Ken LaRoe, the founder, chairman and CEO of Climate First Bancorp, told employees, customers and other stakeholders this week that he has been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the progressive neurological disease also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
LaRoe shared the news in a letter addressed to “the entire Climate First community,” writing that he was diagnosed on July 10 and felt the bank’s founding commitment to transparency obligated him to deliver the news directly rather than let it circulate secondhand.
“Because Climate First Bancorp was founded on transparency and integrity, I believe it is important that our stakeholders understand this reality directly from me,” LaRoe wrote.
LaRoe said the diagnosis does not change his commitment to the company he founded in 2021 as the nation’s first climate-focused, FDIC-insured community bank. He said he remains actively engaged as founder, chairman, and CEO, working alongside what he described as an executive team and a board deliberately built over many years.
“While this diagnosis undoubtedly changes my personal journey, it does not change my conviction, my commitment to this institution, or my confidence in its future,” he wrote.
The disclosure comes roughly 18 months after Climate First put a leadership succession plan in motion. In January 2025, the company promoted Lex Ford, then the bank’s president, to bank CEO, with LaRoe shifting into the role of executive chairman while leading the holding company.
In his letter this week, LaRoe pointed to that groundwork as a source of reassurance amid the diagnosis, noting that he has spent the last five years gradually handing over operations to Ford and to Marcio deOliveira, CEO of OneEthos, the fintech solar-financing platform Climate First launched in 2022.
“Climate First Bancorp has never been about me,” LaRoe wrote. “It has always been about proving that a purpose-driven financial institution can deliver exceptional financial performance while creating positive environmental and social impact. That mission remains unchanged, and with all the sadness, uncertainty and fear, I am deeply comforted that we have diligently been working on my succession plan for the last five years.”