Economics

People of Color, Women Absent from Management at Federal Banking Agencies

Published

11 years ago

November 12, 2015

A report released by Rep. Maxine Waters, ranking member of the House Committee on Financial Services, and members of the Congressional Black, Hispanic and Asian Pacific American Caucuses, has found a disturbing lack of diversity in seven key federal agencies regulating the financial system.

Policy experts at the Greenlining Institute said that the report, written by House Committee on Financial Services Democratic staff based on analyses by the Inspectors General (IG) at the agencies, should spur concerted action to increase diversity.

The report finds that women and minorities are underrepresented in the agencies’ workforces and severely underrepresented in senior management positions. In addition, African American employees generally received lower performance management review scores than their white counterparts.

“We need concrete, practical steps to identify and remove the barriers that keep people of color and women out of these important jobs,” said Greenlining Institute President Orson Aguilar.

“It is critical that the agencies watching over our financial system reflect our nation’s growing diversity. The financial crash happened in large part because federal bank regulators missed what was going on in communities of color, and we can’t afford to continue this legacy of negligence,” said Aguilar.

The Greenlining Institute and coalition partners outlined a series of steps the agencies should take in a letter sent to leaders of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, National Credit Union Administration, Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Among other suggestions, Greenlining urged the following:

Agencies must recognize that diversity programming doesn’t happen in a silo. Research shows that entities with inclusive workforces owe their success to comprehensive strategies that incorporate diversity into every aspect of their operations.

These strategies include strong tracking, recruitment, and professional development systems. Each Inspectors General report puts forth recommendations for how the agencies can better diversify their systems.

The agencies’ Offices of Minority and Women Inclusion should investigate barriers to employment in addition to discrimination, such as lack of outreach to diverse candidates.

The agencies’ office should push the agencies to plug gaps in their data collection. All but one Inspectors General report identified missing or flawed demographic data.

The agencies should create specific accountability measures by which agencies can gauge their progress in diversifying their workforces.

To read Greenlining’s full letter, go to http://greenlining.org/issues/2015/greenlinings-comments-and-recommendations-regarding-omwi-inspector-general-reports/

Oakland Post

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Activism

At the event, 16 entities signed the EIP pledge, vowing to take steps to increase public contracting opportunities in their spheres for small and historically underutilized businesses. The pledge signees included Hub International, the Port of San Francisco, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, California High-Speed Rail Authority, the Port of Oakland, Robert Graham of Webcor Builders, Holder Construction, the Weitz Company, Sky Blue Builders, Hornblower, Swinerton, Luster National, Talson Solutions, Center for Community Wealth Building, and the Construction Contractors Alliance.

Published

3 days ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Toks Omishakin, secretary of the California State Transportation Agency, was one of the speakers at the event. Photo by Shellee Fisher Photography and Design.

By Calvin Naito, Special to The Post

On June 4, a national nonprofit named the Equity in Infrastructure Project (EIP) – which aims to increase public construction contracting opportunities for small and historically underutilized businesses – held a day-long event in downtown San Francisco to rally supporters and build momentum to its cause.

It was attended by more than 100 individuals from public agencies, private firms, and other organizations committed to increasing contracting opportunities with governmental agencies, thereby creating more competition and lowering public costs.

The EIP event was held the Hyatt Regency San Francisco in conjunction with BuildIT, which aims to increase contracting opportunities for LGBT-owned businesses.

At the event, 16 entities signed the EIP pledge, vowing to take steps to increase public contracting opportunities in their spheres for small and historically underutilized businesses.

The pledge signees included Hub International, the Port of San Francisco, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, California High-Speed Rail Authority, the Port of Oakland, Robert Graham of Webcor Builders, Holder Construction, the Weitz Company, Sky Blue Builders, Hornblower, Swinerton, Luster National, Talson Solutions, Center for Community Wealth Building, and the Construction Contractors Alliance.

Following the workshop, BuildIT hosted a VIP evening reception honoring EIP, whose principals – Phil Washington, John Procari, and Rick Jacobs – accepted the award.

The event also set in motion the coalition’s efforts to implement recommendations from EIP’s “Procurement for Prosperity: A Playbook.”

The Playbook is a practical guide for public agency leaders and procurement and contracting practitioners to grow the capacity of small and first-time contractors, strengthen competition, and deliver better value for taxpayers.

Toks Omishakin, Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), a long-time EIP supporter, also told attendees, “This is about commitment. This has been a life’s work. This is a tailwind moment.”

The event’s presenting sponsor was Hub International, one of the largest insurance brokerages in the nation, which was joined by partners Travelers Insurance and the State Compensation Insurance Fund.

After the pledge-signing ceremony, attendees participated in a workshop in which they examined the policies, practices, and programs needed to meet EIP goals, learned from practitioners, and identified next steps toward utilizing the Playbook.

Ingrid Meriwether, formerly of Merriwether & Williams Insurance Services (MWIS) and current president of Hub International’s Aligned Risk Management, MWIS, described the hard-fought lessons she and her MWIS team have learned over the last three decades administering contractor development programs (CDPs) for the City and County of San Francisco, Alameda County, City of Los Angeles, LA Metro, and other municipalities.

The CDPs help small and local construction firms win public infrastructure contracts with these government agencies. The program provides bonding assistance, contract financing, technical support, training, and other services to underrepresented businesses funded by public agencies who seek greater contracting participation with these firms.

Merriwether said programs like these “break down systemic barriers, create greater fairness, and save taxpayers money by enabling more competition. The contractor development programs have, cumulatively, over two decades, helped contractors access over $1 billion in bonding, supporting over $380 million in awarded contracts, and maintaining a loss ratio 250 times lower than the industry average – while saving participating municipalities more than $27 million in contracting costs as a result of enabling more competition.”

Rick Jacobs, EIP co-founder and co-chair urged attendees make plans to meet again in the near future “to continue building on this work, share progress on organizational commitments, and discuss how we can collectively advance the goals of the EIP pledge.”

For more information on the EIP and to access a copy of the Playbook, go online to https://equityininfrastructure.org/

Calvin Naito is communications manager for Equity in Infrastructure Project.