New Report: Federal Banking Agencies Must Do More on Diversity

People of Color, Women “Woefully Absent” from Senior Management
A staff report released by Rep. Maxine Waters, ranking member of the House Committee on Financial Services, and members of the Congressional Black, Hispanic and Asian Pacific American Caucuses finds a disturbing lack of diversity in seven key federal agencies regulating the financial system. Policy experts at The Greenlining Institute said that the report, written by House Committee on Financial Services Democratic staff based on analyses by the Inspectors General at the agencies, should spur concerted action to increase diversity.The report finds that women and minorities are underrepresented in the agencies’ workforces and severely underrepresented in senior management positions. In addition, African American employees generally received lower performance management review (PMR) scores than their white counterparts.
“We need concrete, practical steps to identify and remove the barriers that keep people of color and women out of these important jobs,” said Greenlining Institute President Orson Aguilar. “It is critical that the agencies watching over our financial system reflect our nation’s growing diversity. The financial crash happened in large part because federal bank regulators missed what was going on in communities of color, and we can’t afford to continue this legacy of negligence.”
In a letter sent today to leaders of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, National Credit Union Administration, Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and Federal Housing Finance Agency, The Greenlining Institute and coalition partners outlined a series of steps the agencies should take. Among other suggestions, Greenlining urged the following:
• Agencies must recognize that diversity programming doesn’t happen in a silo. Research shows that entities with inclusive workforces owe their success to comprehensive strategies that incorporate diversity into every aspect of their operations. This includes strong tracking, recruitment, and professional development systems. Each IG report puts forth recommendations for how the agencies can better diversify their systems.
• The agencies’ Offices of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWIs, created by the Dodd-Frank Act) should investigate barriers to employment in addition to discrimination, such as lack of outreach to diverse candidates.
• OMWIs should push the agencies to plug gaps in their data collection. All but one IG report identified missing or flawed demographic data.
• OMWIs should create specific accountability measures by which agencies can gauge their progress in diversifying their workforces.
• Inspectors General should audit the agencies’ supplier diversity practices, and OMWIs should advise the agencies on how their policies impact diverse-owned businesses.