Nominees Keith Mestrich and Donald Felix collectively bring backgrounds that
directly align with Carver’s needs, including experience transforming
financial institutions and driving profitability and growth.
Refreshment delivers on previously announced board modernization commitment
and is a critically important part of positioning Carver for sustainable
profitability and growth.
Management and the Board continue to take decisive actions to improve
performance and enhance value for all stockholders.
Vote on the WHITE Proxy Card TODAY to elect Carver’s two highly qualified
candidates – Keith Mestrich and Donald Felix – to the Board.
NEW YORK, April 27,
2026 – Carver Bancorp, Inc. (“Carver” or
the “Company”) (OTCQB: CARV), the holding company for Carver
Federal Savings Bank (the “Bank,” a certified Community
Development Financial Institution (“CDFI”) and designated
Minority
Depository Institution (“MDI”)), announced its slate of nominees
for election to the Board of Directors (the "Board") at the 2026 Annual
Meeting of Stockholders (the "Annual Meeting"). The slate includes:
- Keith Mestrich, former Chief Executive Officer and President of
Amalgamated Bank.
- Under Mr. Mestrich’s leadership, Amalgamated Bank returned to
profitability, improved its credit quality, installed a new management
team,
and significantly grew its core deposit base, expanding to nearly $5
billion
in assets.
- Mr. Mestrich brings more than three decades of experience in finance
across balance sheet management, credit quality improvement, MCA due
diligence and
integration, capital markets execution, and public company
governance.
- Additionally, he has a long history of involvement in local community
advocacy and supporting working-class customers.
- Donald Felix, Carver’s Chief Executive Officer and
President.
- Mr. Felix was recruited specifically to drive Carver’s strategic
transformation toward sustainable profitability and long-term growth.
- o He is an accomplished financial services executive with over 25 years
of
leadership across global banking, consumer finance, and corporate
strategy,
having served in senior roles at Citi, JPMorgan Chase, and Citizens
Financial
Group.
- His executive track record spans the full breadth of banking –
from
balance sheet management and PCL ownership to digital banking innovation,
MCA execution, and enterprise-wide transformation. In his prior senior
roles, Mr. Felix has managed turnarounds, generated billions of dollars in
deposits, served millions of customers, and consistently grown
revenue.
In conjunction with these nominations, current directors Dr. Pazel G.
Jackson, Jr., and Robin L. Nunn will not stand for re-election at the Annual
Meeting.
Lewis P. Jones III, Chairman of the Board, said:
“We are incredibly excited about our Board candidates, both of whom
bring
decades of senior-executive banking experience and subject-matter expertise
at the highest levels that align with the needs of the business and will
support the significant initiatives required to elevate Carver’s
performance. Keith’s extensive experience in leading organizational
change that drives performance will make him an excellent addition to the
Board. Additionally, in Don’s first year as Carver’s President and
CEO, he has already demonstrated the leadership and strategic vision necessary
to implement the organizational change required to elevate Carver and position
it to deliver consistent profitability. Their nominations represent a critical
step towards fulfilling our commitment to modernize the Board and increase
alignment with stockholders.
Carver’s leadership understands that change is necessary to drive
sustained improvement in financial performance, enhance capital planning, and
drive long-term, sustainable profitability. In addition to Board refreshment,
we have taken concrete steps including strengthening management with
high-caliber executive appointments, reducing costs and complexity by
switching to the OTC exchange, and cutting expenses across the
organization.
With Messrs. Mestrich and Felix on the Board, we will be well positioned to
continue to execute the transformation that is already underway and deliver
greater value for all stockholders – while fulfilling our core mission
of empowering everyday New Yorkers to achieve their financial goals.
I would also like to express our sincere gratitude to Pazel and Robin for
their
dedicated service on the Board. In his many years as a director, Pazel has
been an important source of continuity and institutional knowledge as the Bank
has evolved to where we are today. Additionally, during her tenure, Robin has
brought to bear a
unique set of fresh perspectives that have been highly valuable to our
discussions and decision-making. We wish Pazel and Robin the best in their
future endeavors.”
Carver urges all stockholders to vote on the WHITE proxy card FOR the
election of Messrs. Mestrich and Felix at the Annual Meeting.
Nominee Biographies
Keith R. Mestrich is a
senior banking executive with more than three decades of
experience in commercial banking, institutional finance, and executive
leadership. He was President and Chief Executive Officer of Amalgamated
Financial Corp. and Amalgamated Bank (NASDAQ: AMAL), where he orchestrated a
full institutional turnaround beginning in 2014, returning the bank to
sustained profitability, nearly doubling its asset base to over $7 billion,
and leading the company's successful public offering on the Nasda q Stock
Market in 2018. His work at Amalgamated established him as a proven operator
capable of driving large-scale transformation in a highly regulated
environment.
During his seven-year tenure as Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mestrich
demonstrated deep expertise across every dimension of banking leadership. He
rebuilt the bank's senior management team, significantly grew its core deposit
base, and executed multiple
strategic acquisitions, most notably the purchase of San Francisco-based New
Resource Bank, which created the nation's largest socially responsible bank
and extended Amalgamated's reach to the West Coast. His experience encompasses
balance sheet management, credit quality improvement, MCA due diligence and
integration, capital markets execution, and public company governance,
including SEC reporting and investor relations obligations.
