Being on the board at Torrey Pines Bank lets philanthropist Sheryl White use the finance skills she honed for years. (photo/lambertphoto.com)

Giving comes naturally to Sheryl (Palmer) White. For 28 years, she was a banker who funded loans. Since 2001, she has been a philanthropist, donating resources — both time and cash — to a variety of charities.

“I’ve always felt good about helping people, whether it was making loans or doing what we do now,” says the 1991 TWIN recipient. “I still run into people today who say, ‘You lent me the money that started my business’ (as a banker) and it’s such a good feeling.”

White began her career in 1973 at United California Bank, which became First Interstate Bank in 1981.

“I originally was going to do (banking) for a year or two and it ended up 28 years,” she says with a laugh. “But what’s really fun about banking is there are so many different jobs. New things kept opening up to me.”

In 1996, White moved to Grossmont Bank. After five years there, she retired — “early,” as she is quick to point out. In fact, she had just married Harvey White, a co-founder of Qualcomm and retired chairman and CEO of Leap Wireless, and decided to spend more time with her son, then 11. But banking was still in her brain.

“I told Robert Sarver if he ever started up a bank to give me a call,” she says.

Not only did he call, when Sarver opened Torrey Pines Bank in 2003 he asked White to serve on the bank’s board.

“Most of the boards I am on or affiliated with are nonprofits,” says White, the bank board’s only woman, “except for the bank and the bank is what keeps me satisfied as a former businesswoman.”

White’s other board work includes the Old Globe, the Contemporary Museum of Art and the Children’s Museum. “The arts are a passion for me,” she says.

The Whites are generous — they have given over $6 million to the Old Globe — but White says she is not buying her way into leadership.

“Whether I donate funds or not, I’ve never been shy about suggesting ideas or alternatives when I’ve been involved with an organization,” she says. “Giving money doesn’t change my perspective or how passionate I am about anything.”

— Christy Scannell