Leadership

Jeffrey Tengel joined Rockland Trust as Chief Executive Officer of the Company in February of 2023. Prior to that, he served as Senior Executive Vice President, Head of Commercial Specialty Banking at M&T Bank. Before M&T’s recent acquisition of People’s United Financial, Mr. Tengel was President of People’s United where he was responsible for commercial banking, retail banking, and wealth management. He joined People’s United in 2010 from PNC Bank where he worked following PNC’s acquisition of National City Bank. At National City, Mr. Tengel served as Executive Vice President of Corporate Banking, managing the specialized industry, capital markets, commercial real estate, equipment finance, and private equity business lines.

Mr. Tengel received his Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Marquette University and his M.B.A. from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. Active in the community, Mr. Tengel currently serves on the Board of Trustees at Quinnipiac University. Previously, he served on the Board of Directors at Bridgeport Hospital, People’s United Community Foundation, Wakeman Boys & Girls Club and Kolbe Cathedral High School.

Gerry Nadeau was named the President of Rockland Trust on March 16, 2017. Previously he served as the Executive Vice President of Commercial Lending of Rockland Trust since July 1, 2007, and continues to oversee all the Company's commercial lending activities. He has worked at Rockland Trust in a variety of capacities since 1984, serving as a Senior Vice President of Commercial Lending from 1992 until 2007.

Since 2007, Mr. Nadeau has led to the growth of Rockland Trust by establishing new lending locations and avenues for the bank. Within the last four years, Rockland Trust's Commercial Banking division has introduced new lending services such as leasing, security, and franchise and opening lending centers in Burlington and Worcester.

Community and non-profit activities continue to be an essential use of Mr. Nadeau's time and role at the bank. They have expanded to include Boston Chamber of Commerce Board Member, Officer and Board Member of SEED, Board Member of the Southeastern MA Affordable Housing Group, Board and Executive Committee member of the Brockton Boys & Girls Club, President of the Montello Affordable Housing Corp., member of the Executive Committee for Development at Stonehill College, Board and Executive Committee member of the Old Colony YMCA, board member of the non-profit New Beginnings for Families Inc., Trust advisor for the Shields Foundation, and board member of Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation.

Mark Ruggiero serves as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Consumer Lending. Mark has been the Chief Financial Officer of Rockland Trust and its holding company, Independent Bank Corp., since 2019. With nearly 25 years of experience in financial services, he was previously the Bank’s Principal Accounting Officer and Controller. Prior to joining Rockland Trust, he was a manager at Vitale, Caturano & Co., a Certified Public Accountant. Mark is a member of the Massachusetts Society of CPAs and the American Institute of CPAs. He is also a trustee of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. Mark holds a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from Bentley University.

Maria Harris serves as the Chief Human Resources Officer. She joined the Bank in 2003 as a recruiter and later was promoted to Director of Recruitment and Colleague Relations. Previously, Maria served as Recruiter for Zurich Scudder Investments and Recruitment Manager for the May Institute. She was the recipient of the Boston Business Journal's Wellness Champion Award and the 2010 Brockton's Women of the Year Award. Maria earned the distinction of SPHR and a Bachelor of Arts from Bridgewater State College (Bridgewater State University). During her tenure at Rockland Trust, the Bank has been ranked for 14 straight years by The Boston Globe as one of the Top Places to Work in Massachusetts and recognized by the Human Rights Campaign as one of the Best Places to Work for the LGBTQ community for 7 straight years. Also, Maria introduced Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) focused on supporting diversity and inclusion in the workplace and launched RockFIT, an employee wellness program that promotes a culture of physical, emotional, and financial well-being through activities and events, information, and other resources. Recently, Maria has co-led our diversity committee and developed action plans to support racial equality and social justice.

Peg McCarthy serves as Chief Retail Banking Officer, a role she was appointed to in early 2023. In her position, Peg is responsible for the oversight of the bank’s retail branch, business banking and retail learning and development teams. Peg joined the organization in 1988 as a teller and swiftly progressed through the Bank’s retail division. She secured her previous position as Director of Retail Administration in 2019. A certified Omega job performance and skills trainer, Peg holds degrees in business management from the New England College of Business and Babson College’s New England School for Financial Studies.

