About Us

Executive Officers

Gil Jimenez | President
Gil, an Arizona native, has over 30 years of commercial, corporate and international banking experience. In addition, in 2003, he was appointed by Governor Napolitano to serve as Director of the Arizona Department of Commerce, a position he held for four years. Gil is very active in the community, serving on many boards, including serving as Treasurer of Chicanos Por La Causa and a board member of the ASU Foundation.

Sara T. Gordon | Chief Credit Officer
Sara joined Colonia Bank, with over 25 years of commercial banking experience, primarily in Phoenix, Arizona. She spent over 20 years with Chase Bank and its predecessors, Valley National Bank of Arizona and Bank One and has extensive credit, banking and management experience. Sara is also very active as a community volunteer, serving as the Chair of the Goodwill Industries of Central Arizona Board of Directors, a Trustee of the Phoenix Art Museum and Treasurer of the Institute for Mental Health Research.

Colonia Team

Angel Orozco | Vice President & Business Development Officer
Angel is new to Commercial Banking, having spent the last decade founding and running a number of businesses, including the manufacture and distribution of home furnishings and the distribution of nutritional supplements for both humans and animals. He holds his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University and is working towards his MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Maria Cabral | Vice President & Operations Manager
Maria has been actively involved in banking for the past 11 years. Before joining Colonia Bank, Maria worked for Washington Mutual and M&I in retail banking and mortgage lending. Maria has a BA from Boise State in International Business and is working on her Masters degree in Education. She also holds a real estate license and is an Ambassador for the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Vivian Painter | Vice President & Credit Documentation Manager
Vivian’s tenure in the commercial banking sector spans more than 30 years. She began her career with The Arizona Bank and then joined Valley National Bank, which later became Bank One and then Chase. She then spent 3 years at Desert Hills Bank before coming to Colonia Bank in June 2008. Vivian holds both a BA and MBA from Arizona State University and is a CFA. Vivian enjoys mentoring friends and colleagues on financial investments.

Veronica Awdisho | Assistant Operations Manager
Veronica began her banking career during high school, working as a teller at Wells Fargo. Over the past 13 years, she also worked for Arizona Credit Union and Compass Bank in operations and as a customer service Manager. Veronica holds her Associates of Arts degree from Glendale Community College and is studying accounting at ASU-West. She speaks Assyrian (Aramaic) and understands Arabic and is active in the Assyrian Aid Society.

Alma Karasuljic | Sr. Personal Banker
Alma has been in banking for 6 ½ years, most recently with Compass Bank, where she worked in retail sales and operations. Alma moved to the United States 10 years ago, from Germany, where she grew up. In addition to English and German, Alma speaks Spanish and Bosnian.

Sandra Ramirez | Executive Assistant and Officer Manager
Sandra is new to Banking, having spent the last 19 years working for the State of Arizona in a myriad of positions, most recently as the assistant to the Director of the Department of Commerce. She has a great deal of expertise in working with the legislature, project management and statistics. She is active in the community, raising funds for the Ronald McDonald House and the Salvation Army Angel program.