In this episode, Wilfred Bentley shares how his journey, from military service to banking to community development, shaped his purpose-driven approach to finance and leadership. He explains why serving others is at the heart of his work and how Tenfold’s mission is transforming housing and stability in Lancaster.
Nicholas Paulukow
Welcome to Servant Leader’s Library. I’m your host, Nicholas Paulukow, CEO of ONE 2 ONE, where we wrangle IT, tame cybersecurity threats, and shine a light on leaders who serve first and lead boldly. And trust me, our guest is the real deal today.
Let’s dive into a conversation with a man who proves that financial systems can have a heart and sometimes even a sense of humor. Today’s guest has probably forgotten more about finances than most of us will ever learn.
Wilfred Bentley, Chief Financial and Lending Officer at Tenfold, is a man who has spent decades moving money with purpose—from banking to community lending to affordable housing finance.
He is a Vietnam veteran, a former national president of the Urban Financial Services Coalition, and a leader who doesn’t just talk about equity—he builds it, funds it, and scales it. Wow. Wilfred, welcome to the podcast, and thank you for your service. What a welcome to have you, and welcome to this journey of servant leadership.
So why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself outside of the introduction today?
We help leadership teams build more resilient IT foundations. Curious what that looks like?
Wilfred Bentley
Well, thank you for the introduction. I’ll pay you later.
I’ve had a long career that began in banking, both from an operations standpoint and a lending standpoint. I worked in operations and went to school full-time, while I worked full-time, for both my bachelor’s and my master’s degrees, and found out that what you learn in school is totally different than what you’re actually asked to do in a work environment. Totally different.
You have to understand that in college you’re actually being prepared for decisions that you’ll make 20 years from the time that you actually go. So there’s a totally different vibe going on between the reality of work and what’s being taught from a book standpoint.
In my life, I’ve had a journey in banking. I went from banking into not-for-profit work in social services, and from there I actually worked for a church for 13 years. From that standpoint, I became even more deeply grounded in servant leadership. Then I moved to Lancaster and have worked for The Salvation Army and now for Tenfold.
Nicholas Paulukow
Wow, that is an amazing journey. And now, what did you do and what branch of the service were you in?
Wilfred Bentley
You mean in terms of the Army?
Nicholas Paulukow
Yeah.
Wilfred Bentley
So I was a military policeman.
There are a number of different things that happen with respect to that. Think of being a sheriff in the Wild, Wild West where everybody has a gun—both you and them. It’s providing security for the base, bringing people in and out, perimeter security in the evening, convoy escorts, escorting mine-sweeping missions between the main base and fire bases—that type of stuff.
Nicholas Paulukow
Unbelievable, unbelievable. Well, thank you for your service in that.
So you went from military police into finance. That’s a big jump, right? Is there a story behind that?
Wilfred Bentley
Well, I was always kind of fascinated by money, and I wanted to know how it worked and what happened with it. So I took a job in banking at the same time that I was pursuing my college education because I wanted to understand how everything works from the ground up. Unless you have that type of understanding, doing the work is a lot harder. When you understand the ground level and then add education, it makes it easier.
While I was taking accounting classes, I was confused because banks work differently than corporations and individuals. Everything was mirrored differently.
So it took me a while for the light bulb to go off. “Oh, this is being taught from a different point of view. Okay.”
Nicholas Paulukow
It sounds like a lot of education, and it sounds like we’re always learning from your perspective. It sounds like it’s always changing and developing.
Wilfred Bentley
Yeah, life actually changes every day. One of the key tenets is that you are always learning because everything is always changing. You have to be open to learning new and different things.
If you look at music as an example of evolution in its delivery, I’m trying to figure out how many different ways I’ve bought the same song.
Nicholas Paulukow
And how the songs come back, right? Jazz is coming back and records are coming back, right? Everything comes full circle.
Wilfred Bentley
Yeah, absolutely. So if you just think about it from that standpoint, you always have to be open to: What can I learn today? What did I learn today? And what is out there for me to learn?
Nicholas Paulukow
I love that. And you noted you worked for The Salvation Army, and that kind of molded your thought process around servant leadership.
Can you tell us a little bit more? What were some key points that you learned there?
Wilfred Bentley
Before working for The Salvation Army, I worked for a church in Chicago. Before joining the staff, I was a deacon in the church, and then I became the chair of that ministry.