Patricia (Tricia) Natale is the General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Rockland Trust and its parent bank holding company, Independent Bank Corp. Tricia oversees the Company’s legal activities. She began at Rockland Trust in 2016. Prior to her appointment as General Counsel, Tricia served as Deputy General Counsel. Before joining the organization, Tricia served as a senior member of the legal teams at two different public companies. She began her legal career at Bingham, Dana & Gould LLP (now Morgan Lewis) in the corporate and transactional group. Tricia received her B.A. in English, summa cum laude, from the University of Massachusetts/Boston and her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

David Smith is Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer and has been with Rockland Trust since 2003. David oversees and manages the Investment Management Group. In this capacity, he is involved in performing research and setting investment policy, as well as managing client portfolios. During his tenure at Rockland Trust, Mr. Smith has overseen the growth of the Bank’s Investment Management Group to one of the largest independent investment advisors in Massachusetts with over $5 billion in assets.

David has worked in the financial services industry since 1990. Prior to joining Rockland Trust, David was a founding partner, Senior Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager at Mellon Growth Advisors (MGA), a subsidiary of Mellon Financial Corporation. He also held positions at State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) and the Tuckerman Group in real estate securities, a real estate subsidiary of SSGA. David holds a BA in Economics from the University of Massachusetts/Amherst and a MS in Finance from the Sawyer School of Management at Suffolk University. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), and a member of the CFA Institute and the Boston Security Analysts Society.
David serves on the Advisory Board for the Finance Programs at the Sawyer School of Management at Suffolk University, the South Shore Chamber Investment Committee, and the Finance Committee of the Archdiocese of Fall River. He resides in Falmouth with his family.

As the Director of Banking Operations, Digital Operations, and Enterprise Project Management at Rockland Trust, Debra Smith oversees numerous lines of business including: Deposit Operations (Electronic Banking, Wire Operations, Item and

Account Processing), Branch Operations, Digital Operations, BSA/Fraud Financial Crimes Unit, the Business Analyst Team (Deposit and Loans) and the Enterprise Project Management Office. She joined Rockland trust in 2012 as the Director of Deposit Operations and Contact Center Operations. Before joining Rockland Trust, Deb served as Executive Vice President and BSA (Bank Secrecy Act) Officer for First National Bank of Texas, a $1.5 billion institution headquartered in Killeen, Texas. Previously she held various senior leadership roles at Sovereign Bank and BankBoston. Deb holds an Associate degree in Management from Newbury College in Brookline, MA, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree from Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, MA. She supports our community through participation in United Way, and other non-profit organizations.

Alastair Ironside serves as the Chief Marketing Officer for Rockland Trust. Alastair is responsible for continuing to build a strong and distinct brand for the company while developing marketing strategies to earn new customer relationships and strengthen existing customer relationships. Prior to joining Rockland Trust, Alastair co-led the global internal strategy consulting group at Liberty Mutual Insurance, focusing on corporate strategy and research. In addition to this, he has over 25 years of experience in the banking industry previously working at Bank of America, Citizens Financial Group, FleetBoston Financial, Signet Banking Corporation and Barclays Bank. Alastair received his B.A. in Law and Modern Languages from Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge in England. He is a board member of Rockland Trust’s affiliated charitable foundations.

Kathryn O’Malley is the Senior Vice President, Chief Credit Officer at Rockland Trust. Kathryn oversees credit risk management, loan structuring, approval, work out, appraisal, and environmental risk mitigation for the organization. Kathryn joined the Bank in September of 2009. Prior to that, she spent nine years as an independent consultant completing commercial loan structuring and analysis for regional banks. Additionally, she worked for over a decade in the commercial banking division of BankBoston, and subsequently U.S. Trust. Kathryn received her Masters of Finance from Boston College and B.A in Mathematics and Economics from Wheaton College.