Board of Directors
Ryan A. Whitzel
Mr. Whitzel serves as Chief Executive Officer of the Company and Vice-Chair of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank. As Co-Founder of Texas Traditions Bank, Mr. Whitzel is extremely proud of the many accomplishments that have been achieved in such a short period of time, which include leading Texas Traditions Bank to over $500 million in total assets and becoming profitable in just 8 months of operations, all while building a people-first culture focused on customer experience and a close-knit team, fostering pride in both service and the people who deliver it. He has over 23 years of banking experience including experience in retail banking, credit, commercial and consumer lending, and senior management where he managed branch operations and lending staff. His banking career has been all encompassing, starting with retail banking, where he learned teller and account operations, then became a credit analyst, then a lender, and was promoted multiple times, becoming a Market President, where he was consistently recognized as a top producer while maintaining exceptional credit quality. As a Market President at a large regional bank, Mr. Whitzel managed a retail operations group and lending staff with over $100 million in assets under management. He was responsible for market area profitability and management of the location’s balance sheet including margin controls, expense management and loss prevention. In addition to managing his portfolio and staff, he served on the bank’s Senior Loan Committee and other senior management committees offering strategic guidance to the bank. Mr. Whitzel graduated with honors from Sam Houston State University with a degree in Finance and Banking.
Keith W. Badough
Mr. Badough serves as President of the Company and as Vice-Chairman of the Board and President of the Bank. A native Houstonian, Mr. Badough’s banking career began in 1993 as a teller at a large multi-state bank where he was promoted and served in various roles from consumer and retail banking, mortgage lending, small business lending, portfolio management, staff development, recruiting, and multi-branch management. Mr. Badough then joined a Houston-based community bank as a commercial lender, where he was promoted to Market President and fulfilled multiple responsibilities including serving on senior loan committee, loan approval authority, portfolio quality, relationship building in addition to having a small team of community bankers reporting to him. It was this exposure to community banking which led him to understand the true value of community banks and the ability to make a difference in the community which led him to become a co-founder of Texas Traditions Bank.
William J. Kacal
Mr. Kacal serves as Chair of the Board and Director for both the Company and the Bank. Mr. Kacal is an independent investor and a retired partner of Deloitte, one of the “Big 4” accounting firms. While at the firm, he served as an audit partner, was a member of the firm’s Global Financial Services Industry leadership, was national leader for the firm’s community banking practice, Regional Managing Partner for the Enterprise Risk Services practice and Deputy Regional Managing Partner for Audit and Risk services. He was also a member of Deloitte and Touche, LLP, the firm’s audit and accounting division, board of directors for seven years and a member of its Executive Committee for four years. In addition, he is a member of the Independent Bankers Association of Texas and has been a speaker at many of its events and written a regular column in the IBAT magazine. Mr. Kacal was a member of the board of Integrity Bank for eight years until its sale in 2018. He served on the board of directors of Goodwill Industry International from 2006 to 2013, as Chair of the Board, Chair of the Audit Committee, Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee and Vice Chair. He also served as Chair of Goodwill Industries of Houston, Vice Chair, Chair of Audit Committee and currently as Chair Emeritus. Mr. Kacal was a member of the board of directors of U.S. Silica Holdings, an NYSE company, chair of its Audit Committee and a member of its Governance and Compensation Committees until its sale in 2024. He is also a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors. Mr. Kacal holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in accounting from Texas A&M University. He is a retired Certified Public Accountant.
Michael C. Dierschke
Mr. Dierschke serves as a director for both the Company and the Bank. Mr. Dierschke is the owner of Monarch Stainless, LLC, a prominent stainless steel distribution company, which he purchased in 2021. Mr. Dierschke has over thirty years of experience in sales, distribution, purchasing, inventory control, business management, credit management, quality control, and human resources. Prior to Monarch Stainless, LLC, Mr. Dierschke was part owner of an industrial fastener distribution and manufacturing company that was started in 2003. This start-up company (which was sold in 2016) grew to over 120 employees and was housed under over 150,000 square feet of Warehouse space on company owned real estate. Mr. Dierschke holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Distribution from the University of Houston and is a native Houstonian.
Vicki G. Keiser
Ms. Keiser serves a director for both the Company and the Bank. Ms. Keiser is a retired partner of Deloitte, a global professional services firm. She brings a deep understanding of regulated industries, including healthcare and financial services, in addition to experience in other industrial sectors. In her career she served many public and private financial service companies including many community banks. Ms. Keiser previously served as one of five regional U.S. leaders to launch and implement Deloitte’s Women Initiative Network (WIN) in 1993, one of the first corporate diversity initiatives among global service companies. Ms. Keiser currently serves as the Board Vice Chair of Community Health Choice, a regional health insurance company and serves as the Chair of the Governance Committee. She serves on the board of Banner Health, a multi-state integrated health system where she serves on the Audit Committee, previously chairing that committee . In the community service sector, Ms. Keiser has served on the Alzheimer’s Association National board and the Amazing Place board. She presently serves on the advisory board of Amazing Place. Ms. Keiser received her Bachelor of Arts and her Master’s in Business Administration from The University of Texas at Austin. She is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and attained NACD Directorship Certification.
