Professional Profile
Christopher P. LeBato, CCIM
Christopher LeBato is the President & CEO of M C Bank. M C Bank was started in 1955 in Morgan City, Louisiana. The bank’s headquarters are in Morgan City, and they have eight banking centers in Louisiana: Amelia, Bayou Vista, Houma, Lafayette, Morgan City, New Orleans, Youngsville, and additional offices coming soon. LeBato was recruited by the M C Bank Board of Directors and hired as President & CEO in 2021.
Prior to M C Bank, LeBato worked for IBERIABANK (now First Horizon Bank) for ten years. He served as the Retail & Business Banking Executive, overseeing operations in Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas. LeBato was responsible for developing and executing market strategies, training hundreds of staff members, and managing billions of dollars in deposits and loans. Before IBERIABANK, LeBato began his banking career at AmSouth (now Regions Bank) in Birmingham, Alabama in 2006.
Active in the New Orleans community, LeBato currently serves as the Board Chair for Youth Empowerment Project, where he has been on the board since 2012. He is also the Board Chair of Urban Land Institute of Louisiana and Vice Chair of the Wilderness Adventures Foundation. LeBato serves as a Board Member for New Orleans Regional Leadership Institute (NORLI), Friends of WWOZ, and Operation Spark.
Over the course of his career, LeBato has earned significant professional recognition. Among these honors include being selected as a fellow for the Bryan Bell Metropolitan Leadership Forum, a graduate and member of Campaign for Equity New Orleans (CENO), a graduate of the New Orleans Regional Leadership Institute program, and a City Business Money Maker honoree.
LeBato holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Spring Hill College, majoring in Finance, Economics, and Liberal Arts. In 2021, he graduated from the Pacific Coast Banking School through the Foster School of Business at University of Washington in Seattle. LeBato was designated a Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) through the CCIM Institute in Chicago, IL. Additionally, he received a certification in Emergenetics training, which is a training that teaches communication and emotional intelligence skills to build self-awareness, develop better teams, and create communication fluency.