Inspire

I’m trying to better understand which low- and moderate-income populations are in a more stable situation and how they got there. What can we do to expand those types of opportunities?

I’m always learning. The diversity of our District at the New York Fed, coupled with the diversity of the topics, keeps the work fresh.

We ‘set the table’ in our communities by focusing on how we can create a safe and neutral environment where people feel included to discuss issues that affect them.

I am motivated by the untapped potential of people in our communities and the heroic efforts of individuals and organizations to unlock that potential.

I focus most on how we can build on or add to research practices where we make sure to get how the economy is playing out in people’s everyday lives.

Coming to the Fed was an opportunity to translate research and make language accessible so practitioners could understand it and run with it.

I love that I get to meet individuals who are passionate about helping their communities. It energizes me to watch and experience the good happening in our world.

I was thrilled to find that my love for data, statistics, and social sciences could be combined in a way that had a social impact.

Through my professional experiences, it has become clear just how important it is to share the voices of real people with policy makers to help inform their decision-making.

Partnerships can make credit more accessible and, in turn, small businesses—and the families and communities they support—more successful.

We want our work to help tear down systemic barriers that have disproportionally affected Indian people, who are often invisible to the larger population.

We needed a regional strategy to strengthen our community development work, rather than everyone working in our own siloed spaces.

People don’t see each other as rivals. They are people working to serve the families in their communities, and they want to know what the Fed can do to help them.

I really wanted to get more experience on the ground, working directly with people and understanding and supporting the goals they’re looking to achieve.

I feel extremely blessed to work with a lot of smart people with a depth of knowledge in small business, workforce development, and housing, all with a lens to help communities.

In either data analytics or journalism, we’re trying to tell a story.

Being neighbors means knowing you are valued, in whatever forms that takes.

It’s like we have two Bay Areas: one where people have opportunities, and one where people are working hard to get ahead, but economic, social, and educational systems are failing them.

The connections with the people are what drives the research questions. Some things you cannot find in the data but can understand only through conversation.

We couldn’t control what the government was doing to us, but we can control how we treat each other.

Shining a light on inequities that prevent people from reaching their full potential—I feel blessed that I get to do that every day.

Turning our backs on young children costs a lot. If we invest in those resources early, there’s a strong public return.

Academically, I was in the top 10 percent of African American students in the nation. Not one time was I told anything about owning a business, owning a house, owning stock.

I have to bridge the two worlds. What I’ve learned from both I try to share and exchange.