Rand W. Lassus
Mr. Lassus serves as a director for both the Company and the Bank. He has over 20 years of experience in banking, starting with credit analysis, commercial lender, and Chief Credit Officer of a local bank. Mr. Lassus is currently the Director of Special Assets for Prosperity Bank. Mr. Lassus holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from The University of Texas.
Matthew C. Mabry
Mr. Mabry serves as a director for both the Company and the Bank. Mr. Mabry is the President of MCM Commercial Concrete, Inc., a commercial concrete company located in Houston, Texas. Mr. Mabry has more than twenty years of business experience including holding Chief Executive Officer positions, board positions and ownership interests in approximately a dozen companies with as many as 800 employees and revenues of over $120.0 million. Mr. Mabry has a considerable amount of construction, real estate development, and management experience. This extensive background has provided him with substantial knowledge in managing field operations, human resources, accounting, and sales groups. Additionally, through the management and/or ownership of these businesses, he has a deep understanding of commercial and business banking products, including bank treasury/depository products and the structuring of C&I and commercial loans. Mr. Mabry holds a degree in International Business and Economics from Sam Houston State University.
Darren A. Miller
Mr. Miller serves as a director for both the Company and the Bank. Mr. Miller has been practicing law for over 25 years and is the founding partner of D. Miller & Associates, PLLC, a firm specializing in personal injury and national mass tort litigation. His firm settles well over $100 million a year in resolutions, including the recent settlement of the largest collegiate sexual assault case in history. D. Miller and Associates, PLLC has 65 employees and over 107,000 active cases. Mr. Miller’s firm focuses on cases that involve assisting victims of exploitation. Mr. Miller attended Texas A&M University and earned his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science. After college, Mr. Miller moved back to Houston to attend St. Thomas University, where he received an MBA with a concentration in finance. He then attended Texas Southern University, where he received his law degree. In addition to the law firm, Mr. Miller owns a legal intake company and various real estate holdings.
Samuel A. Morris
Mr. Morris serves as director for both the Company and the Bank. Mr. Morris currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer at Sunset Capital, a Houston-based vertically integrated real estate investment and asset management firm. Prior to his service with Sunset Capital, he was a corporate banker for 18 years. During that time, he worked for multiple small and regional banks. When Mr. Morris left the banking industry, he was managing an approximate $54.0 million loan portfolio and an approximate $42.0 million deposit portfolio, while managing an office with over $100.0 million in assets. He was a voting member of the bank’s loan committee and helped with direction of the strategy of the bank. Mr. Morris’ company currently manages over $130.0 million in commercial real estate. Mr. Morris holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and an Associate in Arts degree from Northwood University.
John C. Pritchett
Mr. Pritchett serves as a director for both the Company and the Bank. Mr. Pritchett currently serves as a Partner at Partners Real Estate. Mr. Pritchett has twenty plus years of experience in commercial real estate, with a focus on industrial and land brokerage. In his current role with Partners, a Houston-based national commercial real estate firm, Mr. Pritchett has consistently been a top producer for the last decade. His experience includes but is not limited to commercial land acquisition/disposition, tenant representation, industrial owner-occupied real estate, industrial investment real estate and stabilization of underperforming properties within existing client portfolios. Mr. Pritchett is a member of the prestigious Society of Industrial & Office Realtors (SIOR), where he holds the society’s industrial certification. In addition to his commercial brokerage activities, he presides on an investment committee for a Texas based large commercial real estate investment fund. Mr. Pritchett holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Houston Baptist University.
David E. Roth
Mr. Roth serves as Chief Financial Officer at Texas Traditions Bank. Mr. Roth began his career in community banking. After graduate school, he had a thirty-year career in consulting and advisory services, which included national responsibilities for corporate finance and valuation consulting within the financial services industry for a global accounting and consulting firm. He also ran his own firm providing valuation and corporate advisory services to community and regional banks for nearly twenty years. Mr. Roth had prior experience in helping form another bank, where he served on the board from inception until it was sold to a regional institution. While on the board, he served on the loan, audit, and governance committees and served as the chair of the Asset/Liability committee. Mr. Roth holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with concentrations in Finance and Accounting from Baylor University and a Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Virginia.
Cullen d. Zalman
Mr. Zalman serves as a director for both the Company and the Bank. Mr. Zalman currently serves as Executive Vice President – Banking and Corporate Activities for Prosperity Bank, El Campo, Texas, where he has worked since 2017. Prior to his time with Prosperity Bank, Mr. Zalman worked as an investment banking associate for Keefe Bruyette and Woods, a Stifel Company, in their New York office. While at Keefe, Bruyette and Woods, Mr. Zalman worked in the Investment Banking group with a focus on mergers and acquisitions and equity and debt capital solutions for the Financial Industries Group. In his current role at Prosperity Bank, Mr. Zalman continues to focus on mergers and acquisitions as well as general corporate development and investor relations. He also serves on Prosperity Bank’s Operations Committee, Projects and Vendor Governance Committee, Strategic Technology Oversight Committee, Asset Liability Management/Investment Officers Committee and is Chair of the Environmental, Social and Governance Committee. Mr. Zalman received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin.