FED PUSHES DIVERSITY

WASHINGTON -The Federal Reserve today announced the establishment of offices to promote diversity and inclusion at the Federal Reserve Board and at all 12 of the Federal Reserve Banks.

The offices will build on the Federal Reserve System's long-standing efforts to promote equal employment opportunity and diversity, and will continue to work to foster diversity in procurement, with a focus on minority-owned and women-owned businesses. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act required that diversity and inclusion offices be established at certain federal agencies, including the Federal Reserve Board, and at the Federal Reserve Banks. In addition to promoting diversity at the Board and throughout the System, the Board's Office of Diversity and Inclusion will play an integral role in the development of standards to assess the diversity practices at entities regulated by the Federal Reserve as required by the Dodd-Frank Act.

The heads of the diversity and inclusion offices are:

Federal Reserve Board, Sheila Clark. Clark, program director, has overseen the Equal Employment Opportunity programs at the Board since 1995. Prior to joining the Board, Clark was manager of workplace diversity programs at Dow Jones Company. Clark holds a bachelor's degree in management from Marymount College, Tarrytown, New York.

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Marques Benton. Benton, a vice president, has worked in a number of areas, most recently public and community affairs, where he served as the Bank's point person on several foreclosure-prevention efforts. Benton holds an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a master's in business administration from Babson College.

Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Diane Ashley. Ashley has served as vice president and chief diversity officer at the Bank since 2007. Prior to joining the Bank, Ashley was a senior vice president and director of supplier diversity at Citigroup. Ashley holds a bachelor's degree in French from Yale University, a master's degree in human resources education from Boston University, and a juris doctorate degree from Rutgers University School of Law.

Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Mary Ann Hood. Hood has been a senior vice president of human resources and the Bank's Equal Employment Opportunity officer since 2009. She was promoted to vice president of human resources in 2004 and has been an officer in that department since 2000. She has a bachelor's degree from Hood College, Frederick, Md., and holds a master's degree in human resource development from Villanova University.

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Peggy Velimesis. Velimesis is a senior vice president and chief of staff. She also oversees the human resources and executive information functions and serves as the Bank's Equal Employment Opportunity officer. Prior to joining the Bank, Velimesis was vice president of human resources for Meridia Health System. She holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Cleveland State University.

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Tammy Cummings. Cummings has served as senior vice president of human resources and the Bank's Equal Employment officer since 2009. Prior to joining the Richmond Fed in 2006, Cummings was the vice president of human resources at Tredegar Corporation. Cummings holds a bachelor's degree in mass communications from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Joan Buchanan. Buchanan, a vice president, previously served as an assistant vice president with responsibility for the Bank's Equal Employment Opportunity and corporate secretary functions. She also has served as an officer in bank supervision and regulation, where she worked in consumer compliance, including enforcement of non-discrimination regulations. She received a bachelor's degree in applied psychology from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Valerie Van Meter. Van Meter serves as the District's Equal Employment Opportunity director in her role as senior vice president andchief financial officer. Van Meter holds a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Michigan, is a graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking, and holds a master's in business administration from the University of Chicago.

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, James Price. Price has served as vice president of diversity and inclusion and as the District's Equal Employment Opportunity officer since 2008. Price holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Culver-Stockton College.

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Duane Carter. Carter is the senior vice president of human resources and central bank services, and has served as the Bank's Equal Employment Opportunity officer since 2002. Carter holds a bachelor's degree in agriculture business from the University of Minnesota and a master's in business administration from the University of St. Thomas.

Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Donna Ward. Ward was appointed senior vice president of the administrative services division last year after serving as vice president for human resources. She holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Drury University and a master's in business administration from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Tyrone Gholson. Gholson is senior vice president with responsibility for human resources, Treasury services, financial institution relationship management, and public affairs. Gholson has served as the District's Equal Employment Opportunity officer since 1992. He received his bachelor's in business administration from North Texas State University.

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Susan Sutherland. Sutherland, a senior vice president, has overseen Equal Employment Opportunity, human resources, statistics, and strategy and communications, and is the executive committee sponsor of the Bank's diversity efforts. Sutherland holds a bachelor's degree from Wesleyan and a Master of Science in Organizational Development from Pepperdine University.