The first thing is to understand: How can I best follow? Once you become a good follower, then I think you can become a good leader. You understand what inspires people and what visions followers attach themselves to.
From that point of view, you understand that in order to set a good vision that inspires a team toward a particular goal, you have to be very intentional. Then you become a better leader.
Nicholas Paulukow
I love it. You speak like a man with such purpose. It seems like you really mold your purpose and your being around how you serve.
You’ve done a lot of different things. Tell us how you’ve developed into that. What got you into the journey to become a deacon and then into finance?
That’s pretty amazing, and I think it’s fascinating because many times in these conversations we get to how those experiences really mold us into who we are as human beings—and then how we serve as well. I’m fascinated to learn that a little bit.
Wilfred Bentley
I think you have to understand who you are at the core and who you are in relationship to other people. “I am because we are and we are because I am.” If you begin with that, then you begin to find that whatever skills and talents you bring, you do not bring them as a whole.
You bring them as a part of a greater body and a greater purpose.
So if you begin to look at it from that standpoint, what I bring to the table in terms of finances is only one resource that is available to accomplish a goal. We need human beings to deliver services, to impact community, to do things, to minister to people.
Finance is only one of the resources we use to do that. Understanding that this is only one part of what is needed to get things done is very important to actually accomplishing goals.
Nicholas Paulukow
I think that’s really well said when you say that we have to find ourselves. My parents always said, “What are your God-given talents?” I think that’s pretty amazing because you found that early, and that’s a lesson we can probably teach students coming out of college.
It’s okay to be who you are and to lean into the talents you were given. I think that’s great advice because so many times when we’re new in our careers, we’re trying to mold ourselves into something we’re not.
It’s amazing to hear you as a servant leader who leads with who you are and how you serve others. That’s amazing and really great advice.
Wilfred Bentley
You really have to understand the connection between yourself and the rest of the world and who you want to be in that world. Trying to self-determine that at 18, 19, 20, or 22 is really hard.
You also have to understand that we’re all human. We walk out knowing we’re going to make mistakes, that there is much in the world to learn, and that we’ve only learned a part that prepares us for something much further down the road.
Every day is a day of preparation for something that’s going to happen tomorrow.
If you look at it from a farmer’s standpoint, you plant today and the harvest is way out there. You don’t see anything, and then one day something starts to bud. You’ve got to continue to water, continue to plant, cultivate. In life, it’s the same type of thing.
Nicholas Paulukow
Oh man, you’re throwing out all kinds of wisdom that I can actually understand. That is a wonderful analogy. It also teaches us to be a little patient.
Things don’t instantly happen, and I think sometimes we feel like they should happen right away—or what we call the top of the iceberg. It takes a long time to get to the top of that iceberg, and I appreciate you sharing that wisdom. That’s unbelievable.
You’ve worked across traditional finance, community development, and affordable housing. What kept you committed to that purpose-driven financial work in those areas?
Wilfred Bentley
First, it’s understanding how I am impacting other people and how I can bring this sense of financial knowledge or wisdom to positively impact community. Even when I was a commercial loan officer, it was, “Oh wow, I’m helping this owner employ people in meaningful work,” so they can feed their families, house their families, and do other things in their community.
In this particular work in the not-for-profit world, we have a much greater purpose, in my mind, in terms of impacting the community in meaningful ways. For instance, we provide first-time homebuyer assistance, so we’re helping people buy their first homes.
How can we structure that in a way that makes sense, that doesn’t cost them more, and reduces barriers? That builds a greater community because people now have an ownership stake in what they are doing.
Even to prepare them along that journey: What does it take for me to become a homeowner? What does it take for me to be a meaningful participant in this community? If I’m able to do that, then I’m able to see productive members of the community who can help others who, for whatever reason, are not able to fully participate in the American dream.
Nicholas Paulukow
I love that. You get to see your purpose come alive, I would assume, every day. The work that you do is in the community and builds sustainability.
It goes back to that analogy again—you’re planting the seed and you’re watching people grow and help others. That is amazing.
It has to make you feel really fulfilled in your work.
Wilfred Bentley
Definitely, yeah. To be able to see the fulfillment, to see the manifestation of your work over time, is very fulfilling. It gives a good sense of purpose and makes you think, “Wow, I can get up today. I know I’m going to impact some lives in a positive manner. I’m going to impact my community.” And that’s great.
