The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis made significant progress in 2018 to ensure inclusion of minorities and women in its leadership and hiring practices and in the participation of minority- and women-owned businesses in procurement.  

That’s according to the Bank’s Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI) Annual Report to Congress.

“We believe inclusion begins with empowering our people to reach their full potential,” said Michael Garrett, senior vice president of Human Resources and Inclusion and OMWI director.  “The Bank’s ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion is rooted in equal opportunity for all candidates to become employees and for all employees to advance within the organization.”

Among the highlights of the OMWI report, which is required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010:

• About two-thirds of the Bank’s employees report to a senior vice president who is a minority, a woman, or both.
• The share of Bank employees self-identified as minorities is higher than the percentage of minorities in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.
• Women hold more than half of all positions in the Bank and, in 2018, 42 percent of external hires were women and 40 percent were minority.
• As the Bank refreshed its supplier diversity program, it purchased 11 percent of its nearly $22 million spend from minority- and women-owned businesses, including the primary designer of the Bank’s new parking ramp.
• Employee resource networks continued to emerge as an important avenue for promoting employee engagement and development at the Bank.

“This report represents real progress,” said Luis Morales, OMWI’s project director and primary author of the annual report. “We’ve done an excellent job articulating our goals, and we’re taking steps toward achieving them.”

Morales added: “Of course, there is great potential for growth, and we can always do better.”

Garrett said that 2019 “will be an exciting year as our employee resource groups and supplier diversity efforts continue their growth and development.”

You can learn more about the Minneapolis Fed’s commitment to diversity and inclusion here.