National Youth Organization Honors St. Louis Fed's Memphis Branch Executive

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Martha Perine Beard, senior branch executive of the Memphis Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, has been recognized with the Harriet Tubman Award, the highest accolade of the national Youth About Business (YAB) organization. Perine Beard was surprised with the award at the organizations 16th annual banquet, which was held Nov. 15 at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville.

YAB honored Perine Beard for "her relentless service and care for the Memphis community, and particularly for the development of our future leaders," said Belinda Campbell, the organization's Memphis business director.

Youth About Business is a program of Creating an Environment of Success Inc., a Tennessee-based nonprofit organization. The group seeks to provide business and entrepreneurial training to underserved students in the 9th through 12th grades, exposing them to successful leaders and providing hands-on training in business. In addition to Tennessee, YAB operates in New York and Illinois.

With branches in Little Rock, Louisville and Memphis, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis serves the Eighth Federal Reserve District, which includes all of Arkansas, eastern Missouri, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, western Kentucky, western Tennessee and northern Mississippi. The St. Louis Fed is one of 12 regional Reserve banks that, along with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., comprise the Federal Reserve System. As the nation's central bank, the Federal Reserve System formulates U.S. monetary policy, regulates state-chartered member banks and bank holding companies, provides payment services to financial institutions and the U.S. government, and promotes community development and financial education.

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