Natalie Bartholomew is a 21-plus year career banker with experience in a variety of areas of banking including lending, retail, culture building, strategic planning, human resources and marketing. She currently serves as Community President of First Community Bank in Northwest Arkansas.

Natalie has a passion for philanthropy and sits on various boards and committees that serve the Northwest Arkansas region. She was recognized as the 2015 Young Woman of the Year by the Greater Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce for the NWA Business Women’s Conference and was named to the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s 2015 Forty Under 40 list and their 2018 Women In Business list, the 2019 Arkansas Business Forty Under 40 lists, 2020 ICBA Forty Under 40 list, Arkansas Money and Politics 2020 and 2022 Power Women in Banking, 2022 Most Intriguing Women, and 2022 Power Women in Business lists, and was named the 2022 University of Arkansas Agricultural Business and Economics Distinguished Young Alumni. She received both her bachelors and masters degrees from the University of Arkansas and is a graduate of the Graduate School of Banking in Boulder, Colorado where she now serves as a faculty member. Natalie is also a past member of the Emerging Leaders Council of the Arkansas Bankers Association.

She launched the Girl Banker platform in November of 2017 in hopes of creating a voice for women in banking and working moms. In addition to advocacy for women in banking, Natalie has a passion for educating young women about opportunities within the banking industry and raising awareness of what it means to be a community banker. Natalie and the Girl Banker platform have been featured in a variety of financial industry magazines, newsletters, and podcasts which have opened the door to speaking engagements at banking conferences all over the country. The Girl Banker Podcast was launched in 2019 where Natalie and guests cover many topics that women in banking face.

Natalie and her husband, Colt, reside on her family’s farm in Northwest Arkansas with their sons Brody and Witten.