Search for new Atlanta Fed leader continues, interviews underway

It’s a role that has economic and monetary implications not just for the Southeast, but the country.

The Atlanta Fed, located in Midtown, is one of 12 regional banks in the Federal Reserve System. All Reserve Bank presidents typically serve five-year terms that expire in years ending in 1 or 6.

The Atlanta Fed’s territory includes Alabama, Florida and Georgia, and portions of Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. In addition to its main headquarters on Peachtree Street, the Atlanta Fed has branches in Birmingham, Jacksonville, Miami, Nashville and New Orleans.

The Federal Reserve has two mandates from Congress: promoting maximum employment and promoting price stability.

The presidents of the regional Fed banks have many responsibilities, including traveling around their district to talk to people across the socioeconomic ladder and serving on the Federal Open Market Committee, which sets short-term interest rates for the country. The new Atlanta Fed president will be a voting member of the FOMC in 2027, according to Haile.

“The role of this next president is to make sure that no matter how distant anyone feels from Washington or Atlanta, that their challenges, their concerns, their opportunities, are known and understood in a way that can be translated such that it will impact our nation,” Haile said.

“That is the power of being a public servant and being a voice for those who need you most, and that is an important part of this role,” he added.

Bostic led the Atlanta Fed for nearly nine years before retiring at the end of February. During his tenure, he directed attention to economic immobility and inequality and pushed business, civic and government leaders to acknowledge diversity as an economic imperative.

Shortly before Bostic retired, Adrian Cronje, CEO of wealth management firm Balentine, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he hoped the next president would be “Raphael 2.0.”

“I can’t point to anything that I think Raphael could have done any better,” Cronje said. He added that the next leader should be somebody who could build on what Bostic and his predecessor, Dennis Lockhart, started — “which is the Fed is not this impenetrable institution that nobody understands. It’s a valuable part of our community that is making a difference to average people.”

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

Heidrick & Struggles, an executive search firm, is assisting the Atlanta Fed’s board of directors in the search.

There is no timeline for when a new Atlanta Fed chief will be named. The bank’s chief operating officer, Cheryl Venable, is serving as the interim president until a permanent replacement is found.

Haile said the search committee is looking for someone who is evidence-focused, has exceptional communication skills and agile thinking, and can lead an organization of about 1,700 employees, more than 900 of whom are based in Atlanta.

“We know that there’s a lot of changes that are happening right now, and we’re being very thoughtful about making sure that we have someone who is not static necessarily in their thinking, but someone who’s going to be able to change with the time as well as change with what’s happening throughout the district,” Haile said.

There is a preference for someone who is from the district, but that is not a deal breaker. Bostic was from California.

The search for a new Atlanta Fed leader is happening as President Donald Trump has worked to exert more control over the Federal Reserve, which he has pushed to lower interest rates more aggressively. Last summer, Trump fired Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, the first time a president has tried to oust a sitting governor. Cook, a Georgia-born economist and Spelman College alumna, sued and the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed her to stay in her role while her lawsuit is pending.

But neither Trump nor the U.S. Senate will choose the new Atlanta Fed president. The institution’s board will choose the next leader, and the candidate will need to be approved by the Fed’s Board of Governors.

Those interested in providing input on the search or asking questions can reach the search committee at presidentialsearch@atl.frb.org.