Where Outreach Meets Opportunity. An Interview with MPress.

Driven by her own lived experiences and deep passion to help others, MPress Bennu Greenfield Savings Bank CRA Analyst and Community Outreach Officer, wears many hats including mom of four, wife, teacher, business owner, fashion designer, radio and TV personality, human rights activist, and DJ. Her energy is larger than life and is contagious.

She has always done a variety of different work and never dreamed she would be doing the work she currently is but as she has reflected back MPress said her life’s work has always found her.

MPress shared that some of her first advocacy work at the Lighthouse Clubhouse in Springfield; she helped young adults with mental illness in foster care build skills to transition from foster care into adulthood. Many of these young adults would experience homelessness, drug use, and self-harm after they age out of foster care, because they are left with no one. She became their advocate, and they would refer to her as “Momma” as she became the trusted adult to help them navigate through this large transition. It was during this time that she realized through her own experience with homelessness, she understood the path these young adults were on.

Soon after moving from Springfield to Greenfield in 2020, MPress found herself in the role of planning the first Juneteenth celebration in Franklin County in 2022. In 2025 she consulted the Mayor of Greenfield about making a city-wide Proclamation for the annual event. MPress was the sole facilitator and brain power behind Juneteenth in Franklin County, she was recognized for her work on Juneteenth in Franklin County by being awarded Citizen of the Year from the Greenfield Elks Lodge, and most recently awarded a citation from the Massachusetts House of Representatives, for outstanding service and advocacy in Franklin County.

She said the job at Greenfield Savings Bank found her when she was attending a community outreach event. John Holland, President of GSB at the time, liked how she spoke at the event and invited her for a meeting at the bank. Coincidentally, she had recently applied for a teller position at the bank, but after meeting with senior leadership members MPress was asked to apply for the CRA Analyst and Community Outreach Officer. She was still in disbelief at the time, wondering what she, a black woman with dreads, was doing in a bank board room. Little did she know this opportunity would allow her to have a significant impact on the low-to- moderate income (LMI) communities and continue her life’s advocacy work.

The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), founded in 1977, requires banks to help meet the credit needs of their communities. The Act ensures everyone has equal rights to loans and other bank services.

One of the ways GSB supports the CRA initiative is through The Journeys program, which is a financial literacy program developed by MPress. The Journeys pilot program was launched in November of 2025 with ten individuals. Through the program, MPress will provide training on basic financial literacy skills, working with the GSB lending team and securing a loan for a house, if that is their end goal. She meets people where they are and provides financial skills to help them meet their goals.

MPress stated, “Many of these people only hear No, but one Yes can be lifechanging for them. The goal is to take people from generational trauma to generational wealth.” After the first pilot group ends in fall of 2026, her plan is to take on another group and down the road have the program expand beyond Franklin County.

MPress also has plans underway to run the first Western MA Black Business Expo in August at Greenfield Community College. August is Black Business Month, and the Expo will be a great way to showcase and support Black-owned businesses in Western MA.

When she is not helping others reach their financial and life goals through the Journeys program, MPress can be found running her business called “Moving Mountains” located at 91 Main Street in Greenfield. It is here that she fosters collaboration through her radio and TV shows. It is also where she is sewing and creating her own fashion line called “Passion Queen.” It is no surprise that MPress is determined to move mountains, her own last name “Bennu” means the rising of the phoenix. She has certainly risen from the ashes and harnessed it as her superpower to make a difference for others.