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Making banking better now and for the future
Saluting Industry Leadership. Hancock Whitney Business Banker Chris Estrade (center) recently received the ABA Emerging Leader Award, accompanied by Chief Operating Officer Shane Loper (right) and Chief Consumer Banking Officer Emory Mayfield.
America’s top banking industry trade organization, the American Bankers Association (ABA), recently tapped Hancock Whitney Business Banker Chris Estrade as a 2025 ABA Emerging Leader. Estrade received the prestigious national accolade during the ABA’s annual convention October 18-21, 2025, in Charlotte, North Carolina.
ABA Emerging Leaders awards recognize the next generation of bank leaders committed to the highest standards of achievement and service to both their industry and local communities.
“Chris Estrade has demonstrated extraordinary leadership in the financial services industry at local, state, and national levels and serves as a true champion for creating opportunities benefitting people and businesses throughout South Mississippi,” said Hancock Whitney Chief Operating Officer Shane Loper. “He demonstrates exceptional business acumen as an associate of our company and remains a tremendous asset to our organization, clients, and communities. We are proud that ABA honored his achievements to date and his potential to excel further in helping innovate and elevate our industry in the future.”
An ABA steering committee of industry professionals selected award recipients based on criteria such as dedication to the profession, inventiveness, leadership skills, mentoring ability, personal integrity, tenure at the bank and broader commitment to a career in banking, sustained career progress, and academic training, including advanced degrees, certificates, and certifications.
Learn more about the ABA Emerging Leaders Class of 2025.
About Chris Estrade
Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, native Chris Estrade began his career with the company in November 2005. Since then, he has succeeded in diverse leadership roles supporting long-term post-Hurricane Katrina regional recovery and nurturing client and community relationships, including direct banking associate, financial center manager, and retail area manager.
As a vice president and business banker, he guides start-up and emerging businesses in tailoring financial strategies, products, and services to help them succeed and grow their organizations. Additionally, as chair of the Gulfport Chamber of Commerce and past chair of that chamber’s small business and economic development, he has helped create opportunities for business success throughout Mississippi’s second largest city — particularly among the small-to-medium-size companies critical to the Gulf Coast’s economic lifeblood.
A past president of the 104-year-old Gulfport Rotary and current assistant governor of Rotary district 6840, he carries on Rotary’s longstanding mission to serve others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace. Gulfport Rotary named Estrade an Outstanding Committee Chair for 2017. By volunteering with the Habitat for Humanity Bay-Waveland as a board and finance committee member, he fosters affordable, safe housing for underserved and disadvantaged people and families in his hometown area.
Estrade is also an advocate for helping people learn smart money management early for financial success at every life stage. He has chaired scholarship and state financial literacy initiatives for the Mississippi Young Bankers (MYB) division of the Mississippi Bankers Association (MBA) and teaches American Bankers Association (ABA) Principles of Banking to rising bankers affiliated with the MBA. For his service, MYB named him County Chairperson of the Year in 2016. He also continues to lead and teach financial education for students to complement teachers’ in-class lessons and support state curriculum requirements, including “Teach Children to Save” and Mississippi “Banker in Every Classroom” programs.
Chris Estrade helps cultivate a solid culture of inclusion and belonging among company associates and mentors with the Hancock Whitney Internship Program enhancing inclusive talent recruitment and retention.
The Leadership Gulf Coast graduate received the One Coast Award recognizing Top 10 under 40 leaders on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He also completed the Gulf Coast Business Council Masters Leadership Program.
Estrade earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in management at the University of Southern Mississippi and a Master of Business Administration at William Carey University. A graduate of the Mississippi School of Banking at The University of Mississippi, he is currently enrolled at the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University, where he serves as class of 2026 president and is the first recipient of the George A. Schloegel Memorial Scholarship for his industry and community leadership and service.