NEW YORK — In response to reports that President Biden plans to make three major Federal Reserve leadership nominations today – Sarah Bloom Raskin, Lisa Cook, and Phillip Jefferson for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors – the Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE), a national organization fighting for racial justice and Wall Street accountability, released the following statement from Co-Executive Director Saqib Bhatti. Last year, ACRE published a white paper on how the Federal Reserve has failed to address racial equity under current Chair Jerome Powell.

“President Biden has made two inspired picks to help lead the Federal Reserve and for the first time, the Federal Reserve’s leadership will be majority women and have two Black Governors, including the first Black woman Governor.

Sarah Bloom Raskin, Lisa Cook, and Phillip Jefferson are highly qualified and accomplished academics and economists who have led their fields. ACRE has repeatedly supported Professor Bloom Raskin and Dr. Cook as they have also shown that they are willing to stand up to Wall Street and fight for working families. They know that the Federal Reserve can be a powerful force for racial and climate justice if leaders are willing to go to bat for it. 

These historic nominations will finally let the Federal Reserve represent the communities that it serves, instead of just catering to wealthy white elites. We look forward to working with these new leaders to shape the Federal Reserve into an institution that will finally stand up for working families and frontline communities.”

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