Abel Harding

About

Abel Harding is the market president for IBERIABANK and First Horizon Bank, responsible for the North Florida and Southeast Georgia markets. His banking career spans more than two decades and includes senior roles with several financial institutions.

He previously served as a senior advisor to the mayor of Jacksonville and as the director of communications for the City of Jacksonville. Prior to that, Harding was an award-winning journalist for the Florida Times-Union. In this role, he worked as a columnist, covering business and politics, and worked special assignments as an investigative reporter.

Harding serves as the chair of JAX Biz, the political committee of the JAX Chamber. He is a long-time member of the Chamber’s board of directors. He is the secretary of the board of directors for the Jacksonville Humane Society and previously served as a mayoral appointee to the Jacksonville Planning Commission. Harding is a member of the Florida Banker’s Association Government Affairs Committee.

He has served on several community boards during his time in Jacksonville, including the Cultural Council of Jacksonville, where he served as chair, the Cathedral Arts Project, co-chair of United Way’s first Atlantic Circle class, and founder of Rotaract of Ponte Vedra. He is a graduate of Leadership Jacksonville (2013) and is a member of the 2020-2022 class of Leadership Florida.

A seventh-generation Floridian, Harding is a graduate of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.