Bernard T. Bartilad has participated in the Chicago Triathlon every year since 2006, including this past summer, when he competed in the triathlon at Gay Games 9 in Cleveland.
"I enjoy swimming in [Lake Michigan] during summer and indoors the rest of the year," said Bartilad, who admittedly did not know how to swim when he started in the sport and now trains with the Chicago Smelts, a predominantly gay and lesbian U.S. Masters Swim Team.
Bartilad, 47, who lives in Rogers Park, is the senior vice president and division manager at MB Financial Bank, N.A. He is in charge of a division of bankers providing personalized services to mid-market, privately-owned companies, as well as non-profit organizations focused on education, healthcare and social services.
Bartilad is married to Michael Herman, 51, the chief development director at Chicago House. They have been together 18 years, linked through sports and the 2002 Gay Games in Sydney, Australia.
They met playing beach volleyball at Hollywood Beach in Chicago and their first date was at Big Chicks in Uptown, "after trying for several months to connect," Bartilad said.
They had a commitment ceremony in September, 2002, with a honeymoon in Sydney—at the Gay Games. Ten years later, they had a civil union, and this past Aug. 29, they were married at City Hall.
"Truly, the third time was the charm," Bartilad said.
Their son—Adam, 7—was the witness and photographer.
"When our son arrived from the Philippines, I had to learn how to cook Filipino dishes so that he would feel at home," Bartilad said. "This meant many phone calls to my sister. Before that, you would not have found me in the kitchen. Now, I proudly prepare chicken adobo, beef caldereta, [and more]. I have even added to my cooking repertoire, making salmon cakes from scratch, which is our son's favorite dish."
Bartilad is on the board of Center on Halsted and currently the chairperson of the Investment Committee. He also supports such causes as Chicago House, Howard Brown Health Center, AIDS Foundation of Chicago and Lambda Legal.
He has been with MB Financial Bank for 15 years. Prior to that, he worked with Bank One ( now JP Morgan Chase ) for 10 years.
The last 20 of his 25 years in banking have been in commercial lending.
"It was during my freshman year when I realized I would not be a doctor, so I decided to pursue a career in banking and changed my major to business economics," he said. "When I arrived in the U.S. in August, 1988, my first job was as a teller for a small community bank in Evanston. I honestly believe that this position served as the foundation for my banking career, as it taught me a lot about the basics of banking and customer service."
MB Financial Bank's LGBTQ Initiative was formed in 2011, focused on expanding the bank's involvement and support of the LGBTQ community, although MB took on smaller activities beginning over a decade ago, Bartilad said.
"Over the past three years, the initiative has made significant strides in expanding MB Financial Bank's visibility and engagement in the LGBTQ community," he said. "The presence of the MB branch [at] Belmont and Halsted, which is in the heart of Boystown, serves as a visible symbol of MB Financial's place in this very important Chicago community. And our commitment to the community goes beyond the physical branch and is geared to active involvement in the community.
"The initiative's goal is to be an active participant in the dialogue surrounding topics affecting LGBTQ individuals and business owners. We do this by hosting events, supporting various LGBTQ organizations, and providing content information that utilizes our expertise as a financial institution that would be relevant to the various members of the LGBTQ community."
MB hosted a marriage-equality discussion, sponsored by the StartOut Chicago CEO Panel, and an annual Pride Open House. "Our objective is to become the bank of choice for the community, where they see MB as a partner in the community as well as in serving their banking needs. This is MB's approach to all the communities and markets in which we are involved," he said.
The bank's LGBTQ Initiative is comprised of 10 LGBTQ employees and allies, Bartilad said. "We expect to grow this as we establish an LGBTQ Business Resource Group, an affiliate group, to serve as a platform for our LGBTQ employees and allies to network and be engaged internally as well as externally. MB's support of its LGBTQ employees and the LGBTQ community not only adheres to MB's core value of community but also makes good business sense."
Bartilad, the manager of the group, is out to executive management and his associates.
"Our efforts in the LGBTQ initiative have made our community more visible to our management and employees," he said. "In the last three years, the attention and recognition by MB's executive management of our LGBTQ initiative has increased significantly. We have the support of our two executive sponsors, which validates and provides credence to the initiative. This will be further enhanced by the creation of the MB Financial Bank LGBTQ Business Resources Group."
Bartilad said MB "is a good place to for the gay community [to work] since we value mutual respect and diversity."
Note: Bartilad and MB Financial Bank are supporting the Windy City Times LGBTQ Youth Entrepreneurs event Feb. 28 as sponsors along with Center on Halsted and StartOut.
