Leadership With Solid Values
Q&A with Andy Jiminez, FDIC Director, Office of Legislative Affairs
• Share with our readers your growing up story, what did Andy enjoy as a kid? What experiences growing up contributed to your success as an adult?
AJ: I was born a third-generation Mexican-American in the very heart of Texas, in the small city of Temple. Like all native Texans, I probably take an inordinate amount of pride in being “American by birth, but Texan by the wonderful grace of God,” as the saying goes. When I was very young, my parents relocated to Colorado and that’s where I grew up. My mom was a nurse and my father was a career federal employee, who, coincidentally, also worked at a federal agency that—like the FDIC—was established as part of the New Deal following the Great Depression. We lived in a series of small farming communities, so my brother and I spent a lot of time outdoors. We’d hunt and fish, camp and hike, activities that I still enjoy. My father is a big football fan, so I also inherited his love of the Dallas Cowboys, although I’m not sure whether that’s a blessing or a curse.
There are a number of values from my upbringing that have served me well throughout my career. I learned early on that hard work is never wasted and that having a stable job that challenges you and provides opportunities for advancement is really a luxury. I’ve also benefited from strong mentorships and leaders who’ve been strongly supportive of me professionally, so those are things that I’ve always tried to pay forward. Above all, I’ve learned how important an education can be to open the doors to opportunity. I could not have achieved what I have in my career if it wasn’t for the tools I gained through my college and law school education.
• What influenced you to decide to go into banking?
AJ: In the summer before my third year of law school, I clerked at a law firm in San Antonio and a piece of advice I received from one of the firm’s senior partners was to seek employment at a government agency. It was, in his opinion, the best way for a new lawyer to build expertise in a substantive area of the law, as opposed to just billing hours or focusing on motions practice, which is often what new lawyers do when they enter private practice. I took that to heart, and when I was in my final year of law school and looking to start my career, I applied to the legal departments at several Federal agencies, one of which happened to be the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the primary regulator for national banks.
That partner’s advice proved to be some of the best career advice I have ever received. And working at the OCC was quite possibly the best first job I could have had. I went to work in one of the OCC’s smaller legal offices in Dallas, where I joined a close-knit group of senior lawyers who really helped me learn the basics of banking and bank regulation. That experience really gave me a leg-up when I decided to pursue a job on Capitol Hill, and like so much in life, I found myself in the right place at the right time. I started just before the subprime housing bubble burst and was working on Capitol Hill when the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and the JOBS Act were passed in response.
When I was ready to leave the Hill, my previous experience at a bank regulator and my experience in Congress made me a natural fit to work in legislative affairs.
• Professionally, what have been the most difficult times you have faced and how did you overcome them?
AJ: I think anyone who’s been in a position of leadership or empowered to exercise professional judgment has a running list of times where they’ve made a bad call. When you work in an area like legislative affairs that can be particularly difficult because you’re often working on high-profile matters that are the topic of vigorous debate. You also have to keep a lot of balls in the air and, at the end of the day, the ultimate outcome is completely out of your control, so when things don’t go your way, you can’t help but second guess yourself. I’ve found that going back to basics, the “blocking and tackling” as it were, is often the best way to regain your confidence. Refocus on the things you know you can do well and try not to dwell on the “busted play.”
• How would you describe your vision for FDIC's DEI strategy?
AJ: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) is getting a lot of attention these days, but it’s something that’s been an area of focus at the FDIC for as long as I’ve been here and I think that really reflects the commitment of our leadership. Just as Members of Congress, Congressional staffs, and the American public encompass the full array of cultures, races, religions, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, ages, and abilities, so too must the FDIC workforce if it’s going to have the confidence of the public we serve. It’s really fundamental to our ability to meet our mission.
Just a few years ago, I served on a task force with other senior leaders to improve recruitment for women and minorities into our examiner ranks. More recently, I was asked to co-chair an executive task force focused specifically on the recruitment and retention of Hispanic and Latinx employees. We’re just getting started on that effort, and I’m very fortunate to have a terrific co-chair for this effort in Nikita Pearson, the Director of our Office of Minority and Women Inclusion. I’m hopeful that we can drive meaningful change in this area.
• If you were to move forward in time, what do you want your legacy to look like?
AJ: The FDIC is unique in that it has a long institutional memory. You talk to people here who can recount stories about colleagues they worked with 30 or 40 years ago. The people who garner the most respect are those who exemplified a high degree of professionalism, integrity, and teamwork, so I guess those are the things that I’d most like to be associated with. I can think of no better way to blaze the trail for others who may follow a similar career path to mine.
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**Photo credit: Courtesy of FDIC
*editor’s pick:
The people who garner the most respect are those who exemplified a high degree of professionalism, integrity, and teamwork.