Conference

Unleashing a Financially Inclusive Future

July 15, 2025

Federal Reserve Board, Washington, D.C.

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Accessible Keys for Video

[Space Bar] toggles play/pause;

[Right/Left Arrows] seeks the video forwards and back (5 sec );

[Up/Down Arrows] increase/decrease volume;

[M] toggles mute on/off;

[F] toggles fullscreen on/off (Except IE 11);

The [Tab] key may be used in combination with the [Enter/Return] key to navigate and activate control buttons, such as caption on/off.

The Federal Reserve Board will be hosting its second annual financial inclusion conference "Unleashing a Financially Inclusive Future" on July 15 in Washington, D.C. The event will feature speeches, presentations, and discussions on various financial inclusion topics with Federal Reserve leaders, academics, industry stakeholders, consumer and community organizations, and thought leaders.

In the first panel, speakers will highlight evolving products and practices within the financial inclusion ecosystem as well as the role of regulation in supporting banks' financial inclusion goals. The second panel will feature a discussion of the role mission-driven financial institutions play in providing access to credit in low- and moderate-income communities. The final panel will explore approaches to solving the "last mile" problem in international transactions by focusing on emerging technologies and policy initiatives that are increasing accessibility, affordability and efficiency in cross-border payments.

The conference will be webcast at www.federalreserve.gov and www.youtube.com/federalreserve.

This event is by invitation only and open to members of the press. Media who wish to register should contact Public Affairs at [email protected].

Agenda
Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Welcome from Vice Chair for Supervision Bowman

Keynote—Jo Ann Barefoot, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer (Alliance for Innovative Regulation)

Break

Tools of the Financial Inclusion Ecosystem
Moderator: Art Lindo, Deputy Director and Head of Policy, Supervision & Regulation (Federal Reserve Board of Governors)
Speakers:

  • Kelvin Chen, Senior Executive Vice President, Head of Policy (Consumer Bankers Association)
  • Kelly Thompson Cochran, Deputy Director and Chief Program Officer (FinRegLab)
  • Alex Johnson, Founder (Fintech Takes)

Lunch

Remarks from Governor Barr and a fireside chat with Evelyn Stark, Managing Director of ideas42

Break

How Mission-Driven Organizations Advance Financial Inclusion
Moderator: David Newville, Senior Associate Director, Division of Consumer & Community Affairs, (Federal Reserve Board of Governors)
Speakers:

  • Nicole Elam, President and CEO (National Bankers Association)
  • Tesia Lemelle, Program Manager (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia)
  • Gregory Fairchild, Dean and CEO (UVA | Northern Virginia)
  • Darrin L. Williams, Chief Executive Officer (Southern Bancorp, Inc.)

Break

Cross-Border Payments Innovations: Tackling the Last Mile
Moderator: Dave Mills, Senior Associate Director, Division of Reserve Bank Operations & Payment Systems (Federal Reserve Board of Governors)
Speakers:

  • Jess Cheng, Partner, Fintech and Financial Services (Wilson Sonsini)
  • Gordon Y. Liao, Chief Economist and Head of Research (Circle)
  • Harish Natarajan, Practice Manager, Financial Inclusion and Infrastructure, Finance, Competitiveness & Innovation (World Bank)

Closing Remarks—Eric Belsky, Director, Division of Consumer & Community Affairs (Federal Reserve Board of Governors)

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Last Update: July 15, 2025