Prior to Amalgamated, Mr. Mestrich served in senior financial leadership
roles within the labor movement, culminating as Chief Financial Officer and
Deputy Chief of Staff of the Service Employees International Union
(“SEIU”), one of the largest unions in the United States. In that
capacity, he oversaw institutional finances, organizational restructuring, and
served as a trustee on three separate Taft-Hartley funds while sitting on the
SEIU Master Trust Investment Committee, providing him with substantial pension
fund and institutional investment oversight experience. He began his career as
a corporate researcher at the AFL-CIO, where he supported hundreds of
organizing, bargaining, and political campaigns.
Since departing Amalgamated in 2021, Mr. Mestrich has remained an active and
engaged leader in the financial services industry. He is a Founding Member and
Managing Director of Percapita, a fintech company delivering financial
services to low- and moderate-income workers through employer benefit
platforms, and serves as a strategic and corporate advisor to a portfolio of
financial services and fintech ventures. He is also Founder and Chair Emeritus
of the Amalgamated Foundation, which manages over $500 million in annual
philanthropic capital, and is a Finance Leaders Fellow and member of the
Aspen
Global Leadership Network. Mr. Mestrich holds a B.A. in Political Science and
Public Policy from Kalamazoo College.
Donald Felix is a senior financial services
executive with more than 25 years of leadership experience across global
banking, consumer finance, and corporate strategy. Currently serving as
President and Chief Executive Officer of Carver Bancorp (OTCQB: CARV) –
one of the nation's oldest and largest African-American operated banks and a
certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) – he brings
to the role a career built at three of the most prominent financial
institutions: Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and
Citizens Financial Group. Mr. Felix is only the sixth CEO in Carver's 76-year
history and was
appointed to lead the institution's strategic transformation toward
sustainable profitability and improved performance.
Mr. Felix’s executive track record spans the full breadth of banking
– from balance sheet management and PCL ownership to digital banking
innovation, MCA execution, and enterprise-wide transformation. At Citizens
Financial Group, he served as Executive Vice President and Head of National
Banking C Expansion, where he led the Citizens Access digital banking deposits
business and drove deposits up 85% to over $7 billion, returning the business
to profitability through modernized technology and a national expa nsion
strategy. At JPMorgan Chase, he served first as Chief of Staff for Consumer
Banking C Wealth Management – overseeing division-wide business
management on behalf of the
CEO and driving major firm-wide initiatives – before becoming Head of
Consumer Financial Health, where he developed and executed the personal
finance management strategy across product, digital, and branch platforms
serving millions of customers.
Mr. Felix’s foundational banking expertise was built first at
Citigroup, where he held progressively senior roles spanning consumer banking,
corporate and investment banking, credit and risk management, wealth
management, and operations – in multiple geographies including North
America, Europe, and Asia. He ran one of Citi's four major U.S. co-branded
credit card portfolios, managing the Citi Expedia partnership PCL and growing
revenue and EBIT for five consecutive years. Prior to Cards, Donald was in the
investment bank in the financial institutions MCA group performing the
acquisition strategy and valuation analyses for various clients across
financial services. His Citigroup tenure was
punctuated in a leadership role as Chief of Staff to the Chairman of Citi
during the height of the global credit crisis – an experience that
sharpened his ability to navigate institutional complexity and the regulatory
landscape at the chief executive and board level.
A first-generation Caribbean-American born and raised in New York City, Mr.
Felix brings both personal and professional alignment to Carver's mission of
expanding access to capital in underserved communities. He holds an MBA in
Finance and Strategic Management from The Wharton School at the University of
Pennsylvania and a BBA in
Information Systems and Analysis from Howard University. He is currently a
Director of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts (a National Urban League
affiliate) and has a long history of civic engagement and service, both in
local communities and abroad.
Stockholders’ votes are extremely important, regardless of how many
shares they own.
Whether or not a stockholder plans to attend the virtual meeting, they are
requested to promptly use their WHITE proxy card to vote by proxy over the
Internet or by mail. If stockholders have any questions or require
assistance with voting their shares, please call Carver’s proxy solicitor:
430 Park Avenue, 14th Floor New York, NY 10022
Banks and Brokers Call: (203) 658-9400
Stockholders Call Toll Free: (800) 662-5200
E-mail: CARV@investor.sodali.com
The Company has mailed a proxy statement, dated April 24, 2026, containing a
form of WHITE proxy card, with respect to its solicitation of proxies for the
Company’s Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on May 21, 2026.
INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT CAREFULLY
BECAUSE IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT ANY PROXY SOLICITATION. Copies
of the documents
are also available free of charge by accessing the Company’s website at
www.carverbank.com.
About Carver Bancorp,
Inc.
Carver Bancorp, Inc. (OTCQB: CARV) is the holding company for Carver Federal
Savings Bank, a Harlem-based community bank committed to meeting the financial
needs of everyday New Yorkers who are working hard to get ahead and supporting
the vitality of the neighborhoods it serves by delivering accessible financial
services to individuals and small- to mid-sized businesses. Through its online
banking platform and physical branches, Carver serves customers across nine
states, from Massachusetts to Virginia,
including Washington, D.C.
Founded in 1948 to address barriers to financial access, Carver has a
long-standing legacy of serving historically under-resourced communities. The
U.S. Department of the Treasury has designated Carver as both a Community
Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and a Minority Depository Institution
(MDI) in recognition of its leadership in advancing financial inclusion and
local economic empowerment.
For further information, please visit the Company’s website at www.carverbank.com. Be sure to connect
with Carver on Facebook,
LinkedIn, and Instagram.
Media Contact:
CarverBancorp@Longacresquare.com