Inspire
Working toward a more equitable economy takes skill, empathy, time, and a lot of heart. Here, members of the Fed’s Community Development team share what inspires and motivates them.
Coming to the Fed was an opportunity to translate research and make language accessible so practitioners could understand it and run with it.
Gar Kelley, Chicago Fed
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.
Marycruz De León, Dallas Fed
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.
Alaina Barca, Philadelphia Fed
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.
Charly van Dijk, Atlanta Fed
Partnerships can make credit more accessible and, in turn, small businesses—and the families and communities they support—more successful.
Maria Thompson, Federal Reserve Small Business Credit Survey
We want our work to help tear down systemic barriers that have disproportionally affected Indian people, who are often invisible to the larger population.
Casey Lozar, Center for Indian Country Development
We needed a regional strategy to strengthen our community development work, rather than everyone working in our own siloed spaces.
Neelu Panth, St. Louis Fed
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.
Sam Evans, St. Louis Fed
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.
Edison Reyes, New York Fed
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.
Bonnie Blankenship, Cleveland Fed
In either data analytics or journalism, we’re trying to tell a story.
Lucas Misera, Cleveland Fed
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.
Dell Gines, Kansas City Fed
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.
Bina Shrimali, San Francisco Fed
Being neighbors means knowing you are valued, in whatever forms that takes.
Vijay Palaparty, Board of Governors
We couldn’t control what the government was doing to us, but we can control how we treat each other.
Marija Bingulac, Boston Fed
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.
Maude Toussaint-Comeau, Chicago Fed
Shining a light on inequities that prevent people from reaching their full potential—I feel blessed that I get to do that every day.
Andrew Dumont, Board of Governors
I have to bridge the two worlds. What I’ve learned from both I try to share and exchange.
Tiffany Hollin Wright. Richmond Fed
Turning our backs on young children costs a lot. If we invest in those resources early, there’s a strong public return.
Rob Grunewald, Minneapolis Fed