Nicholas Paulukow
And where did you learn this wisdom? You weren’t 20 years old and just magically acquired all this wisdom. For listeners trying to understand how to become a good servant leader, who were your mentors?
Where did you learn this from?
Wilfred Bentley
Wow, that is wild. Okay, let’s begin with my parents in terms of mentorship—my aunts and my uncles—and watching them go about their daily lives, trying to provide for their families and make their way in this world.
My father went from being a mail carrier, to being a mail clerk, to being in charge of the payroll department for Detroit Metro Postal Service, to being a real estate agent, to being a real estate broker. Just watching that progression in terms of mentorship and role models was powerful.
Then there was our participation in church, but not just church. We supported various causes, social justice, and things of that nature.
From that standpoint, you look at pastors I’ve met. Being in the Army exposed me to a whole other world. If you think about being able to speak to people who are less fortunate, who live in different circumstances, come from different backgrounds—that was great exposure.
That grounded me in understanding: Look at what I have, look at the people who achieved, look at how they did it. From that standpoint, I was inspired to pursue different goals.
Nicholas Paulukow
I love it. I’m first-generation in this country.
My father told us when he ended up at Ellis Island and the Mennonite community sponsored him, they helped him pay off his debt to come to Lancaster County. That’s how we ended up here. We’ve not left.
Your story is inspiring. It brings back emotional memories. My dad is still alive, but he said, “You have your faith and your ability to work hard. Those are the only two things you need in life.” I always thought, “Well, that’s interesting.”
It was about providing for yourself, but you’ve added a mentor component there too, and I think that’s amazing. As the younger generation comes up, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having a mentor.
Sometimes we think that’s a negative. What’s your position on that?
Wilfred Bentley
I think everybody needs a guiding star. If you look at explorers and navigation, they always looked to the North Star. I think it’s always appropriate to have a star.
That may be someone you know, someone you can reach and actually touch, communicate with, talk to, throw ideas at in a nonjudgmental way—to be able to bring your authentic self to that relationship and get feedback on your ideas.
You can ask: What is my sense of purpose? What steps do I need to take? How can I learn from whatever missteps I’ve made?
I think it’s great to have that type of relationship. It helps reaffirm the humanness of our journey: we’re not going to be perfect, there are things that are unseen and not in books that we can learn and glean from someone else.
Nicholas Paulukow
I love it.
Switching back a little bit to Tenfold—we didn’t get much into this, so I think it’s appropriate. For those unfamiliar with Tenfold, what makes their approach to housing and community support different than other agencies around?
Wilfred Bentley
We believe that we have a continuum of care. We have outreach workers who work with people who are unhoused and attempt to locate them, understand their circumstances where they are, and provide resources to get them housed.
We also have what we refer to as TLC, a Transitional Living Center where families can get back on their feet. Usually the normal stay is from six to eight months.
We also house veterans. We have a special veterans’ part of that facility. It’s under renovation right now, but we have 40 families that we relocated to a motel so we can continue working with them.
Our team provides great case management—getting their budgets together, identifying housing resources, and planning how they will move on from the transitional living facility.
We also provide supportive services. We work with a number of different agencies and clients to provide resources to stabilize their housing, make sure they’re housed, and make sure they can sustain themselves on an ongoing basis and move forward.
Then we provide financial literacy education to help people understand budgeting, how to access resources, and how to save. We provide matched savings programs so people can achieve their goals. Goals might be repairing a car or getting an automobile.
Moving up the continuum, we have homebuyer classes and homebuyer counseling. We provide down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers who are income eligible. These are loans with zero interest and zero payments that get paid off when they sell or refinance their house. It gives them the opportunity to move into homeownership and become a greater part of the community.
Nicholas Paulukow
Wow, that is unbelievable.
Wilfred Bentley
And then, last, we also provide loans to developers at below-market interest rates.
Because we have low-interest loans available, we can participate in projects like the 64 homes on College Avenue Apartments. We participated in the financing of that. We’re also providing affordable rental housing by providing good, below-market financing.
So when we talk about purpose across the spectrum, we go from people who are unhoused, to housing people, to providing affordable housing for people all along the continuum. We’re doing a lot across that spectrum.
