06.20.2016

NEW YORK - One day before Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s bi-annual congressional testimony, the Fed Up coalition released a proposed slate of 39 candidates to sit on the board of directors at the 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks who represent academia, labor, and community organizations. Currently, the powerful Reserve Bank boards are disproportionately white and male, and draw their membership almost exclusively from the banking and corporate sectors. 

The candidates are drawn from all 12 Fed regions and presents real options for Janet Yellen and the Fed to build regional boards that are racially diverse, gender balanced, and represent sectors such as  academia, labor, and community organizations.

One of the identified candidates from a community-based organization in Chicago said her proximity to low-income communities make her a qualified candidate to sit on the board of directors at the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank.

“I work with a range of low-income people of color directly and in coalitions across the region and the country, so I have insight on those parts of the economy that aren’t being discussed," said Katelyn Johnson, Executive Director of Action Now. "How can the Federal Reserve balance the interests of all people fairly when it doesn't reflect the diversity of America?"

The Fed Up coalition released its slate of candidates while the Federal Reserve finds itself under increased scrutiny for its lack of diversity and opaque governance practices. Last month, 127 members of Congress sent a letter to Yellen calling for the nation's central bank to commit to leadership that better reflects the diversity of the United States.

On Monday, the Fed Up campaign also released a report, The Federal Reserve: Real and Perceived Conflicts of Interest and a Path Forward, highlighting how the Fed’s current method for choosing regional Bank directors invites the potential for conflicts of interest like those exposed following the financial crisis. For example,representatives from large financial institutions that received emergency lending from the Fed during the financial crisis also served as board directors throughout the Federal Reserve System. 

“As long as individuals representing banks are charged with regulating themselves, our country’s monetary system will continue to be vulnerable to conflicts of interest,” said Maggie Corser, the author of the report and a research analyst at Center for Popular Democracy.

During her congressional testimony on June 21-22, Yellen is likely to face questions from Congress members on both the lack of diversity and ongoing racial disparities in the economy -- and the Fed Up coalition will be right behind her to hold her to her word. Just as they did at February's congressional testimony, members of the Fed Up campaign plan to attend the hearings in their signature green T-shirts, reminding Yellen that the recovery has not reached their communities. 

To ensure that monetary policy reflects the interests of working families, Congress and the Federal Reserve must act to make the Fed a fully public institution, eliminating financial industry representatives from regional Banks’ boards and replacing them with diverse candidates with a broad set of economic perspectives on the economy.

                    

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www.whatrecovery.org  

Fed Up is a coalition of community organizations and labor unions across the country calling on the Federal Reserve to reform its governance and adopt policies that build a strong economy for the American public. The Fed can keep interest rates low, give the economy a fair chance to recover, and prioritize full employment and rising wages for all communities

 

www.populardemocracy.org 

The Center for Popular Democracy promotes equity, opportunity, and a dynamic democracy in partnership with innovative base-building organizations, organizing networks and alliances, and progressive unions across the country. CPD builds the strength and capacity of democratic organizations to envision and advance a pro-worker, pro-immigrant, racial justice agenda.

Contact:

Anita Jain, ajain@populardemocracy.org, 347-636-9761

Asya Pikovsky, apikovsky@populardemocracy.org, 207-522-2442