Fulfilling our commitment to diversity

In the months since the CFPB officially opened its doors, the Bureau has been moving at full speed to engage consumers and bring greater transparency to the financial marketplace. We’ve been hard at work building our consumer response system, creating our Know Before You Owe campaigns, and forming a strong foundation for our supervision, examination, fair lending, and enforcement teams. In addition to these efforts, we have been focused on standing up the CFPB’s Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI).

On January 20, 2012, the CFPB will establish its Office of Minority and Women Inclusion, under the guidance of the CFPB’s OMWI working group. This working group is co-chaired by Patrice Ficklin, the Assistant Director for the Office of Fair Lending & Equal Opportunity, Zixta Martinez, the Assistant Director for the Office of Community Affairs, and Dennis Slagter, the Assistant Director of Human Capital. An overarching goal for this working group has been to ensure the integration of the OMWI mission throughout the Bureau from day one.

Among other requirements, OMWI is charged, by statute, with developing standards for:

• equal employment opportunity, workforce diversity, and inclusion at all levels of the agency;
• increased participation of minority-owned and women-owned businesses in the CFPB’s programs and contracts; and
• assessing the diversity policies and practices of the CFPB’s regulated entities.

Diversity and inclusion have been cornerstones of the Bureau’s foundation, its programs, and its contracts since its establishment. Through the OMWI, diversity and inclusion will remain essential parts of the CFPB as we continue our work.

Today, as the nation remembers the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we at the CFPB find inspiration in his dream of equality and fair treatment for all.

CFPB’s OMWI Working Group

Steve Antonakes, Assistant Director, Bank Supervision
Patrice Ficklin, Assistant Director, Fair Lending & Equal Opportunity
Meredith Fuchs, Chief-of-Staff
David Gragan, Assistant Director, Procurement
Richard G. Lepley, Deputy General Counsel for General Law & Ethics
Zixta Martinez, Assistant Director, Community Affairs
Dennis Slagter, Assistant Director, Human Capital
Peggy Twohig, Assistant Director, Nonbank Supervision