News Releases

Emilia DiMenco of Harris Bank Elected to Board of YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, June, 2004 - Harris Bank is pleased to announce YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago has elected Emilia DiMenco, Executive Vice President of Segment Management, Harris Bank, to its Board of Directors. The YWCA Board of Director inductees have distinguished themselves in their career fields and demonstrated a willingness to take leadership positions on issues that impact women’s lives. All Directors of the Board are elected for a term of two years.

“Emilia has shown a great deal of dedication to the YWCA through volunteering, donations and over all general support of the organization’s mission and programs,” said Madeline Rich, Interim Chief Executive Officer. “It is an honor to have her on the board.”

As a Board member of YWCA, Emilia’s responsibilities include:

• Understanding and supporting the mission, vision, values, and services of the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago and the YWCA of the USA
• Attend and participate in Board meetings
• Participate in achieving the annual fundraising goals
• Serve on standing committees and participate on project teams
• Attend the group’s Anti-Racism training programs

"I look forward to being one of the leaders in the YWCA’s mission to eliminate racism and improve life for women and girls. Being a mom, I am particularly lucky in having this opportunity to reach and impact children earlier on - - a critical factor in helping shape our future female generations.” Emilia DiMenco said. “I look forward to upholding the organization’s mission both from a personal level, but it also ties in to what I am trying to do at Harris in making sure we serve and make a difference in our diverse Chicagoland communities.”

DiMenco joined Harris in 1980 and has held leadership positions in Corporate Banking, Capital Markets and Corporate Cash Management and most recently, Business Banking. Currently, she oversees Harris' retail and business client bases as well as Harris' three diverse markets initiatives - - which include Hispanic, African American and Asian markets. Her Responsibilities include marketing, new product development, sales approach, and Human Resources strategies. She also leads the bank’s Marketing Information and Decision Support Unit (MIDS). MIDS acquires internal and external data on Harris’ customers, segments, products and markets to develop insights and information to drive and support the bank’s goals and objectives.

DiMenco completed both her undergraduate (B.S. Finance) and graduate studies (MBA Finance) at DePaul University. She studied International Finance at Loyola University's Rome Center. She is a member of the Chicago Finance Exchange, Union League Club of Chicago, Consumer Bankers Association Small Business Committee and College of Business Advisory Council of University of Illinois at Chicago.

For more than 125 years, the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago has served the interests of women, girls and families. The YWCA is committed to empowering women and working to eliminate racism. The YWCA serves 100,000 women, children and families each year through child-care services, youth development programs, violence prevention education, rape crises intervention, counseling and anti-racism programming.

Harris Bank, with $30 billion in assets, is one of the largest community bank networks in Illinois, serving both individuals and businesses through out the diverse Chicagoland area. Harris clients have access to nearly 160 full-service locations, and more than 450 Harris ATMs free of charge. Harris Bank is part of BMO Financial Group (NYSE: BMO), a h ighly diversified financial services organization. For more information, please visitwww.harrisbank.com and www.bmo.com.