For immediate release: February 8, 2022
The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta announces three new council members of its Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council (CDIAC). They will serve three-year terms that expire in 2025.
CDIAC provides input on the economy, lending conditions, and other issues related to community banking. Pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, each Federal Reserve District has established a CDIAC to systematically include the views of community depository institutions in the policymaking process.
The new council members are:
- Harry Allen, cofounder and chief relationship officer of Studio Bank in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a graduate of Belmont University with a bachelor’s and a master’s, both in business administration. Allen serves on the board of directors for the Nashville Public Education Foundation and the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. He also is a trustee and chair of Belmont University’s endowment committee.
- John Hirabayashi, president and CEO of Community First Credit Union in Jacksonville, Florida. He received a bachelor’s in finance from the University of Colorado at Boulder and an MBA in finance from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He also earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and serves on the board of the Jacksonville Public Education Fund and on the executive advisory board of the Davis College of Business at Jacksonville University.
- Robert James II, president and CEO of Carver Financial Corporation and executive vice president of its subsidiary, Carver State Bank in Savannah, Georgia. He earned a law degree from Harvard University and a bachelor’s in political science from Howard University. James serves as chairman of the National Bankers Association (2021-2023), an advocacy group for minority-owned banks. He is also a member of the Community Development Bankers Association’s board of directors.
The Atlanta Fed CDIAC members meet twice a year, and the council chair represents the Atlanta Fed on the national council. This year, Atlanta CDIAC chair David R. “Jude” Melville III, chief executive officer and president of b1BANK of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, will serve as president
of the national CDIAC.
The Atlanta Fed is a part of the nation's central banking system, which Congress created in 1913. The Federal Reserve conducts monetary policy by influencing money and credit conditions in the economy in pursuit of full employment and stable prices, supervises and regulates banking institutions, and helps ensure that the nation's payments systems operate smoothly. The Atlanta Fed serves the Sixth Federal Reserve District, which encompasses Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and sections of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee.