SIMON WLODARSKI, is a Senior Vice President at Bank of America and is a member of the U.S. State and Local Government Relations Team, overseeing State/Local Government Relations for the company in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Colorado. In this regional role with the company, Simon works on public policy issues impacting the financial services industry. In his leadership role with the company, he engages with public officials and banking industry leaders across the country. Simon serves as the Bank's liaison with the National Council of State Legislators, a national trade association of state legislators. He also serves as Vice Chair on the Executive Board of the Civic Federation, a non-profit organization advocating for responsible fiscal health of state and local government in Illinois.
Prior to joining Bank of America, Simon served in the Administration of Pat Quinn, Governor of Illinois. Simon began his public policy career supporting the Office of Management and Budget before serving as Chief of Staff of the Department of Veterans Affairs. In that capacity, Simon oversaw finance, human resources, operations and legislative affairs.
Simon served in the United States Marine Corps, enlisting in 1995 as an infantry Marine. Transferring to the Reserves to attend college, Simon went on to pursue a commission in 2003, serving as an Infantry Officer during combat tours in Iraq. Simon transferred to the Illinois National Guard in 2011, serving in Afghanistan as an advisor, as well as an embedded officer in the Polish Task Force. Simon most recently served in Ukraine as an advisor, leading a multi-National NATO team working with the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Amongst his awards, Simon is most proud to have earned the Army's Combat Infantryman's Badge and the Marine Combat Action Ribbon, and retired in December 2022 as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army National Guard.
Simon was born in Chicago, Illinois, and currently lived in Arlington Heights with his wife and two sons. He completed a BS in Engineering from Iowa State University and an MBA from Northern Illinois University.
[00:00:12] Welcome back to another episode of The Political Life. Today we come to you from the great city of Chicago. We're our guest who covers many, many states in the Midwest. I'm not sure how many he can tell us. We are here today with Simon Wlodarski from Bank of America. Prior to the show, we were talking about verbal tics. My verbal tic is ums, and I've already said one.
[00:00:39] So we'll count and see how many I have in the podcast. Maggie's verbal tic is so, beginning sentences with so. Simon, of course, because he's the guest and he's a rock star, he has no verbal tics. He has none at all. Simon, welcome to the show.
[00:00:58] Hey, great to be here, and I will not encourage a drinking game counting shots for your ums.
[00:01:03] Oh, let me tell you, the ums would beat the so's. You would be quite intoxicated by the end of this podcast. Before Maggie gets into the real questions and someone who has actually done some homework here, speaking of drinking games, have either of you seen the Red Sox documentary on Netflix?
[00:01:24] Yes, yes.
[00:01:25] Uh, so, uh, so, uh, so before game seven in the 2003, if I have my dates right, before the Yankee game, they did shots of Jack Daniels?
[00:01:40] Simon, is that, is that, did I watch?
[00:01:43] Evidently, that was the case. You know, I'm only going by what was shown on Netflix, but there's a strong contingent of, uh, Red Sox fans in Bank of America.
[00:01:51] So, uh, they were just happy to get the result desired. I don't think they were too critical of the methodology.
[00:01:56] Um, I don't know if I could, uh, execute that way. Uh, I need all my faculties trying to hit a baseball, but they, they did much better than I would.
[00:02:04] Apparently, um, uh, Millar went down, they went down to do bat batting practice or something in Yankee Stadium.
[00:02:10] And the, the person organizing it for him on the, on the Yankee staff had a bottle of Jack Daniels on his desk and Millar took it.
[00:02:18] And they all proceeded to do shots and went on to win game seven and then went on to the world, uh, uh, the, um, uh, you know, the world series.
[00:02:28] Well, as a Chicagoan, I can sympathize with long suffering baseball fans. So it was my Cubs only, uh, made it once recently. I was just happy to be alive to see it.
[00:02:36] So I, uh, I'm happy when other fans can get it as well. And hey, congratulations to the LA Dodgers as well.
