A review during the first 200 days of the Biden administration showed the need for a champion to head economic policy initiatives to advance racial equity, a Treasury official said.
Bowdler will serve to coordinate the Treasury Department's intentions to advance racial equity through public engagement, according to a news release Monday.
"The pandemic threw a spotlight on this inequity; people of color were often the first to lose their jobs and businesses," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. "Treasury must play a central role in ensuring that as our economy recovers from the pandemic, it recovers in a way that addresses the inequalities that existed long before anyone was infected with COVID-19."
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Bowdler started her career with the Cleveland, Ohio-based Famicos Foundation, in community growth. While there, she helped with developing and promoting housing opportunities in majority-black neighborhoods. She later served as director of economic policy for UnidosUS, a Latino advocacy group formerly known as the National Council of La Raza.
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Before her Treasury Department appointment, Bowdler was president of the JPMorgan Chase & Co. Foundation, the arm of JPMorgan Chase that targets investments to underserved neighborhoods and communities. As the head of JPMorgan Chase's philanthropic arm, she played "a critical role" in creating the firm's long-term $30 billion racial equity commitment.
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"I could not be more humbled by the historic opportunity to serve as the U.S. Department of the Treasury's first Counselor for Racial Equity," Bowdler said. "I have spent my entire career working in solidarity with Black, Latinx, AAPI, Native communities, and other communities of color to dismantle the structural and institutional racism that perpetuates the racial wealth divide."
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In a blog post-Monday, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said that one of Bowdler's first goals would be to create a "Racial Equity Advisory Committee" at the Treasury Department to give counsel on how to help underserved communities.
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Her duties will also include "improving access to the Child Tax Credit and understanding how Community Development Financial Institutions and Minority Depository Institutions can transform access to capital in communities of color," Adeyemo said.
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Last week, the Justice Department announced a new coordinated plan with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Comptroller of the Currency, to investigate and prosecute redlining. In historical practice, Blacks and other minorities were denied access to financing.
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