The Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis has appointed Patience Ferguson as senior vice president of Human Resources and Inclusion, effective July 18, and Andrea Raffo as senior vice president of Research, effective August 22.
In her role, Ferguson will oversee the Bank’s Human Resources and Inclusion division, which handles recruitment, diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, talent management, and training and development. Ferguson comes to the Minneapolis Fed from the City of Minneapolis, where she has been the chief human resources officer for nine years. Earlier in her career, she was the director of diversity at a youth-serving non-profit, led volunteer leadership development for the Greater Twin Cities United Way, and led programs at the Management Assistance Program (MAP) for Nonprofits.
“Patience is an experienced leader with deep expertise in developing talent and supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion,” said President Neel Kashkari. “She builds workplaces that allow people to do their best work, promote innovation, and attract, engage, and retain talented professionals.”
“I look forward to joining the Minneapolis Fed and helping to advance their mission to pursue an economy that works for all of us,” said Ferguson.
Ferguson holds a bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Oklahoma and a master’s in human resource development from the University of Minnesota. She will assume her new role from Michael Garrett, who is retiring.
In his role, Raffo will lead the Research division and will provide strategic direction and leadership for the Bank’s economic research and policy priorities, including providing economic policy advice and analysis to the Bank president. He comes to the Minneapolis Fed from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, where he is serving as the associate director of the Internal Finance Division. Previously, he held roles at the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and Kansas City.
“Andrea is a leader with both significant interest and experience in the policy mission of the Federal Reserve and strong management experience,” said Kashkari. “His knowledge and leadership experience will be a great asset to the Bank and to the residents of the Ninth District.”
“The Minneapolis Fed has an unparalleled reputation for groundbreaking research and policy analysis in a wide range of areas—from business cycles and monetary policy to economic opportunity and inclusive growth,” said Raffo. “I look forward to working with President Kashkari and the outstanding team of economists and staff to further advance our understanding of economic developments and appropriate monetary policy in the pursue of an economy that works for all of us.”
Raffo earned a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California Los Angeles and a bachelor’s and master’s in economics from Bocconi University in Milan, Italy. Raffo will succeed Mark L. J. Wright who has assumed a new role at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
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.