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Office of Minority and Women Inclusion

2023 OMWI ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS

JANUARY 2023 – DECEMBER 2023
 

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202 3 OMWI Annual Report to Congress

 

Message from the Acting OMWI Director

In accordance with the reporting requirements of Section 342(e) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street 

Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act), I am pleased to submit the 2023 

Annual Report (Report) of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA or Agency) Office of 

Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI). 

In alignment with the directives of Executive Order 14035 on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and 

Accessibility (DEIA) in the Federal Workforce, FHFA diligently worked throughout 2023 to 

integrate DEIA principles into the Agency’s initiatives, including incorporating DEIA into

FHFA’s FY 2023 – 2026 People Plan, FHFA’s Management Directive 715 Report and Plan, and 

revisions of FHFA’s DEIA Policy Statement and Standards.

The Report provides a comprehensive overview of FHFA’s DEIA program, demonstrating the 

Agency’s commitment to both the letter and spirit of attendant requirements and principles in 

Section 342 of the Dodd-Frank Act and Executive Order 14035. It provides insight into the 

effectiveness of DEIA strategies and programs while highlighting significant initiatives

undertaken and successfully executed at FHFA by OMWI and its partner Offices and Divisions. 

FHFA takes pride in its dedication to advancing DEIA goals and objectives. We look forward to

opportunities for further expansion and growth in the coming years. 

Sincerely,

Louis Scalza

Acting OMWI Director
 

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202 3 OMWI Annual Report to Congress

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. Introduction ........................................................................................... 4 

B. Workforce Diversity and Inclusion ............................................................ 9 

I. Workforce Diversity ........................................................................................................10

II. Mission-Critical Occupations...........................................................................................21

III. Career Development.......................................................................................................30

IV. Internships ......................................................................................................................35

V. Successes.........................................................................................................................37

VI. Challenges.......................................................................................................................47

C. FHFA Business Diversity and Inclusion ..................................................... 49

I. Contracting Activities and Five-Year Analysis..................................................................49

II. FHFA 2023 Top Six North American Industry Classification System Codes Contracting 

Actions and Obligated Amounts......................................................................................52

III. Successes.........................................................................................................................56

IV. Challenges.......................................................................................................................57

D. Ensuring Diversity and Inclusion at FHFA Regulated Entities...................... 58

I. D&I Supervision and Examination ...................................................................................58

II. Conservatorship Scorecard .............................................................................................59

E. DEI Agency Practice and OMWI Operations.............................................. 61

F. DEI Data Management ........................................................................... 64

Appendix A ................................................................................................. 65

Appendix B ................................................................................................. 67

Appendix C ................................................................................................. 69
 

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A. Introduction 

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA or Agency) was created as an independent agency 

by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 20081 (HERA) to regulate and supervise Fannie 

Mae, Freddie Mac (together, “Enterprises”), and the Federal Home Loan Bank System, which 

includes the 11 Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBanks) and its fiscal agent, the Office of 

Finance (OF) (collectively, including the Enterprises’ affiliate Common Securitization Solutions, 

LLC (CSS), the “regulated entities”).2 Since 2008, FHFA has also served as the conservator of 

the Enterprises. FHFA plays a vital role in promoting access to mortgage credit nationwide, 

ensuring liquidity is available for affordable rental housing, and protecting the safety and 

soundness of the housing finance system through our supervision of the regulated entities. 

On January 21, 2011, FHFA established its Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI), 

consistent with Section 342 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act

(Dodd-Frank Act).3 In accordance with the Dodd-Frank Act, OMWI is responsible for leading 

the Agency’s efforts to develop and implement, or promote, the following standards: 

• Equal employment opportunity (EEO) and the racial, ethnic, and gender diversity of the 

Agency’s workforce, including senior management;

• Increased participation of Minority- and Women-Owned Businesses (MWOBs) in 

Agency programs and contracts, and standards for coordinating technical assistance to 

such businesses; and 

• Assessing the diversity policies and practices of the regulated entities.4 

FHFA’s Minority and Women Inclusion Rule (MWI Rule) at 12 CF.R 1223.2 “establishes 

minimum standards and requirements for the regulated entities to promote diversity and ensure, 

to the maximum extent possible, in balance with financially safe and sound business 

practices,[...] the inclusion and utilization of minorities, women, individuals with disabilities, 

and minority-, women-, and disabled-owned businesses at all levels, in management and 

