Pathward Financial, through its subsidiary, Pathward, announced that Anjana Berde has joined the company as the Executive Vice President and Chief People and Culture Officer.

In this role, she reports to Pathward CEO Brett Pharr and leads Pathward’s People and Culture department, which includes recruiting and hiring, talent development and engagement, employee benefits and well-being, and employee information systems and analytics.

“Anjana brings expertise from 30 years’ experience in human resource roles in banking, technology and other industries, and we are pleased to have her join Pathward as the executive leader of People and Culture. As a Great Place to Work® certified™ company, we have a collaborative and passionate employee base across the country dedicated to fulfilling our purpose of financial inclusion, and I’m confident Anjana will help us further evolve to meet our talent needs as we continue to build our culture and deliver on our strategy,” said Pharr.

Berde joins the company after serving as Chief People Officer for Accion Opportunity Fund, a national non-profit lender focused on advancing economic mobility for underserved small businesses and low-income communities through access to capital, knowledge resources, and networks. Before that, she served as Managing Director at MUFG Union Bank, N.A., where she led the bank’s Talent Development and Learning function, driving the enterprise-wide talent strategy. Berde previously led Human Resources (HR) in community banking and residential construction firms. She started her career in technology at Digital Equipment Corporation and later Intel Corporation, where she served in a variety of HR positions.

Berde earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She provides people strategy related guidance to nonprofit organizations through board leadership positions.