Nicholas Paulukow
That’s amazing. And it sounds like with the education, you’re not just providing housing—you’re providing stability, education, and the ability for people to empower themselves to continually improve and grow. That is unbelievable.
That is a lot of work. How many people does it take to keep that mission running every day?
Wilfred Bentley
We employ 52 people across the various segments of services we provide.
Nicholas Paulukow
That is unbelievable. What I think is pretty neat about all the things I’ve heard from you is that all of the work you’ve done in your past kind of comes together in this role. I’m like, “Wow, you must be pretty excited every day.”
You get to touch all kinds of different areas.
Wilfred Bentley
Yeah, and all different types of people.
Last year, we opened up a temporary shelter in addition to the things we already did—a low-barrier shelter—because during code blue there wasn’t enough capacity for homeless people. We ran that from November through February last year.
We’re preparing ourselves to make sure we can support the Clay Street Mission and Water Street Mission if they’re not able to house people in Lancaster County.
Nicholas Paulukow
Wow. And as a group of 50, how do you measure your success? Is it by the number of people you’ve helped into homeownership? How do you measure?
There’s success every day, right? But is there a goal everyone is working toward—like getting a certain number of people into housing? How does that work?
Wilfred Bentley
Our primary, audacious mission is to end housing insecurity.
Nicholas Paulukow
That’s a big audacious goal right there.
Wilfred Bentley
We know that all we can do each and every day is try to make some progress toward it. We have various measures: people we are currently serving, people we’re able to house, people we’re able to help obtain housing, and people we’re able to move into homeownership.
We look at those metrics and what they mean in terms of community impact. If we’re housing people, if we’re moving people into homeownership, those are people who don’t need to be supported otherwise. We’re making a contribution to the community from that standpoint.
Nicholas Paulukow
That’s unbelievable.
How has the landscape of affordable housing and finance changed over the past decade? And what’s not changing fast enough from your perspective?
Wilfred Bentley
There are a number of things. Since we’re situated in Lancaster County, we have about a 3% vacancy rate, which is really extraordinary. There are not enough housing units available.
There are not enough units coming on line—whether rental or new homes. A lot of that is tied to ordinances and regulations. We’ve lived in a really tight market.
We’re fortunate to have a high average median income in Lancaster County, but because prices keep going up, if you’re an empty nester, you don’t want to move. You’ve paid off your home, but now it’s two people living in a four- or five-bedroom house.
Nicholas Paulukow
Right.
Wilfred Bentley
Younger people can’t access that kind of housing. Empty nesters don’t want to move because interest rates are too high and prices are too high.
Because prices have gone up, we’re starting to see the market change. It was really hot three years ago—houses would come on the market and be gone in two or three days. Now we’re starting to see them sit a bit longer and people are starting to move. There’s some loosening up. We’re starting to see new homes, but there’s still work to be done in terms of advocacy and looking at ordinances.
Is it just single-family housing? Do we need more rental housing? We need housing across the spectrum to get that generational flow and make it more affordable for people to move through the process.
Nicholas Paulukow
You don’t always think about all those factors that affect the mission you’re trying to drive.
We have a lot of other community efforts—you mentioned Water Street Mission, Housing Development Corporation, and other organizations. How does that affect your mission? Is it different? Is it collaboration?
Even Habitat, building homes—are you all working together? Are you competitive housing authorities? How does that work?
Wilfred Bentley
We all work together. It’s a great collaborative, and we intersect at different points. We all know each other.
There are two other things in Tenfold that I didn’t talk about. One is that we have a Coalition for Sustainable Housing that brings developers together as well.
All the organizations you mentioned are at the table—Habitat for Humanity, Housing Development Corporation, Chestnut Housing, and others. We discuss the issues we’re facing and how to attack them as a community, not from a competitive standpoint.
This is not a zero-sum game. We have different missions, but we see a common goal: building the community, making housing affordable, and making sure we’re getting people housed.
One of the things I love about Lancaster County is that we collaborate toward a common mission, instead of fighting and competing with each other.
Nicholas Paulukow
It’s interesting you say that. That seems to be a common trait in Lancaster County, but I don’t know if it’s replicated everywhere else. Have you found that?
Wilfred Bentley
This is my fourth state, and I’ve not seen it anywhere else—either in larger metropolitan areas or smaller communities.
It’s unique from that standpoint.