[00:02:42] Yeah. The LA big, big congrats to them and, uh, some former Red Sox players, uh, on the Dodgers and the Yankees. Uh, and I, I had my years mixed up.
[00:02:51] Uh, it was 2004 where they, uh, came back from three games down 2003 was the, uh, um, the implosion.
[00:02:58] I do not want to hear from all the Boston Red Sox fans about how could I mix up those two years.
[00:03:04] All right. So enough with all that. Uh, and again, before Maggie jumps in, uh, Simon, how many states do you cover in the Midwest?
[00:03:12] I cover 10 states in the Midwest from, uh, Michigan over to Colorado to Montana, uh, primarily focused on the Midwest based out of Chicago, Illinois.
[00:03:22] Wow. Wow. Well, welcome to the show. We're glad to have you. And, uh, of course my co-host, uh, Maggie Mick, uh, take it from here.
[00:03:30] Thank you, Jim. And hello, Simon. Um, we actually invited Simon onto the show for two reasons.
[00:03:39] One, um, he's a, a successful government affairs executive, um, for bank of America, which we'll get into, but as we, uh, enter November and veterans day,
[00:03:49] Simon also has distinguished military service. And so we wanted to talk about his unique professional, um, and public service, um, uh, combination.
[00:03:59] Of his career. So welcome Simon. And I guess to lead us off, how did you begin your political life?
[00:04:08] So I guilty of that. I, uh, came back home in a 2008, 2009 timeframe from some service in the Marine Corps.
[00:04:16] And we had a little incident here in Illinois, an impeachment of Governor Bogoyevich.
[00:04:21] Lieutenant Governor Quinn, who I've known for many years, invited me to help him out at the state of Illinois.
[00:04:27] So three weeks after the impeachment, I joined the state of Illinois working in a couple different agencies, and it was quite a baptism by fire.
[00:04:36] We were already halfway through legislative session.
[00:04:38] Many bills were filed, and we found we had to make some changes, some corrections.
[00:04:42] And working with the General Assembly, some personalities like Michael Madigan, John Collerton in leadership, it was a challenge.
[00:04:50] And I learned a lot from all the leaders that I worked in in government service.
[00:04:54] So it was your military service that led you into your political service.
[00:04:59] It was my Catholic school upbringing because the Catholic school network in Chicago is very strong.
[00:05:05] Governor Quinn is a graduate of the same high school as I am Fenwick High School, go Friars.
[00:05:09] But it's a strong network with a strong belief in giving back.
[00:05:14] And, you know, my time in Chicago is what led me to my service in the Marine Corps, but also the values that I got from my Catholic school upbringing led me to public service.
[00:05:25] So how did you make that decision when you were a younger man at the time to join?
[00:05:33] I enlisted in the Marine Corps in April of 1995.
[00:05:37] Growing up in Chicago, I was the child of two Polish immigrants.
[00:05:41] And my mother and father immigrated separately but not here.
[00:05:43] And this was during communism.
[00:05:46] And both of my dad was more actually a refugee, classified as a refugee coming from Poland.
[00:05:52] And my mother was 12.
[00:05:54] Both of them had some family here in the States.
[00:05:57] My dad originally immigrated to Wisconsin, go Badgers.
[00:06:01] And then my mother here in Chicago, they met here and raised me and my sister here.
[00:06:06] And when, you know, growing up with that upbringing, we're talking about the peak of communism, the Cold War.
[00:06:12] And, you know, looking what was happening with Reagan and Gorbachev trying to figure out how to move forward in the world.
[00:06:18] So, and seeing the wall come down, you know, that was a big impact on me as a young man.
[00:06:24] I spent some time in Eastern Europe before the wall fell, you know, with my family and seeing the effects of that value system.
[00:06:30] Communism was a very hard life for my family there.
[00:06:34] And when I had the chance to make a decision to serve, I was very proud to raise my right hand and enlist the Marine Corps.
[00:06:42] So, in terms of lessons from the Marine Corps that you have applied to government affairs or even government service at the state level, you know, what did you bring home with you that you applied in terms of your now profession?
