I enjoyed reading comic books as a kid. And I quickly realized that most of them shared a similar inciting incident. A normal person is going about their usual routine until wham! The unexpected hits. It could be as simple as a spider bite, or it could be as extraordinary as a radioactive ray. Either way, it feels dangerous—traumatic even.

Then, just as suddenly as the danger appears, it clears. And this normal person realizes that they’re not so normal anymore. They’re transformed, with a new and powerful ability they never thought possible—a superpower. That’s when the real story begins: a hero’s journey, borne out of challenge and change.

Why is this on my mind now? Because 2020 was a time of challenge and change for all of us. We entered last year full of plans for ourselves, our careers, our organizations, and our futures. Then wham! COVID-19 upended everything.

While each of our personal situations is obviously different, we’ve all struggled because of...

June 16, 2021

In my nearly thirty years working for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, I’ve seen a lot of change. Like so many organizations across the country, I’ve witnessed the Bank slowly transition to a vibrant, inclusive workplace that reflects and genuinely listens to the voices of the communities it serves. But there’s still important work we must do to be fully representative.

The San Francisco Fed recently implemented its Framework for Change that includes a number of audacious goals aimed at promoting ways to achieve equity in our communities and within our Bank. If we’re going to get there, every person in our organization needs to think about where and how we can create change. I stepped into the role of senior vice president of Public Engagement seven months ago, and I’m focusing on ways to creatively expand how we connect with our communities as well as recasting how we approach candidate recruitment for our Boards of Directors...

June 9, 2021

Brian St. John is used to his work being on display. Such is life when you’re an artist. But it also perfectly suits his job as UX Manager at the SF Fed. UX is shorthand for user experience, but the simple title belies the complexities of the profession. Research analyst, data collector, and graphic design are all parts of the UX job description. He takes on all requests for anything from translating business requirements into visual designs to leading design thinking workshops—both internal and external, while also making sure nothing is going wrong. That variety extends to the types of projects he works on too, and it’s exactly what Brian loves most about the job.

“I kind of equate it to an actor getting into a role,” he says. “If you think about these actors and what they do to prepare for a role, they do research, they get in that character mindset, they learn a new accent or something. I love just being able to get into that part and just fall...

Quick—describe what you think the President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco would be like. If you answered a former high school dropout, an enthusiastic texter, someone with a flair for dressing hip, a lesbian podcaster, and a neighbor of the Grand Lake Theater, you’d be right.

She has been called “the millennial president,” and Mary Daly says she has the coolest job ever. With over 1,800 employees, her 12th district includes nine western states, as well as the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and Guam. The district is the nation’s largest by area and population, covering

1.3 million square miles and 60 million people—the largest and most diverse district within the Federal Reserve system.

On Daly’s first day on the job, she had a sign installed right as you walk through the front door of the agency’s building in San Francisco. It reads, “Our work touches every American and countless global citizens.” The entire wall around...

A broad dashboard of indicators is sending mixed signals about the state of the labor market. Some indicators have deviated widely from their normal historical relationships since the onset of COVID-19. Because of the uneven economic impact of the pandemic, the labor force participation rate, payroll employment, and the share of job losers among the unemployed have provided more reliable signals about overall conditions than other components of the dashboard. They suggest that labor slack is higher than implied by the current headline unemployment rate.

A broad dashboard of indicators is sending mixed signals about the state of the labor market. Some indicators have deviated widely from their normal historical relationships since the onset of COVID-19. Because of the uneven economic impact of the pandemic, the labor force participation rate, payroll employment, and the share of job losers among the unemployed have provided more reliable signals about overall conditions than other components of the dashboard. They suggest that labor slack is higher than implied by the current headline unemployment rate.

April 26, 2021

By Paul Tierno and Linda True

In episode four of our series?Financial Inclusion & Beyond, we spoke with José Quiñonez, the founding chief executive officer of Mission Asset Fund (MAF) and a visiting professor at UC Berkeley, Department of City and Regional Planning. MAF uses innovative national models for integrating financially excluded, low-income communities into the mainstream.

David White, national executive director of SAG-AFTRA, says he felt terrible when he had to cut a third of his staff at the world’s biggest entertainment union in 2020.

“Laying off 200 colleagues due to the pandemic was one of the hardest things I’ve done in my career,’’ Mr. White says.

The 51-year-old attorney has run the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists since a merger created the Los Angeles-based union in 2012. He also is its chief negotiator.

SAG-AFTRA’s roughly 160,000 members aren’t solely actors. They include stunt performers, singers, dancers, radio announcers and even puppeteers.

This was not the first recent life challenge for Mr. White, who lost his wife to a brain tumor in 2018. In this latest instance, he sought support from professional contacts and others as he struggled with angst over letting go so many employees. He also tried to help union members idled by their industry’s slowdown. For...

April 26, 2021

By Paul Tierno and Linda True

In episode four of our series?Financial Inclusion & Beyond, we spoke with José Quiñonez, the founding chief executive officer of Mission Asset Fund (MAF) and a visiting professor at UC Berkeley, Department of City and Regional Planning. MAF uses innovative national models for integrating financially excluded, low-income communities into the mainstream.

Firms of color were more likely to experience financial and operational challenges stemming from the pandemic. These challenges are particularly salient given the important role business ownership plays in wealth building and employ­ment in communities of color.