WASHINGTON, D.C. — Representative Joyce Beatty and other members of the House Financial Services Committee want the banking industry to be more diverse at the highest leadership levels.

Beatty (D-03) brought that up to seven white, male CEOs of some of the largest banks in America who testified in a hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

“I really think that you are too big not to employ African-Americans, minorities, and other forms of diversities and females in your pipeline — in high positions in the bank,” Beatty said to the men.

She asked them to submit diversity plans to her in writing and requested they hire directors of diversity to report to them.

Back in February, Beatty held the first hearing of the Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee she now chairs.

“I think the one glaring thing that we heard today [is] that we lack diversity in many of the financial and governmental entities that we’re working with,” Beatty said in an interview after the February hearing.

She’s hoping, over time, to use her subcommittee as a platform to spark change.

Beatty wants the banks we use every day to have more diverse leadership, including the Federal Reserve. 

Raphael Bostic is the first and only black person to be a reserve bank president in the banking system’s 100-year history.

And only seven women have served as president of one of the regional banks.

“That’s not reflective of this wonderful America that we live in,” Beatty said.

Beatty is also trying to make the ‘Beatty Rule’ become law.

It’s fashioned after the ‘Rooney Rule,’ which, since 2003, has required the National Football League (NFL) to consider at least one minority for any head coach or general manager vacancy.

The Beatty Rule would apply that same standard to the Federal Reserve, so that at least one woman or minority would be interviewed when there’s an opening.

“It’s not just checking the box,” Beatty said. “It’s not just asking people about their gender or their ethnicity. It’s about being able to develop partnerships and to be able to be engaged.”

Beatty said she’s not asking for people to be given banking jobs they’re not qualified for. She just wants minorities and women who are up for the task to have the same opportunity.

“If you don’t have someone of both genders, if you don’t have a multiplicity of people with different ethnic and racial backgrounds, then you don’t have the opportunity to identify people who have the real skills and the diversity to make a difference in the workplace,” she said.

Beatty first introduced the Beatty Rule back in 2017. This year, Democratic Senator and presidential candidate Kamala Harris has introduced a companion version in the Senate.