Steven F. Young
Senior Vice President

Wainwright Bank & Trust Company
(NASDAQ: WAIN)
telephone: (617) 478-4000
fax: (617) 439-4854
e-mail: syoung@wainwrightbank.com
website: www.wainwrightbank.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The ACLU of Massachusetts and Carol Rose, its Executive Director, Receive the 2005 Wainwright Bank Social Justice Award

BOSTON, Nov. 9 -- Wainwright Bank ("WAIN") has awarded its 17th annual Wainwright Bank Social Justice Award to the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and its Executive Director, Carol Rose.

Wainwright Bank created the Award to recognize a nonprofit and an affiliated individual who have achieved outstanding success in addressing issues of social justice. The Award is accompanied by a $10,000 donation and was presented during the Bank's annual customer appreciation event attended by over 500 people at the Fairmont Copley Plaza, Boston.

"By winning one precedent setting case after another, the ACLU has helped establish the vast majority of civil liberties we have today," said Robert Glassman, Co-founder and Co-chairman of Wainwright Bank, upon presenting the Award.

The ACLU has chapters in every state and works daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in the country by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Founded in 1919, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts (ACLUM) is the oldest chapter in the nation.

Carol Rose was named the Executive Director of the ACLUM in January 2003 and since then membership has increased by nearly 47%. Prior to assuming the helm of the ACLUM Ms. Rose was an attorney in private practice at a Boston law firm where she focused on First Amendment violations, Internet and media law, intellectual property rights, and civil rights.

With $725 million in assets, Wainwright Bank is widely recognized as one of the most progressive community banks in the country. The Bank has provided over $400 million in loan commitments for socially responsible development projects including affordable housing, environmental protection, homeless shelters, HIV/AIDS services, food banks, breast cancer research, immigration services and more. Recent recognition includes being named one of the world's Top 20 Sustainable Stocks, one of the 11 Best Lenders to Women in the U.S., and one of the Top 10 "Green" Banking Firms in the U.S.

^ back to top ^