US Fed bank boards get less diverse in 2024, reversing trend
THE boards of directors of the Federal Reserve’s 12 regional banks, including their leadership ranks, got less diverse by gender and race in 2024, going against a years-long trend, data released by the US central bank on Friday (Jan 5) showed.
Women now hold 10 of the 24 leadership positions at the bank boards, a Reuters review of the new appointments shows, down from 13 female chairs and vice chairs on last year’s boards. Fourteen of the chairs and vice chairs appointed this year identify as Black, Hispanic, or otherwise non-white, the Fed said.
In 2023, the bank board leadership group had been majority women and majority minorities. More broadly of the 108 spots on the 12 Fed bank boards, 39 per cent are filled by women, down from 44 per cent last year, a review of the data shows. Some 37 per cent are held by people of colour, down from 41 per cent last year.
Even so, the Fed’s bank boards still have a much higher proportion of non-white and female directors than the US average. Nationally the US population is just over half women, and about 42 per cent are people of colour, Census data shows.
Fed bank presidents, who together with the Washington-based Fed Board set US short-term interest rates, meet frequently with their boards to get their insights on the state of the economy and credit conditions.
Their boards have in recent years become increasingly diverse, a change that Fed policymakers have said gives them a critical edge as seek to set monetary policy appropriately.
It is unclear how much this year’s relatively less diverse group of directors will impact the information-gathering of policymakers.
Fed policymakers themselves are a more diverse group than in years past; seven of the 19 total are women, and seven are people of colour.
The Washington-based Fed board picks three of each nine-member Fed bank board, including the chair and deputy chair. The other six directors are picked by member banks. REUTERS
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