Twenty-two Democratic members of Congress are urging the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas to appoint the first Latino regional president to fill the top position that’s been vacant since October.
“The Federal Reserve has a well-documented diversity problem,” said the May 5 letter that included three Texas representatives as co-signers.
The congressional contingent said increasing diversity and Latino representation “is critical to ensuring our public sector reflects our communities and the general population.”
When former Dallas Fed president Rob Kaplan and former Boston Fed president Eric Rosengren left their jobs last fall, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the search process would put a “big focus” on finding diverse candidates to fill the roles.
Kaplan retired and Rosengren resigned after financial disclosures showed they actively traded stocks during the pandemic while voting on critical monetary policy. While the investments were permitted under the Fed’s rules, Kaplan said he didn’t want his stock activities to cause distractions and Rosengren said he left for health issues.
Earlier this year, the Boston Fed appointed Susan Collins as its next chief, making her the Fed’s first Black female regional bank president and its second Black regional leader. She begins her new role July 1.
The Dallas Fed’s search is ongoing for its next president to head up the Eleventh District, where about 40% of the population is Latino, according to the congressional representatives’ letter. The district consists of Texas, northern Louisiana and southern New Mexico.
Of the nine members of the Dallas Fed board of directors, three are Latino. Of the six directors who will select the next president, two are Latino.
There are 12 regional banks in the Federal Reserve System. Of the current 10 regional presidents, three are women and two are people of color. While there has been “significant progress” in diversifying leadership, no Latino has been appointed a regional Fed president in its 108 years, the letter said.
The U.S. Hispanic and Latino population has grown 23% since 2010 while the population that was not Hispanic or Latino grew 4.3% for the same time period, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The Hispanic and Latino population now accounts for about 19% of the general population.
”As these trends are expected to continue, it is even more important that individuals in leadership level positions at the Federal Reserve reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of our nation and understand how working families experience the U.S. economy,” the letter stated.
The Dallas Fed received the letter but doesn’t have a comment on it, said spokesman James Hoard.
In a town hall meeting in January, Thomas Falk and Claudia Aguirre, co-chairs of the Dallas Fed’s six-member presidential search committee, said they were committed to identifying diverse candidates. The Dallas Fed hired search firm Egon Zehnder to assist.
The three Texas Congress members who signed the letter were Reps. Sylvia Garcia, whose district covers much of Houston; Veronica Escobar, whose district is based in El Paso, and Vicente Gonzalez, who represents a district in far south Texas.
The letter is similar to one sent in October to Powell from 11 senators.
“We were pleased to hear that finding diverse candidates would be ‘a big focus for both of these processes,’” the letter said. “However, actions speak louder than words, and it is essential you take advantage of this opportunity to bring much-needed diversity to the highest levels of the Federal Reserve System.”
