Aili Ratike, Vice President, Trust Executive at North Shore Bank, is the recipient of the 2026 Volunteer of the Year award at this year’s 156th Annual Meeting & Dinner Celebration. It’s come as quite the surprise, to her.
“I never expected to get that,” she said. “I mean, I do think my time is spent being meaningfully helpful for the Chamber and the Leadership Duluth program, but I wouldn’t have expected to get it.”
When she reflects on just why she might have been selected for such an honor, Ratike offered a few thoughts, and they centered around her role on the steering committee for Leadership Duluth for the past few years being key to her recognition.
“A big part of the Leadership Duluth program is being there on the day, and kind of planning out the day to make sure that we’re hitting all of the Chamber’s initiatives through the Leadership Duluth program,” Ratike said. “So I think it’s a little bit of ‘boots on the ground’ – being there to help direct and herd everybody – but then also just to be there as a resource for all of the individuals going through the program.”
The 10-month program requires one full day of participation each month of its duration and takes a lot of planning to carry out. “[It’s about] creating the structure of the day, using our network and connections to help find speakers, to help find locations and ultimately help kind of format the days based on what the Chamber’s looking to accomplish,” Ratike said.
Ratike credits her employer – who she started with as a part-time teller in 2013 – with helping to encourage her in her extracurriculars.
“North Shore Bank is the premier sponsor of the Leadership Duluth program,” she said. “Having the support of my employer to be gone each of these years at least one full day a month and to the different planning meetings that go along with it [is important]. I feel very, very lucky to have found such a great employer right out of college. Without having that support, I don’t think I would be nearly as successful. I greatly enjoy what I do.”
For her, Ratike’s role in Leadership Duluth has meant that she gets to grow as a person and do a lot of organic networking, which only means that she becomes better in her work role.
“Going in, I felt like I had a pretty decent understanding of our area,” she said. “Every year, I learn something new, whether it’s a place I haven’t been to, getting to meet other leaders of nonprofits and industries and getting to meet folks that I probably never would have crossed paths with had it not been for the Chamber’s program.”
Ratike’s had some nerves about having to get onstage at the Annual Meeting, but she’s ready for the challenge, just like she has been with her time as a notable volunteer in Duluth. “
It definitely will be the largest group of people I’ve ever spoken to,” she said. “I’ve been told that the lights are really bright, so you can’t really see anybody – which will be great.”
