PBN Leaders & Achievers Awards 2026
GINA HELM
Centreville Bank vice president and residential lending sales manager
Gina Helm, vice president and residential lending sales manager at Centreville Bank, always knew she wanted to work in the business sector.
“I think seizing opportunities and being open-minded is key to discovering where your passion may be,” she said. “I didn’t know that I wanted to be in residential lending, but I was grateful for the job opportunity and willing to learn.”
She now leads initiatives in first-time homebuying and affordable housing to expand access to homeownership.
“I feel the greatest impact I have is in creating innovative programs that help low- to moderate-income homebuyers achieve homeownership,” she said. “We revamped our PASO program, Providing Access to Secure Homeownership, and have helped more than 100 homebuyers purchase a home with a reduced interest rate and flexible lending guidelines.”
Helm has also overseen development and mentoring efforts; built relationships with Realtors, builders and attorneys; and represented the bank in outreach programs throughout the community. She was previously a mortgage consultant and residential lending supervisor at other R.I. banks.
Helm has improved the residential lending division by increasing online applications and generally modernizing the experience for clients.
“I am also extremely proud of the loan origination team I’ve helped build,” she said. “It has doubled in size since I started, and we have a group that collaborates easily, works extremely hard and has contributed to consistently meeting our … goals.”
She advised people to ask questions and to listen and learn.
“Learn and research as much as you can. Know what you don’t know, and be willing to admit it,” she said. “When customers, co-workers and managers know they can trust you, they rely on you more and that trust is often what creates opportunities for growth.”
Leadership, for her, means listening, asking questions and making decisions thoughtfully.
“Great leaders recognize that long-term success depends on thinking and acting like an owner while ensuring that every decision is grounded in what is morally and ethically right,” Helm said. “Profitability and business performance should never come at the expense of integrity.”