[00:06:56] It's kind of an arc because I joined the Marine Corps at a young age and then matriculated onto the ranks and then transferring over to the Army, becoming a field grade officer.
[00:07:04] But one thing I think about is know yourself and seek self-improvement because chances are you don't know the right answer.
[00:07:11] But it's not that you're bad or undervalued.
[00:07:15] It's always take the opportunity to learn.
[00:07:17] And as we see in the evolving world that we work in, particularly at the state level, the laboratories of democracy, it's continuously learning.
[00:07:24] So, in terms of your time at Bank of America, you have actually, we worked together when I was at CSG for many years.
[00:07:32] And it was we would always joke on my team.
[00:07:36] You knew when Simon was not abroad because you were such an incredible representative for the bank with CSG, just so responsive and engaged.
[00:07:46] But how have you balanced, you know, these this transition in your military service while holding a corporate role with a ton of responsibilities, a ton of states, like Jim said?
[00:07:59] How have you balanced both roles to date?
[00:08:06] Well, it's something I learned when when working for the governor's office, you know, leading a state agency as well.
[00:08:12] It's it was wearing two hats at the same time.
[00:08:14] And my third hat is being a dad.
[00:08:17] I have a family.
[00:08:18] My younger son's developmentally disabled.
[00:08:19] So it's it's being a good corporate citizen.
[00:08:22] It was being a good military officer and it was being a good family man.
[00:08:26] And all those things were in conflict at times.
[00:08:29] But the goal was trying to do the best as possible.
[00:08:32] But the other thing I learned is, you know, not many of us serve in the military.
[00:08:36] So I did retire two years ago.
[00:08:39] It was hard, hard to leave.
[00:08:40] But it was time.
[00:08:42] But the thing is, not many Americans do take the opportunity to join the military.
[00:08:47] So as as you progress, you realize nobody else is going to step into the breach unless you stick around.
[00:08:52] And as I was able to be around for a long time and gain a lot of experience in terms of combat time, being overseas, some of the more complex planning processes, you have a sense of duty and value to the men and women you work with and you work for.
[00:09:07] We always talk about being a servant leader in the military because the reality is the higher rank you are, you work for your subordinates.
[00:09:15] And I just like the term subordinate, you outrank them, but your existence and your time is for them, not for you.
[00:09:27] And so, Simon, you did multiple tours in Iraq.
[00:09:30] Is that correct?
[00:09:32] I did.
[00:09:33] I did 2004 and 2005 in Iraq as an infantry Marine officer.
[00:09:38] Some pretty hard, hard years, some hard lessons, lost a lot of good friends there.
[00:09:44] But I was lucky enough to come home and tell my story to my family and friends.
[00:09:49] It was it was quite the experience.
[00:09:51] And it was early, early in the conflict, as we thought about the global war on terror.
[00:09:55] So it was it was different going into that than I thought.
[00:10:01] How so?
[00:10:05] When when I joined the military in 1995, it was the drawdown.
[00:10:09] You know, communism fell.
[00:10:11] We didn't really know what was coming.
[00:10:12] And we always thought about the near peer threat.
[00:10:16] Then the global war on terror happened.
[00:10:19] And we saw the initial invasion of Afghanistan and how that was going.
[00:10:24] And you're talking about the small wars manuals, as we called it in the Marine Corps.
[00:10:29] And adapting that to the fight, the insurgent fight in Iraq was was a challenge.
[00:10:35] And it came down to just really understanding culture.
[00:10:39] It was hard to understand the lay of the land in Iraq is hard to gain the proper intelligence just because you're not culturally aware.
[00:10:48] You could you could prosecute the fight fairly well.
[00:10:51] The U.S. military trained incredibly well.
[00:10:52] The Marines trained me very well.
[00:10:54] But it was just hard to gain an appreciation for the land that we were walking on because you had a hard time interacting with the locals.
[00:11:01] And I think that's something I tried to bring home with me is trying to understand other people better, try to meet people where they're at.
