Three Degrees. One Purpose.

In an age where job-hopping is the norm, staying in one role often means employees are satisfied with more than just their paychecks. Though their fields of study at Washburn were distinct, Matt Koupal, jd ’09, Ryan Gilliland, ba ’05, and Kylie Mergen, ba ’02, found a powerful point of intersection at Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka, where they work together to enhance affordable housing and community development.

Created through the Federal Home Loan Bank Act of 1932, FHLBank Topeka is one of 11 FHLBanks in the country that supports mortgage lending and community investment.

A “bank for banks,” FHLBank’s foundational mission is to help its members (community banks, credit unions and insurance companies) with daily liquidity needs. Its secondary mission is affordable housing, an area where Koupal, chief mission officer and chief legal officer, Gilliland, director of government and industry relations, and Mergen, community investment officer and director of housing and community development, focus on in their daily work.

“Topeka is fortunate to have a Federal Home Loan Bank because of the type of complex, mission-oriented work we do,” Koupal said. “We’re able to do that work because of local business partners, our employees, many of whom are Washburn grads.”

Funding More Places to Call Home

Koupal, Gilliland and Mergen have each played a role in using FHLBank’s funding to support affordable housing programs, like Eden Village, a not-for-profit tiny home community in Kansas City, Kansas, for those experiencing chronic homelessness and a persistent physical and/or mental disability.

FHLBank supports housing projects like Eden Village through collaboration with its community bank members. Regulations require the bank to take 10% of its income and give it back to the communities it serves. For FHLBank Topeka, its community spans four states: Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma. FHLBank Topeka has also committed to giving an additional 5% of its income, on top of the 10% regulatory requirement, by 2025.

“We’re voluntarily providing those funds to our programs,” said Koupal, referring to the bank’s downpayment assistance grant programs, affordable housing grant program and Native American Housing Initiatives grant program. “We hope to provide much-needed funding for that dream of home ownership.”

Taking Classroom Lessons All the Way to the Bank

Mergen was always driven by the desire to help people, an ambition that motivated her to pursue psychology at Washburn. While she did not intend to pursue a career in banking, the higher purpose behind her work has motivated her to stay at FHLBank for over 15 years.

Mergen’s career started in the mortgage industry, where she first started to see a connection among people, communities and finance. She eventually accepted a position in FHLBank’s collateral and credit division, where she worked until 2022. When an opportunity arose in the housing department, she went for it.

“Housing is a basic human right. It’s connected to so many parts of having a quality life,” Mergen said. “Combining my passion for people and my passion for housing perfectly aligned with this new role.”

Koupal, who has been at FHLBank since 2009, also credits his longevity with the impact he’s been able to have in his role.

“Purpose-driven work has become more important to me as I’ve advanced in my career,” he said.

(Matt Koupal [second from left] and Kylie Mergen [right] join bank, government and tribal officials pose as a check is presented to the Muscogee Creek National Department of Housing during FHLBank Topeka’s Native American Housing Initiatives Grants Program presentation.)

Koupal said the lessons he learned at Washburn continue to be valuable in his daily work.

“Law school taught me how to analyze problems differently,” he said. “That’s important as an attorney, but it’s been even more important in my role as the bank has been presented with complex problems that are unique because we are such a unique entity.”

Gilliland, whose father was also in banking, realized the connection between communities and their financial institutions early on.

“I grew up understanding liquidity was key in the ability to lend and fuel people’s dreams,” Gilliland said.

Gilliland’s decision to attend Washburn was largely influenced by the connections he hoped to make studying public relations in the mass media department.

“Washburn was uniquely helpful in me getting to where I am,” he said. “It not only provided the classroom knowledge, it also brought me to people who really put me on the right path.”

Gilliland said FHLBank Topeka feels like an extension of the Washburn community because of the large number of Washburn interns and alumni who work there.

“The bank’s culture is really kind of an extension of the Washburn culture that’s grown this entity and helped it thrive in Topeka in a way that has made us sort of a system leader,” Gilliland said. “I attribute it to the commonality we share from coming from the same institution.”