Nicholas Paulukow
Why do you think that is?
Wilfred Bentley
I would go back to your experience with the Mennonite community, which is also the foundation of Tenfold. Tenfold has a Mennonite root.
I think people here are focused on the common good, not “I’m going to enrich myself at your expense.” It’s more about: How can we together accomplish things? How can we together make sure each other is taken care of? How can we reach out and make sure we’re able to survive and enjoy life and what we’ve been so richly blessed with?
Nicholas Paulukow
What a blessing and what a beautiful place to do this work. I appreciate that.
As a former national president of the Urban Financial Services Coalition, what leadership lessons did that role teach you?
Wilfred Bentley
Any number of them.
First, it taught me that there are many people walking in different walks of life who bring different experiences to the table to enrich a greater community. You have to understand that your particular experience is not singular, not common—it’s unique—and that other people also bring unique experiences.
When you’re working in a leadership role, you have to understand you have a wide variety of people with a wide variety of experiences, talents, and education that can be utilized to accomplish a goal.
In that particular case, the goal was professional development and enrichment. We were able to bring people from different parts of the country and different walks of life to enrich that experience.
From a leadership standpoint, it was amazing to see how many talents and experiences there were, and to try to bring them together to get things accomplished.
Nicholas Paulukow
I love how you talk about that—celebrating everyone’s talents and treasures. Everybody is different and has something to offer.
It sounds like you spend a lot of time finding out what that “something” is so that everyone can collectively work together. I think that’s a missed opportunity for many of us who rush in to solve a problem instead of really getting to know the people we’re working with. That’s amazing.
We talk about how you balance financial stewardship with mission-driven impact when the two sometimes collide. There’s probably that stress and pull all the time. How do you manage that—especially as the man who manages the finances?
Wilfred Bentley
There’s something we can call “creative tension.”
First, we have to understand that we’re all here to accomplish a mission, but we have to do it within the confines of the resources available to us. We may have to find creative ways to reach that mission. Some of those ways may be financial, some may involve other resources.
Are we the only ones who can do this? Are there others who can help get it done? Are there different ways to accomplish our goals within the universe of resources we have?
We may have particular needs, but we have to stay focused on our mission. Before you ever get to finances, you have people. You have physical assets. We don’t operate outside on the corner without a computer. Financial resources are probably the last piece we look at.
We should always be focused on the mission and then understand we have constraints. How can we be creative within those constraints to still accomplish our mission?
Nicholas Paulukow
When you talk about living this mission—when you hire new people at Tenfold, how do you interview to instill an understanding of the mission? You’re very passionate, you’re living the mission, and you’re driving toward it every day.
How do you instill that in the staff—the 50 people you have?
Wilfred Bentley
First, you begin with a prism: our core values. We list those out for folks.
Even in job descriptions and job postings, you’ll see our core values. We begin there, and we interview through that prism.
These are our core values. Here’s our mission: to “spark the power in everyone.”
When we’re interviewing, we go through these core values. That dictates fit. If you can embrace our core values, then you’re going to fit into our organization and mission.
Then we talk about your core competencies for the particular job you’re applying for.
From that standpoint, you have a team focused on the mission, and then you look at the competencies needed to accomplish it.
Nicholas Paulukow
I love it. So hire for core values first, then look at competency. I’d assume you can train some of the competency, but you probably can’t train the core values.
Wilfred Bentley
Right. If you don’t embrace the core values we have, then you’re not going to be able to passionately pursue the mission.
Some of the core competencies, to your point—and to a conversation we were having earlier—aren’t things you learn only in a book. Even if you have a particular competency, it may not translate exactly the same way in this environment, for this mission. We’re going to have to train you to do it in our context.
Nicholas Paulukow
I can’t imagine, coming from banking—which probably has a whole different set of core values—to the mission-driven work you’re doing now.
Was that a big change? You had a journey of other things in between, but that seems extremely difficult. You’re probably coming in saying, “This is how we do it, this is how we finance,” but the reality is, you speak very eloquently now about mission.
Was it difficult to transition your mindset?
Wilfred Bentley
Somewhat. It’s interesting you ask that. When I was in grad school, I asked one of my professors, “You’re here teaching the profit motive, so why aren’t you out there pursuing it?”
I wanted to know what that looked like.