[00:11:07] And that's the lesson I learned there.
[00:11:11] And then following that, at some point in the future, you were called you went to Afghanistan, Afghanistan as an advisor.
[00:11:18] Is that correct?
[00:11:19] So I when I completed my time in the Marine Corps, I transferred to the Illinois Army National Guard.
[00:11:24] And what we had was this the National Guards have the state partnership program in Illinois is assigned to Poland as a kid who grew up speaking, reading and writing Polish.
[00:11:36] It was a really good transition for me.
[00:11:37] So initially, I worked for a lot of our time with the Polish land forces overseas.
[00:11:45] Eventually, I was embedded with the Polish task force in Ghazni, not as an advisor to them, but as an advisor to the Afghans.
[00:11:52] However, I worked directly for the Polish military.
[00:11:54] I was I was administratively assigned to them.
[00:11:56] So not only was I deployed to Afghanistan as a U.S. officer, I was deployed as an officer working for one of our NATO partners advising the Afghans.
[00:12:05] So it's it was a game of three dimensional chess every day.
[00:12:08] But again, trying to bring that cultural awareness as American to one of our NATO partners and then our foreign military that we were working with the Afghans.
[00:12:18] And I bet that tour was a little different than your earlier tours in Iraq.
[00:12:24] Jerry, the the the country of Afghanistan was a much different fight than Iraq was.
[00:12:29] I mean, if you just think about the terrain, I went from sea level, very, very hot 100 degrees to, you know, Ghazni was at 7000 degrees base camp.
[00:12:39] And you're talking about from the winter through the summer back to the winter, because we we got there in February and left in December.
[00:12:45] And you had not only the four seasons, you had what we called the winter, which was not the fighting season.
[00:12:51] And then the fighting season in the summer when when most of the Taliban would come back to our region.
[00:12:57] So it was a very evolving fight on August 28th.
[00:13:03] Our base was attacked with a VBID, a large truck bomb.
[00:13:06] They actually blew a hole open in the wall and entered the compound.
[00:13:09] And, you know, that's a day I'll never forget.
[00:13:11] But that's very different than my experiences in Iraq.
[00:13:15] All of it was very lethal.
[00:13:16] All of it was very violent.
[00:13:18] But a lot of hard lessons that I came home with.
[00:13:24] So in terms of your work for the bank, you said you have a number of states in the Midwest.
[00:13:34] Which state keeps you up at night?
[00:13:38] I think there's challenges right here within my home state of Illinois.
[00:13:42] We're dealing with some particular legislation with credit card interchange fees.
[00:13:46] And that's something that we're very cognizant of that can travel throughout the U.S.
[00:13:51] And that's something for financial services we're paying close attention to.
[00:13:54] I think all my states surprise me.
[00:13:59] I think once we get through the election, as the state houses kind of solidify, there's many legislators who have ideas.
[00:14:06] And I think people demand ideas.
[00:14:09] I think that you're seeing a more active electorate.
[00:14:11] And the thing that scares me is what I'm not looking for.
[00:14:16] You know, there are the things I know are coming in my local region.
[00:14:19] You know, we know that local cities will have budget issues as we come out of COVID.
[00:14:25] We're seeing that here in my hometown of Chicago.
[00:14:27] So you're looking at fiscal policy at the state level, at the local level.
[00:14:31] And how does that impact not only corporate entities like Bank of America, but also you want to think about the communities, the men and women who live and work in these communities.
[00:14:39] You want to think about nonprofits that serve the most at-risk people in our communities.
[00:14:44] We have to be cognizant we're part of an ecosystem.
[00:14:46] You know, I'm very fortunate to be where I'm at, but I also know from experience in the nonprofit space where some of the most at-risk of our society, you know, we have to address their needs.
[00:14:57] But how do we do that?
[00:14:59] And I think there has to be some thoughtfulness that we see out of our state houses, which I think we haven't always seen.
