahari led impactful strategic and innovative projects including: the Child Tax Credit Initiative; Start. Save. Win! Emergency Savings innovation; and the was a lead strategist for the Community Heroes initiative.
Prior to joining Truist, Bahari was the Community Banking Manager at Bank of America, where he crafted and delivered the bank’s strategic commitment to helping low-to-moderate income clients, communities,
and small business thrive through economic mobility. Bahari held several other roles during his Bank of America tenure. He was a Consumer Strategy Manager supporting executive management and line-of-business leader strategic initiatives. He was also a Process Design Consultant for The Bank of America Academy, where he helped to launch Bank of America Pathways - a workforce development initiative committed to providing professional skills training and career growth for individuals from low-to-moderate income neighborhoods. Finally, Bahari was a Consumer Banking Market Leader apprentice supporting the Maryland Region, where he managed 35 client-facing Relationship Managers (RMs) across a footprint of 15 financial centers.
Bahari’s undergraduate alma mater is Virginia Tech. After graduating, he spent the early part of his career as the founding executive director of Urban Hope - a non-profit organization based in North Carolina – where he led the administrative business and direct-service programmatic functions designed to enhance the financial literacy and entrepreneurial acumen of urban youth. Bahari went on to graduate
from Duke University with dual master’s degrees: a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Public Policy.
Bahari lives with his wife Mamie in Charlotte, North Carolina. He and Mamie enjoy traveling the globe together and spending time with their families in the U.S. and Ghana. Bahari speaks Spanish, serves as
the Board Chair of a local education focused non-profit, and is an avid Latin dancer.