Federal Reserve Fails to Diversify Leadership in 2017
Boards at Fed regional banks remain overwhelmingly white, male, corporate
02.07.2017
NEW YORK – Despite mounting pressure last year from Congress and the public to diversify its leadership, the Federal Reserve has not meaningfully increased its race, gender, and or occupational representation, according to research from the Fed Up campaign.
This year, the Board of Directors at the 12 Regional Reserve Banks are 80 percent white, compared with 83 percent white in 2016. Similarly, gender representation barely changed, going from 70 percent male and 30 percent female to 69 percent male and 31 percent female in 2017.
Occupational diversity also remained largely unchanged, the Fed continues to be dominated by banks and corporations rather than workers and consumers. This year, 80 percent of the Board of Directors come from either banking or business backgrounds, not very different from last year's 83 percent.
Shawn Sebastian, co-director of the Fed Up campaign, said, "Representation matters because it leads to different policy outcomes. When leaders at the country's most powerful economic policy-making organization are overwhelmingly white men from the financial and corporate sectors, workers and people of color will inevitably be overlooked."
The campaign's research showed that some regional banks have farther to go than others. The New York Reserve Bank, which regulates Wall Street, is nearly 90 percent white and 66 percent of its directors come from the financial sector. In Atlanta and San Francisco, 100 percent of Reserve bank directors come from the corporate or financial sectors.
Last year, the Fed Up campaign issued recommendations to the Federal Reserve to help improve diversity. It recommended the Board of Governors appoint one person from an academic background, one person from a labor background, and one person from a community organization or a non-profit background to each of the Class C director slots at all 12 regional banks.
The Fed Up campaign also prepared a diverse slate of candidates the Federal Reserve should consider for regional boards.
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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 genuine full employment and rising wages for all communities
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
Autumn Dunn, adunn@populardemocracy.org, 347-985-2220 ext 137
