Amerant Bancorp Inc. announced that on April 4, 2023, the Board of Directors of the company authorized temporarily increasing the size of the Board from eleven (11) to twelve (12) members, with such temporary increase to be effective as of April 17, 2023 (the “Effective Date”), and thereafter appointed Ashaki Rucker to serve as a member of the Company's Board, with such appointment to be effective as of the Effective Date. The appointment of Ms. Rucker was based upon the recommendation of the Corporate Governance, Nominating and Sustainability Committee of the Board. Ms. Rucker will serve until the Company's next annual meeting of shareholders, to be held on June 7, 2023 (the “2023 Annual Meeting”), subject to her earlier death, or until she shall resign or shall have been removed from office in the manner provided in the Company's Amended and Restated Bylaws.

Ms. Rucker has also been appointed to the Board of Directors of Amerant Bank, N.A. as of the Effective Date. At this time, the size of the Board, as temporarily expanded, is expected to be reduced by one (1) member, to eleven (11) members, effective as of the date of the 2023 Annual Meeting, upon the retirement of Mr. Gustavo J. Vollmer, whose decision to not stand for re-election to the Board at the 2023 Annual Meeting was previously reported on a Current Report on Form 8-K filed on February 10, 2023. In her current role, Rucker is responsible for the development and execution of the organization's Human Capital Strategy.

She was instrumental in the development of its Diversity, Equity & Inclusion strategy and is a current member of the NBCUniversal Diversity Council. Rucker was recently recognized on Cablefax's Diversity List celebrating the most influential multi-ethnic executives in the media industry. Rucker brings significant Human Capital and industry experience, having held several senior leadership roles with a number of major organizations across the industries of financial services, professional services and media and entertainment, among them UBS, Deutsche Bank, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Warner Media and The Walt Disney Company.

Rucker graduated from Columbia University's Teacher's College with a Master of Arts in Organizational Psychology and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University at Albany. Rucker serves on the Board of Directors for Rebuilding Together Miami as well as the Advisory. Board of University of Miami Herbert Business School's Executive Education Program.

She is also a member of Girls Inc. for Greater Miami's 150+ Women Strong.