1 See 12 U.S.C. § 4501 et seq. 2 OF and CSS are not separate “regulated entities” as the term is defined by statute (see 12 U.S.C. 4502(20)). Rather, 

the OF is part of the FHLBank System, and CSS is a securitization platform that the Enterprises operate as a joint 

venture. However, for convenience, references to the “regulated entities” in this Report should be read to also 

apply to the OF and CSS, unless otherwise noted. 3 See 12 U.S.C. § 5452. 4 See 12 U.S.C. § 5452(b)(2).
 

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employment,[...] in all business and activities, [...] and in all contracts for services of any 

kind...” FHFA relies on this regulatory authority to guide its supervision and oversight of the 

Agency’s regulated entities’ diversity and inclusion (D&I) programs. Following the publication 

of Executive Order 14035 on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) in the 

Federal Workforce on June 25, 2021, FHFA has been actively engaged in integrating and 

advancing the principles of equity and accessibility within our workforce initiatives. Throughout 

this document, we employ the term DEIA when applicable to internal FHFA efforts and 

initiatives and the term D&I when discussing the Agency’s supervision and oversight of the 

regulated entities. In cases where FHFA established documents or operations before the issuance

of Executive Order 14035 that have not yet transitioned to a DEIA context, we use the 

terminology of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), as applicable. 

During 2023, FHFA began updating its DEI policy statement not only to reinforce the Agency’s 

commitment to DEI as outlined in the Agency’s existing DEI Standards, but also to incorporate 

and highlight the significance of accessibility and how it aligns with the Agency’s overall 

workforce goals as described in the FHFA People Plan for FY 2023 – 2026 (People Plan). To 

align all the Agency’s DEIA efforts, particularly with the recently released People Plan, 

Management Directive 715 Report and Plan, Part J, and to be congruent with EO 14035, FHFA 

revised the existing Standards to incorporate accessibility and renamed them the DEIA 

Standards. These updates will allow the Agency to pursue a more refined and cohesive approach 

to DEIA and will also promote FHFA’s own mission of fostering a DEIA work environment. 

FHFA is among seven federal financial agencies5 that the Dodd-Frank Act requires to submit an 

annual report to Congress containing the following information: 

• A statement of the total amounts paid by the Agency to contractors since the previous 

report; 

• The percentage of the amounts paid to contractors that are MWOBs; 

• The successes achieved and challenges faced by the Agency in operating minority6 and 

women outreach programs; 

5 See 12 U.S.C. § 5452(e) and (g). The six other federal financial agencies are: Departmental Offices of the 

Department of the Treasury, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System and each Federal Reserve Bank, National Credit Union Administration, Office of the Comptroller of the 

Currency, and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 6 This report focuses on minority status surrounding race/ethnicity based on self-identification.
 

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• The challenges the Agency may face in hiring minority and women employees and 

contracting with qualified MWOBs; and 

• Any other information, findings, conclusions, and recommendations for legislative or 

Agency action, as the OMWI Director determines appropriate.

FHFA’s OMWI is organized into five functional areas: DEI Agency Practice, D&I 

Examinations, DEI Policy, OMWI Operations, and DEI Data Management. 

The DEI Agency Practice function develops Agency standards for DEIA and provides DEIA 

training, development, and support. Additionally, the function provides DEIA guidance on 

Agency recruitment, hiring, promotions, talent development, and mentorship programs, and 

leads DEIA initiatives, Special Emphasis Programs (SEP), and other events to engage 

employees, encourage organizational communication, and raise cultural and social awareness. It 

also leads FHFA’s commitment to diversity in the supply chain, driving FHFA’s initiatives to 

connect MWOBs with Agency business opportunities. 