[00:15:07] So now that you've got strong policy chops, what are some of the biggest policy challenges facing veterans today?
[00:15:17] Thanks.
[00:15:18] That's a great question.
[00:15:20] It's very important to me to advocate for my fellow veterans to tell them to take advantage of the VA.
[00:15:26] The VA has involved over time since I first accessed it.
[00:15:31] And I think it's important to understand that that's a right answer for you.
[00:15:35] I went through a lot of injuries when I was overseas.
[00:15:39] Think mainly sports injuries, back, knees, concussions, things like that.
[00:15:43] And I've found the more I advocate for myself in the VA health system, the better services I get.
[00:15:50] And as a local veteran leader, as part of the leader of our MSAG group, our military veteran affinity group, you know, I talk to my fellow men and women who have worn the uniform.
[00:16:01] Take advantage of this.
[00:16:02] There's ways to get better, to feel better.
[00:16:05] And you become a better person for not only yourself, but your coworkers and your families.
[00:16:09] And it's a process.
[00:16:10] But we're seeing some better things out of the federal government.
[00:16:13] We saw the PACT Act passed recently about burn pit exposure.
[00:16:18] I think it's important for men and women to understand what the risks were that we took without knowing.
[00:16:24] And it's important to encourage my fellow veteran to think long and hard about how to access those services to take better care of themselves.
[00:16:33] What are some of the best resources for veterans to think about that maybe, you know, they're not aware of, but would listen to a fellow veteran in terms of accessing those?
[00:16:46] Every VA hospital network has what they call an OIF, OEF coordinator.
[00:16:51] So they're social workers who are focused on my cohort of veteran.
[00:16:55] And they help coordinate you to the right needs that you might have a particular issue.
[00:17:01] And they'll make sure you get to see that specialist.
[00:17:04] You know, everything is minor as, you know, you might need eyeglasses, you know, things like that, that you didn't know you could get from the VA to sports medicine.
[00:17:12] And, you know, knee and back injuries are fairly common.
[00:17:14] I speak from personal experience.
[00:17:16] And these are things you didn't know you had access to.
[00:17:18] But also there might be a clinic in your area that you can access.
[00:17:22] And in the rare case, if you can't see somebody at the VA, they do have what they call community-based care.
[00:17:28] And if you can't see that specialist within the VA hospital network, they'll get you to see the right person outside and they will cover it as well.
[00:17:35] So it's, you know, your health is all you have.
[00:17:38] And we went through a lot wearing the uniform.
[00:17:41] And so I encourage my fellow veteran to access health benefits.
[00:17:46] Do you, are you active with local veteran groups?
[00:17:50] Do you, are you close with those that you served with?
[00:17:54] I mean, you've been a lot of places.
[00:17:55] I think we haven't even touched on your time in Ukraine before you retired.
[00:17:59] I mean, this is like a generational, you know, service career.
[00:18:06] It was, it was a great long journey, 27 years.
[00:18:09] And it was a privilege here.
[00:18:11] I'm, I'm a life member of the VFW.
[00:18:13] I'm the co-chair for MSAG group within the bank.
[00:18:16] And I'm fairly active, you know, with my fellow veteran community, the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation.
[00:18:21] And plus, we just have a strong cohort of men and women that we talk to.
[00:18:26] And I'm proud to say if somebody needs some direction, somebody, I'll get connected with that veteran who's looking to me.
[00:18:32] So it's, it's very much a personal journey for me.
[00:18:37] And can you share with us your work in Ukraine before you retired?
[00:18:43] Yeah, sure.
[00:18:44] We, there were rotations through Yavrov, Ukraine, the International Peacekeeping Security Center, IPSC.
[00:18:53] And the mission was called Joint Multinational Training Group, Ukraine.
[00:18:57] And it was not just U.S. troops.
[00:18:58] It was also Lithuanian, Poles, Danes, Swedes, Canadians, Germans.
[00:19:03] And our focus of ever, there was assisting the Ukrainians to plan the military decision-making process.