It was also interesting that, in grad school, my ethics professor was actually a priest who taught the class. It was a public university, but we had a priest teaching ethics.
In banking, it’s more of a dog-eat-dog environment. It’s more: How can I get ahead? How can I make more money?
As opposed to: How can I enrich the community and those around me?
At the end of the day, in making the transition, I was moving toward the purpose I truly felt was mine, as opposed to the purpose I had just left. That made it a lot easier.
Nicholas Paulukow
Easier, yeah.
You know what I heard from you? As soon as you talked about banking, you used the word “I,” and the rest of the time you’ve used the word “we.”
That’s fascinating—and it touches my heart—because we are a for-profit business that lives by a set of core values, and that collision of profit and purpose is real. One of our core values is “we before me,” and we define that.
It’s an interesting transition. I love how you talk about it because you kind of said that’s who you are, and you can’t change that core value. I’m sure it was difficult to be in that “I” mentality world when at your core you’re about the greater good.
Wilfred Bentley
I guess I kind of shaded it when I was in that environment. If you look at classical economic theory, you’re trying to work for the greater good.
There is some greater good. You’re only going to be successful if what you do has some benefit to the greater community. When it ceases to serve that, it goes away.
You can’t earn a profit unless there are people who find value in what you’re doing. You have to create value. Everybody has money—so how am I going to differentiate myself and sell?
I have to create value, bring something unique to the process. It has to create some kind of good for someone else.
From that standpoint, making the transition may have been partly about my mindset. Was I freer when I left? Yes.
Nicholas Paulukow
Fair to say.
We talk a lot about servant leadership here—it’s the name of the podcast. What does it mean specifically to you, especially in an industry like banking, where you said there seemed to be a little less humility?
In the work you’re in now, there seems to be a lot of humility. How do you define servant leadership from your perspective?
Wilfred Bentley
From my perspective, servant leadership is rooted in “I came to serve and not to be served.”
Even from a leadership position, we’re all accountable to someone or something. How am I accountable to the people I am working with in order to accomplish our goal—which is to serve other people?
You have to understand the people you’re working with have their own needs and desires. How do I make sure I’m working toward their professional development and making sure their needs are being met?
Then, through that, I can lead us toward what we need to accomplish as a whole.
Nicholas Paulukow
I had the opportunity to speak at a high school where they introduced a leadership program in a free period students didn’t have to attend. They brought in leaders who had been in corporate America and were now serving in more mission-driven roles—servant leaders.
A student asked, “What was the big difference?” One of them said, “In corporate America, I was not allowed to serve anyone. I was told what to do. What I’m in now is different. Money is not the driver. It’s not about the money—it’s about how I serve.”
I hear a lot of that from you. You’re teaching us that serving others also feels like serving a higher purpose.
I sat in an executive meeting with people I didn’t know. They asked, “What is your purpose?” I said, “To get my kids to heaven.” They said, “What are you talking about?”
I said, “Aren’t we doing this all for a greater purpose?”
Thank you for sharing that. You’re bringing up these aha moments that get me fired up. Thank you.
Sorry, I cut you off there.
Wilfred Bentley
No, no, you didn’t.
Nicholas Paulukow
Can you share a moment for our listeners when you were leading through service or change where the outcome of the project or relationship was different because of that serving mentality?
Wilfred Bentley
I’ll use an example. In a particular ministry, we decided we wanted to be “green.” We wanted to be environmentally responsible and good stewards.
I was given responsibility for a huge renovation project. That meant I had to bring a lot of people on board to get it done.
First, we had to ask: Whose is this? Is it ours? Is it for the next generation? Is it for the greater community we’re part of?
We began to talk about people’s roles in that and how we, as a community serving others, could get it done.
We took a 78,000-square-foot building and turned it totally green—with plants on the roof, energy-efficient HVAC units, and water-preserving systems.
We had a community ministry that went out and got rain barrels so people could recycle their water. From that standpoint, that’s one of the experiences I usually point to.
Nicholas Paulukow
I love it.
If you could wave a magical wand and fix one structural issue in community financing, what would it be?
Wilfred Bentley
Wow, that’s a good question—but it’s actually not financial. I would change zoning regulations that prevent people from developing more housing density.
I think we claim too much land to ourselves and we’re not sharing it. Therefore, there’s not enough housing available for others.