OMWI’s D&I Examination function supervises the regulated entities’ methods of hiring and 

developing staff, offering business opportunities, and extending access to credit and housing 

finance, as well as their work with vendors. OMWI ensures that the regulated entities consider 

D&I principles in their business and activities. FHFA’s D&I examinations assess whether the 

regulated entities have the strategies, people, and processes to meet D&I regulatory requirements 

and to offer equitable opportunities to Minority-, Women-, and Disabled-Owned Businesses, and 

to minorities, women, and individuals with disabilities. OMWI uses its delegated examination 

authority, MWI Rule,

7 and FHFA’s D&I Examination Manual to assess how the regulated 

entities address D&I in all workforce and business activities. OMWI’s D&I examiners assess

compliance with D&I laws and regulations, assign D&I composite ratings, and deliver D&I 

Reports of Examination (D&I ROE) for each regulated entity examined in a given year. 

OMWI’s DEI Policy function establishes, defines, and analyzes DEIA rules, guidance, and 

recommendations for both FHFA and the regulated entities. DEI Policy oversees the Employee 

Resource Group (ERG) program. DEI Policy also actively engages with stakeholders in policy 

development and application to ensure more meaningful and effective DEIA impacts within the 

programs of the regulated entities and within FHFA. The DEI Policy function encompasses 

DEIA efforts both internal to FHFA and across the regulated entities by reviewing and assessing

7 See 12 CFR 1223.
 

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DEIA policy initiatives, issuing guidance such as Advisory Bulletins, addressing identified gaps, 

educating stakeholders on DEIA policy issues, and amending existing policies. 

The OMWI Operations function provides support for DEIA services and for operational and 

administrative services across OMWI. OMWI Operations develops internal processes, quality 

controls, tools, and templates for DEIA initiatives. It oversees OMWI strategic planning and 

provides administrative management for OMWI policies, reports, communication, and outreach 

efforts. OMWI Operations is also responsible for ensuring compliance with all Agency-level 

requirements, including records management, office and Agency budgeting processes, internal 

controls assessment reports, OMWI contract management, and recruitment. 

OMWI’s DEI Data Management function is responsible for collecting, analyzing, and 

communicating DEIA data and metrics. The DEI Data Management team analyzes FHFA DEIA 

data and manages all regulated entities’ D&I data submitted through an OMWI Data System that 

the function administers. To ensure data quality and accuracy, the team standardizes DEIA data, 

establishes metrics and benchmarks, and oversees reporting and data requests. The DEI Data 

Management team develops specialized tools to analyze DEIA performance across FHFA and its 

regulated entities. The DEI Data Management function supports informed decisions and fosters a 

consistent approach to assessing DEIA in the Agency and D&I at the regulated entities. 

OMWI’s 2023 strategic activities follow the OMWI Strategic Plan for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 – 

FY 2024, which complements FHFA’s Strategic Plan for FY 2022 – FY 2026 and aligns with 

FHFA’s statutory responsibilities in Section 342 of the Dodd-Frank Act. The OMWI Strategic 

Plan for FY 2022 – FY 2024 sets the following goals: 

Goal 1: Ensure Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity in all Business and Activities of the 

Agency. 

Goal 2: Develop Tools that Help Translate FHFA Values into Day-to-Day DEI 

Applications. 

Goal 3: Ensure OMWI Organizational Evolution. 
 

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OMWI’s commitment to both the Dodd-Frank Act and Executive Order 14035 aligns with the 

FHFA values of Fairness, Accountability, Integrity, and Respect (FAIR Values). This alignment 

supports the Agency’s focus on the strategic goals of the OMWI FY 2022 – FY 2024 Strategic 

Plan. FHFA will continue to advance DEIA in its management, employment, and supervision 

activities, and promote the use of MWOBs in the Agency’s business and activities as the Agency 

develops a new three-year OMWI Strategic Plan in 2024. 
 

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B. Workforce Diversity and Inclusion

Through OMWI’s partnership with stakeholders across FHFA, the Agency has continued to 

build and retain an accomplished and diverse workforce. Attracting, retaining, motivating, and 

promoting staff with a broad range of skill sets, backgrounds, and viewpoints cements FHFA as 

a diverse, nimble regulator prepared to rise to the challenges of today and tomorrow. To further 

demonstrate the Agency’s efforts toward DEIA, this report, for the first time, presents

information on individuals with disabilities and the number of applications by race/ethnicity and 

sex at different stages of the hiring process. In addition, the report for the first time includes

measures to ensure data privacy of FHFA’s workforce. The report has adopted new approaches 

to mask data with fewer than five individuals, such as combining the smallest groups or 

presenting percentages without the number of employees. These new approaches are executed in 

balance with the objective to share and present informative data on the demographics of the 

Agency’s permanent workforce8 and job applications,9 as well as the Agency’s workforcerelated DEIA strategies, successes, and challenges during Calendar Year (CY) 2023. 

 8 Temporary employees and interns are not included in the workforce analysis. Data for permanent employees were

extracted from the Federal Personnel and Payroll System on January 19, 2024. 

 9 Data for job applications are obtained from USA Staffing for all postings on USAJobs, except internships. The 

data were extracted on January 19, 2024.
 

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I. Workforce Diversity 10

a. FHFA Workforce

FHFA encourages all employees to report their race, ethnicity, sex, and disability status11 for the 

purposes of maintaining accurate workforce data. OMWI collaborates with the Agency’s Office 

of Human Resources Management (OHRM) to collect and analyze employee data. 

In 2023, for the first time in the Agency’s history,12 the majority of FHFA’s workforce 

comprised racial and ethnic minorities. As reflected in Table 1 and 2, FHFA increased its staff 

size by 13.3 percent between 2019 and 2023.13 During the same period, employees with 

disabilities and racial and ethnic minorities increased at an even faster rate. Employees with 

disabilities increased from 6.9 percent in 2019 to 10.6 percent in 2023, and racial and ethnic 

minorities increased from 44.4 to 51.1 percent in the same period. These workforce trends

demonstrate FHFA’s continued commitment to DEIA.

At the end of 2023, the demographic composition of FHFA's minority workforce included 

individuals from the following racial and ethnic backgrounds: Black/African American (25.3 

percent), Asian (17.6 percent), Hispanic/Latino (5.1 percent), and Small Racial/Ethnic 

10 The demographic groups presented in this report mitigate the risk of disclosing sensitive private information. 

FHFA’s k-anonymity standard is five individuals. K-anonymity is a data anonymization technique that is used to 

protect individuals’ privacy in a dataset. It involves data generalization, data masking, or replacing personally 

identifiable information with a pseudonym to ensure no single individual can be identified. Therefore, if a

demographic group was too small to report (fewer than five individuals), it is combined with the following 

smallest group(s) of similar characteristics, and identified as such, e.g., Small Racial/Ethnic Minorities. For small 

groups of individuals who did not self-identify a demographic attribute, OMWI combined them with the nonminority group, and presented it as “Non-Minority and Unidentified.” Another data generalization is withholding 

the total number of employees and presenting tables and charts with percentages only, such that breakouts by 

demographic groups are shown without small counts being revealed. This also prevents reverse calculations using 

percentages and total counts. 11 In section B. Workforce Diversity and Inclusion, the data reported on racial and ethnic minorities, sex, and 

disability may double count individuals, as these categories are not mutually exclusive. 12 Reference to Federal Housing Finance Agency, Office of Minority and Women Inclusion, OMWI Annual Report 

to Congress, https://www.fhfa.gov/AboutUs/Reports/ReportDocuments/Post_508_FHFA-OMWI-2021-AnnualReport.pdf. Historical data presented in this Report may differ slightly due to rounding and changes in 

methodology over time. 13 FHFA has traditionally presented a five-year comparison to show progress over time for the purpose of this report. 
 

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Minorities14 (3.1 percent). Between 2019 and 2023, Black/African American and Asian 

representation increased by 3.8 and 3.1 percentage points, respectively. The female and 

Hispanic/Latino representations were similar to 2019 levels at less than 44.0 and 6.0 percent, 

respectively. Although the overall female representation was similar between 2019 and 2023, 

female minorities increased by 3.1 percentage points, and females with disabilities increased by 

3.2 percentage points in the same period. 

Table 1: Diversity in FHFA Workforce as of December 31, 202315 

Demographic Group

Female Male Total

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent 

Total Workforce 289 43.1 382 56.9 671 100.0

Race/Ethnicity

Black/African American 115 17.1 55 8.2 170 25.3

Asian 44 6.6 74 11.0 118 17.6

Hispanic/Latino 18 2.7 16 2.4 34 5.1

Small Racial/Ethnic Minorities 10 1.5 11 1.6 21 3.1

Non-Minority and Unidentified 102 15.2 226 33.7 328 48.9

Disability Status

Employees with Disabilities 34 5.1 37 5.5 71 10.6

Employees without Disabilities 235 35.0 314 46.8 549 81.8

Did not self-identify 20 3.0 31 4.6 51 7.6

14 The Small Racial/ Ethnic Minorities grouping varies throughout the report and could include employees who selfidentified as American Indian/Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino, or as 

Two or More Races. Two or More Races is used when employees identified as having ancestry from more than 

one of the following groups: Black/African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Native 

Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, and White. Consistent with Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) reporting 

requirements, FHFA considers any employee who self-identified as Hispanic/Latino and other races as 

Hispanic/Latino. 15 Tables 1 through 4 and 12 to 16 calculate percentages based on the overall value (either “Total Number” or “Total 

Dollars”) for the corresponding year. Tables 5, 6, 8 to 11, and 17 and 18 present percentages specifically for a 

particular category presented in a column. 
 

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Table 2: Diversity in FHFA Workforce as of December 31, 2019 

Demographic Group

Female Male Total

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent 

Total Workforce 259 43.8 333 56.3 592 100.0

Race/Ethnicity

Black/African American 87 14.7 40 6.8 127 21.5

Asian 33 5.6 53 9.0 86 14.5

Hispanic/Latino 16 2.7 18 3.0 34 5.7

Small Racial/Ethnic Minorities 11 1.9 5 0.8 16 2.7

Non-Minority and Unidentified 112 18.9 217 36.7 329 55.6

Disability Status

Employees with Disabilities 11 1.9 30 5.1 41 6.9

Employees without Disabilities 240 40.5 284 48.0 524 88.5

Did not self-identify 8 1.4 19 3.2 27 4.6

b. Workforce Comparison to Benchmarks

FHFA reviews workforce data and gauges progress over time using multi-year trends with 

demographic data for the federal sector, the Civilian Labor Force (CLF), and Relevant Civilian 

Labor Force (RCLF)16 as benchmark comparisons. Federal workforce data is provided by the 

U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and the most current CLF and RCLF information

is released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Table 3 presents the Agency’s representation of racial 

and ethnic minorities, females, individuals with disabilities, and the corresponding rates for the 

listed benchmarks.

In terms of racial and ethnic minority representation, the proportion of minorities in FHFA’s 

workforce (51.1 percent) was higher than the proportion of minority employees in the federal 

workforce (39.5 percent), the CLF (32.5 percent), and RCLF (28.8 percent). The representation 

of Asians and Black/African Americans in the Agency at 17.6 and 25.3 percent, respectively, 

was above their respective benchmarks. Specifically, Asians and Black/African Americans 

represented 6.8 and 18.4 percent of the federal workforce, 4.4 and 12.3 percent of the CLF, and 

5.4 and 10.0 percent of the RCLF, respectively. 

16 RCLF refers to the most current CLF data that are directly comparable to the main occupations in the Agency. 

U.S. Census Bureau, CLF Data as of 2018. Table EEO-CIT02R; https://www.census.gov/acs/www/data/eeodata/eeo-tables-2018/
 

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However, the Agency is underrepresented in Hispanic/Latinos, females, and individuals with 

disabilities compared to the benchmarks. In 2023, representation of Hispanics/Latinos was below 

the respective benchmarks by approximately 5.0 to 8.0 percentage points. Since 2020, the 

Agency also lacked representation of American Indian/Alaska Natives and Native 

Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islanders. In addition, the proportion of females, at 43.1 percent, was 

below the federal workforce, CLF, and RCLF by 2.3, 5.1, and 13.9 percentage points, 

respectively. Further, the percentage of employees with disabilities at FHFA of 10.6 percent was 

lower than the 19.5 percent observed in the federal workforce. 