[00:19:11] As you see them enter the Kursk region, that's them taking the fight more of a maneuver warfare philosophy.
[00:19:21] Uh-oh.
[00:19:22] I think it just went to.
[00:19:26] Okay.
[00:19:27] Got it.
[00:19:27] I have, I wasn't moving the mouse.
[00:19:30] So good thing we're going to edit that out.
[00:19:32] Welcome back.
[00:19:33] Anyway.
[00:19:34] Yeah.
[00:19:34] So, JNTGU with a multinational mission focused on the military decision-making process and Western planning for Ukraine, the armed forces of Ukraine.
[00:19:44] And we're seeing the results of that when they're fighting in the Kursk region, which is more of maneuver warfare as opposed to the static trench warfare as the initial invasion happened.
[00:19:53] So once, once the armed forces of Ukraine fight their fight, they're far more successful.
[00:19:59] It's just that they're dealing with such a large force coming in that they, they have to deal with that as well.
[00:20:03] So, it's like a different language.
[00:20:10] I have so much respect for all of these different missions.
[00:20:15] You know, the thing personally for me being in Ukraine is much of my family is from Western, what's today Western Ukraine.
[00:20:22] So actually, I met my distant cousins in Rydna.
[00:20:26] So, for me, it was not only a professional issue, it was a personal issue.
[00:20:29] And then my family, my, you know, the vast majority of my family is in Southeast Poland.
[00:20:34] So, you know, the Ukraine invasion is not academic for my family.
[00:20:38] It's very much real because there's concerns out of where Russia will stop.
[00:20:45] Well, thank you for your service, my goodness, and your leadership.
[00:20:49] Jim, before we ask Simon our final two questions, do you have any others?
[00:20:56] I do not.
[00:20:57] You can jump right in.
[00:20:59] All right.
[00:21:00] Well, I guess wearing your Bank of America hat, you travel quite a bit to your, throughout your region, but also nationally.
[00:21:07] I know that you hold leadership roles, liaisoning with groups like CSG and NCSL.
[00:21:14] So, you hit the road quite a bit.
[00:21:16] But we always ask our guests, where were you last?
[00:21:19] And what was the best meal you had or best restaurant that you tried?
[00:21:23] And then where are you headed to next?
[00:21:25] So that if someone wants to reach out on LinkedIn and make a friend, they can give you a restaurant tip.
[00:21:31] Absolutely.
[00:21:32] So, our last trip was Madison, Wisconsin.
[00:21:35] There's a great steakhouse right by the Capitol called Rare.
[00:21:39] I'll definitely recommend it.
[00:21:41] The Wisconsin Bankers Association hosted us.
[00:21:43] It was a fantastic time.
[00:21:44] And it's a beautiful statehouse.
[00:21:47] And I think my next trip, right now, we're looking, just have to get through next week, see where things are going.
[00:21:53] But I'm hoping to get out to Detroit, Michigan to go work with my internal partners.
[00:21:57] And I'm definitely looking for some recommendations for Detroit.
[00:22:01] And if I can, I want to grab Speaker Joe Tate and go grab him for a meal.
[00:22:06] Nice.
[00:22:09] Michigan is one of my last four states to visit.
[00:22:11] And I've been there a million times through the airport, but I don't count airports as states to visit.
[00:22:19] So, when you find a good spot, tell me where you went and I'll copy you.
[00:22:25] I have a long list I'll share.
[00:22:27] I'm looking for something new.
[00:22:29] Good.
[00:22:30] Well, thank you, Simon.
[00:22:31] Happy Veterans Day.
[00:22:33] And thank you for your service and your leadership to our country.
[00:22:36] It's just an honor to know you and share your story.
[00:22:41] Maggie, I really appreciate the opportunity.
[00:22:43] And thanks for the focus on the men and women who put on the uniform and those of us who are done with it.
[00:22:48] Because we do need our fellow Americans to sign up and take the opportunity to serve.
[00:22:53] All right, Simon.
[00:22:54] Thank you very much.