Born to a Jewish family,[1] Banner attended the Rivers School in Weston, Massachusetts and studied economics at Denison University in Granville, Ohio.

He then became co-chairman of the Board for the Greater Philadelphia chapter of City Year, a national non-profit organization promoting community service for youth.

In 2001, Banner received a "PARTNERS Leadership Award" from the University of Pennsylvania for his extensive community service, including volunteer activities reading to students in the Boston public schools and spending time with severely ill children in the Boston Children's Hospital.

Banner was the only non-league office member intimately involved in the 2011 CBA Negotiations on behalf of the owners.

With Reid, he collaborated on hires of Brad Childress, Matt Nagy, Doug Pederson, Steve Spagnuolo, Marty Mornhinweg, and Pat Shurmur.

In the Front Office, he hired numerous eventual GMs in Brett Veach, Ryan Grigson, Tom Heckert, Jason Licht, and Howie Roseman.