President and Chief Executive Officer

Loretta J. Mester participates in the formulation of U.S. monetary policy, and oversees 1,000 employees in Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh who conduct economic research, supervise banking institutions, and provide payment services to commercial banks and the U.S. government. She assumed her role as president and CEO in June 2014.

President and Chief Executive Officer

Loretta J. Mester participates in the formulation of U.S. monetary policy, and oversees 1,000 employees in Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh who conduct economic research, supervise banking institutions, and provide payment services to commercial banks and the U.S. government. She assumed her role as president and CEO in June 2014.

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As president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Loretta J. Mester participates in the formulation of U.S. monetary policy, and oversees 1,000 employees in Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh who conduct economic research, supervise banking institutions, and provide payment services to commercial banks and the U.S. government. She assumed her role as president and CEO in June 2014.

Dr. Mester was born in Baltimore, MD. She graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics and economics from Barnard College of Columbia University. She earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from Princeton University, where she was a National Science Foundation Fellow.

Prior to being named president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Dr. Mester had been executive vice president and director of research at the...

Summer Scholar

Rebecca Cowin is a summer scholar in the Community Development Department. She is pursuing a BA in economics with a minor in Spanish at the University of Minnesota.

The event featured a conversation between Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President and CEO Loretta J. Mester, Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Jerome Powell, and Youngstown-area community leaders, business owners, and local stakeholders:

America needs a bridge—a bridge that will get households, communities, and businesses over the unanticipated challenges created by the COVID-19 shutdown. In helping to build that bridge, the Federal Reserve, with authorization from Congress, has created and revived a number of rare lending programs, each providing targeted assistance to the needs of those impacted.

The challenge: After lenders lend money to people for uses such as buying a car, paying college tuition, or running a small business, they often bundle the loans they’ve made and sell them to investors. The lenders do this for two reasons: They want to reduce their risk—keeping too many of the same kind of loan is financially risky—and they want to get money so they can make more loans.

To sell the bundled loans to investors, lenders turn them into asset-backed securities—bonds backed by the value of loans. But COVID-19 disruptions created uncertainty about borrowers’ ability to repay their loans,...

“We found that the vast majority of respondents, almost 90 percent, reported having worn a mask the last time they went out in public to an indoor space, even though not all were required by state or local ordinance to do so,” say the authors of an Economic Commentary based on a survey of consumers. While most respondents indicated that they were extremely likely to wear a mask if required by public authorities, the reported likelihood is strongly dependent on the age of the respondents and how effective they considered masks to be.

Policymakers are exploring ways to reduce the number of novel coronavirus infections without resorting to broad-based economic shutdowns. A variety of evidence suggests that face coverings can help reduce the spread of the virus; however, face coverings’ effectiveness in regard to avoiding another shutdown depends on widespread use, and not everyone is wearing them.

Our mission is founded in public service—strengthening the economic performance of the nation and our region and making a difference in the communities we serve. At our Bank, you’ll get the benefits you need and have the work–life balance you want. Your health, finances, and professional achievement matter to us. And our culture is one of inclusion, in which diversity of thought is encouraged and uniqueness embraced.

Be part of something big. Be part of our future. Make the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland your next career move.

We’re accountable for our actions, we deliver on our commitments, and we have the highest quality standards. We embrace diversity and inclusion in all of their forms. We innovate and strive for continuous improvement. We’re honest, respectful, and ethical in everything we do, and we serve the public and strive to earn its trust and confidence every day. The Cleveland Fed is recognized as a great place to work by our employees and as an employer of choice by organizations such as NorthCoast 99, DiversityInc, and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.

The 2020 COVID-19 CDFI Survey is a special effort to gather data from CDFIs across the United States and to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on their organizations, clients, and communities. The survey is open from July 20-August 14, and is a partnership of the Federal Reserve System, the CDFI Fund, Opportunity Finance Network, the CDFI Coalition, the Native CDFI Network, First Nations Oweesta Corporation, Inclusiv, NeighborWorks America, the New York State CDFI Coalition and the Asociación de Ejecutivos de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito de Puerto Rico.

America needs a bridge—a bridge that will get households, communities, and businesses over the unanticipated challenges created by the COVID-19 shutdown. In helping to build that bridge, the Federal Reserve, with authorization from Congress, has created and revived a number of rare lending programs, each providing targeted assistance to the needs of those impacted.

The challenge: Under normal economic conditions, larger businesses can raise funds by issuing corporate bonds. Investors buy the bonds, lending businesses the cash they need, and, over a period of time, the businesses pay back the investors plus interest. Given the current pandemic and resulting economic shutdowns, investors’ appetite for corporate bonds is down because they are unsure how businesses will perform and if the businesses will repay. That has caused the availability of credit to contract for corporations and other issuers of corporate bonds at the same time that companies have a heightened need...

America needs a bridge—a bridge that will get households, communities, and businesses over the unanticipated challenges created by the COVID-19 shutdown. In helping to build that bridge, the Federal Reserve, with authorization from Congress, has created and revived a number of rare lending programs, each providing targeted assistance to the needs of those impacted.

The challenge: Business for many companies has slowed or halted, driving up their need for loans. At the same time, funding, such as loans, is less available for small and medium-sized businesses. In addition, many nonprofit organizations, such as hospitals, educational institutions, and social service organizations, have heightened need for financing as they face pressures because of the pandemic.

The response: Through its Main Street Lending Program, the Federal Reserve will buy up to $600 billion in loans that lenders, such as banks and credit unions, make to small and midsize businesses and...