A Robust, Transparent, Fair and Inclusive Presidential Search

Throughout the process, the St. Louis Fed Presidential Search Committee was committed to conducting a search that was robust, transparent, fair and inclusive.

Inclusivity was built into the infrastructure of the search. In addition to the Search Committee itself being diverse in terms of gender, race and industry sector, the two St. Louis Fed officials who were appointed by the committee to support the search (the Bank’s general counsel and its corporate secretary) were also diverse in terms of race and gender. Following a formal procurement process, including the Search Committee interviewing several qualified firms, the Bank engaged Spencer Stuart to assist the committee. The team from Spencer Stuart was also diverse in terms of race and gender.

Transparency and outreach were also priorities, with the Bank providing timely and widely available information about the search and how to apply, including announcements to national and local media throughout the Bank’s seven-state Federal Reserve District, on social media (to the more than 200,000 followers of the Bank on X/Twitter and LinkedIn), on the Bank’s Open Vault blog, through updates on a dedicated Presidential Search webpage that the Bank established immediately after the search began, and via e-newsletters and email promotions to thousands of Bank stakeholders, past event attendees, publication subscribers, etc.

On Sept. 7, 2023, the Bank widely publicized and hosted a virtual Public Engagement Forum that was open to the public to provide information about the search and how to apply or nominate an individual, and to answer the public’s questions. A recording and transcript of the Public Engagement Forum was posted on the Bank’s Presidential Search webpage following the event.

The Presidential Search webpage also included an email drop box linked directly to Spencer Stuart for confidential nominations and self-submissions. The webpage also provided a dedicated Bank email address for the public to ask questions or send comments to the Bank. Throughout the search process, there were more than 7,900 pageviews on the Presidential Search webpages and 509 downloads of the job description posted there.

The Search Committee placed a priority on conducting a broad search with a candidate pool that was diverse in terms of gender, race and ethnicity and background. The pool of candidates included academics, business and nonprofit executives, economists, bankers, public policy officials, Federal Reserve System executives and other interested citizens from across the country. At the conclusion, the Search Committee unanimously agreed to appoint Alberto G. Musalem as the next St. Louis Fed president, subject to approval of the Board of Governors, which was received on Jan. 3, 2024.