If I had a magical wand, I’d address zoning laws. In Lancaster County, there are 66 different municipalities—so 66 different zoning regimes. I’d try to standardize that.
Nicholas Paulukow
For those who don’t understand what that means: a parcel of land requires someone to approve whether multiple homes can be built there or what type of housing can go there. You’re saying that in these different areas, they don’t always allow that.
Wilfred Bentley
Correct.
Nicholas Paulukow
Oh, wow.
Wilfred Bentley
To some degree, it’s a “not in my neighborhood” scenario. But the bigger question is: How do we house all the generations we have? How do we house all of our workers?
How do we house all the people who want to participate in the local economy?
We can’t do that if we’ve only zoned for single-family housing and not multifamily, not rental, not accessory units, not tiny homes, and so on.
Nicholas Paulukow
Wow. So it’s not that there isn’t availability—it’s that there isn’t accessibility.
Wilfred Bentley
That would be a good way of summing it up. Yes.
Nicholas Paulukow
Wow.
Well, this community is strong, and it sounds like we can put a lot of effort into it—but that’s a lot of zoning areas to change.
We’ll pray about it. We’ll keep praying about it.
What gives you hope right now—whether in policy, community, partnerships, or leadership? What gives you hope?
Wilfred Bentley
Other than our most recent experiences with shutdowns and disruptions, what gives me hope is the collaboration.
We have a lot of dedicated people committed to serving the entire community and making sure we can collaborate, bring all our resources together, and use our different talents and journeys to make progress.
That gives me hope—that in this county there’s a great sense of collaboration and working for the common good.
Nicholas Paulukow
And if you could give advice to any young leaders entering the world of finance with a heart for justice and equity, what would you say to them?
Wilfred Bentley
I’d say to make sure they know who they are and stick to their values. Seek opportunities to exercise those values, whether through volunteer work or by seeking out mentors in the fields they want to work in—people who have done what they aspire to do. Seek their advice and wisdom.
Nicholas Paulukow
I love it.
Now, I’ve been waiting all morning to ask you this one because I’ve got a finance expert in the room.
You’ve been in finance for decades. What’s one money lesson you wish everyone learned sooner?
Wilfred Bentley
Save.
Nicholas Paulukow
Save. All right. Tell us more.
Wilfred Bentley
Before you do anything else, begin small. Set aside $1, $5, build it up to $10. Every paycheck, take something out and put it aside. Save.
You’d be amazed at what it will become.
Nicholas Paulukow
That’s great advice. I like it.
It sounds like: with your paycheck, just get it auto-deducted into an account.
Wilfred Bentley
Yes. See it, forget it.
Nicholas Paulukow
And just move it over there.
We’ve talked a lot about your work, but what’s something people are surprised to find out about you when they meet you for the first time?
Wilfred Bentley
Usually, it’s my size.
I have a lot of meetings this way—over video. I’m 6’2″ and almost 300 pounds, so people are usually surprised by my size.
Nicholas Paulukow
Wow. So you’re like security and finance all at the same time with that height.
Wilfred Bentley
Well, no…
Nicholas Paulukow
Right. I feel secure already—with my money and physically.
As we wrap up today, if you could leave our listeners with one challenge for the week, what would it be—or even just one piece of advice?
Wilfred Bentley
If I had to leave one thing, I would say: You are not in this alone, and you’re here to help others. That would be my advice.
Nicholas Paulukow
Oh, that’s so well said. I love it. You’re a man of wisdom and passion, and I love it.
I appreciate you coming on with us today. It’s been absolutely wonderful, and we appreciate you taking time out of your schedule. I know you have a lot going on, and we appreciate that very much.
Wilfred Bentley
Thank you for this opportunity.
Nicholas Paulukow
Absolutely.
Well, if you haven’t been inspired before, you should at least be rethinking your last budgeting decision now. Save that money.
A huge thank you to Wilfred Bentley for dropping decades of wisdom, purpose-driven passion, and just the right amount of financial swagger. I’m Nicholas Paulukow, your host here at Servant Leader’s Library, where we learn that leadership isn’t just about titles or balance sheets—it’s about people, impact, and showing up on purpose.
Until next time, keep leading, keep serving first, and keep inspiring others. And maybe, if you have a couple minutes, maybe Wilfred will help you with your budget.
Until next time, lead with purpose.
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