The Minneapolis Fed announced the members of the newly formed Community Advisory Board for the Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute. This advisory board, made up of 12 local nonprofit, philanthropic, and government leaders, will serve as an important resource in crafting the Institute’s research agenda on economic opportunity and inclusive growth.

Maximum employment is a primary aim of the Minneapolis Fed and the Federal Reserve System. In pursuit of that goal, Fed policymakers seek to understand the mechanisms behind high unemployment rates for people of color.

“Behind the unemployment rate are the lives of millions of Americans who are affected by job loss and lack of opportunity to work,” said Mark Wright, director of Research at the Minneapolis Fed. “We have to understand the causes of unemployment for everyday Americans, and that means looking at barriers to opportunity and lack of inclusion.”

The Community Advisory Board will provide input into the Institute’s research agenda by helping to uncover gaps in the knowledge base and by identifying and explaining the practical barriers to economic opportunity and inclusive growth in local communities.

Community Advisory Board

• Tawanna Black, Founder and CEO, Center for Economic Inclusion
• Bruce Corrie, Director, St. Paul Planning and Economic Development Department
• Paul Fleissner, Deputy County Administrator for the Health, Housing, and Human Services Division and Director of the Housing at Redevelopment Authority, Olmsted County
• Michael A. Goze, CEO, American Indian Community Development Corporation
• Danielle Grant, President and CEO, AchieveMpls
• Shawntera Hardy, Commissioner, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development
• Ezell Jones, Vice President and Relationship Manager, CBIZ Inc.
• Paul Mattessich, Executive Director, Wilder Research
• Gloria Perez, President and CEO, Jeremiah Program
• Gregory P. Russ, Executive Director and CEO, Minnesota Public Housing Authority
• Sondra Samuels, President and CEO, Northside Achievement Zone
• Kate Wolford, President, McKnight Foundation

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The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks that, with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., make up the Federal Reserve System, the nation’s central bank. The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis is responsible for the Ninth Federal Reserve District, which includes Montana, North and South Dakota, Minnesota, northwestern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis participates in setting national monetary policy, supervises numerous banking organizations, and provides a variety of payments services to financial institutions and the U.S. government.