Table 3: Workforce Comparison (Percentages) 

Demographic Group

Relevant Civilian 

Labor Force as of 

2018

Civilian Labor 

Force as of 

201817

Federal 

Workforce as of 

March 202318

FHFA Workforce as of 

December 31, 2023

Race/Ethnicity

Minority 28.8 32.5 39.5 51.1

Black/African American 10.0 12.3 18.4 25.3

American Indian/ Alaska 

Native 0.5 0.6 1.6 0.0

Asian 5.4 4.4 6.8 17.6

Hispanic/Latino 10.8 13.0 9.9 5.1

Native Hawaiian/ Other 

Pacific Islander 0.1 0.2 0.6 0.0

Two or More Races 2.0 2.1 2.2 3.1

Non-Minority 71.2 67.5 60.0 48.6

Unidentified Race/Ethnicity 0 0 0.6 0.3

Sex

Female 57.0 48.2 45.4 43.1

Male 43.0 51.8 54.6 56.9

Disability Status

Employees with Disabilities - - 19.5 10.6

Employees without Disabilities - - 78.4 81.8

Did not self-identify - - 2.1 7.6

17 U.S. Census Bureau, CLF Data as of 2018. Table EEO-CIT02R; https://www.census.gov/acs/www/data/eeodata/eeo-tables-2018/ 18 U.S. Office of Personnel Management, FedScope: Federal Workforce Data, Employment Trend

https://www.fedscope.opm.gov.
 

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c. Employment Actions

OMWI also analyzes hiring, promotions,19 and attrition data to gain insights for recruitment 

strategies, career mobility, and retention for diverse populations. 

In 2023, FHFA welcomed close to 70 new hires and promoted nearly 100 existing employees. 

However, almost 100 employees departed from the Agency in 2023. As presented in Figure 1

and Table 4, the Agency consistently maintained a higher rate of new hires compared to 

separations from 2019 to 2022. Yet, in 2023, this trend reversed with separations increasing to

37.4 percent and new hires decreasing to 26.0 percent. The notable increase in separations is

primarily attributable to the Agency’s offer under Voluntary Early Retirement Authority

(VERA), combined with a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment (VSIP), to eligible staff 

during the last quarter of 2023. Of all 2023 separations, 43 of them were retirements through the 

VERA/VSIP offer. 

Figure 1: Annual Composition of Employment Actions 2019-2023

19 Promotions for the purpose of this report include all instances where employees are converted to a higher pay 

grade.
 

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Table 4: Annual Composition of Employment Actions 2019-2023 (Percentages) 

Years New Hires Promotions Attrition Total Actions

2019 37.6 32.1 30.3 100.0

2020 40.5 35.3 24.2 100.0

2021 46.3 32.2 21.5 100.0

2022 35.2 39.4 25.5 100.0

2023 26.0 36.6 37.4 100.0

Figure 2 and Table 5 illustrates the composition of employment actions by demographic groups 

in 2023. Key takeaways are as follows: 

• New Hires – Approximately 6 out of 10 new employees identified as racial and ethnic 

minorities. Between 2019 and 2023, the number of Black/African American new hires 

doubled, making them the largest group of new hires in 2023 (36.2 percent). Asians 

remained the second-largest group (15.9 percent). In contrast, Hispanic/Latino new hires 

remained consistent at 2.9 percent in 2023 as compared to 2.4 percent in 2019. 

Most notably, 2023 marked the only year within the five-year span where female new 

hires surpassed their male counterparts, constituting 53.6 percent of the total new hires. 

Furthermore, FHFA hired 9 individuals with disabilities, representing 13.0 percent of 

new hires. 

New hires in the Agency exceed the 2023 benchmarks20 for females and all race and 

ethnicities, except Hispanic/Latinos, American Indian/Alaska Natives, and Native 

Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islanders. These last two groups did not have representation in 

FHFA’s new hires or workforce during 2023. FHFA outperformed the benchmark for 

females by 1.8 percentage points. Similarly, the proportion of new hires at FHFA that 

were racial and ethnic minorities exceeded the applicable benchmark by 16.5 percentage 

points. The proportion of new hires that identified as Black/African Americans, Asians, 

and Two or More Races exceeded the applicable benchmark by 15.9, 9.2, and 1.4 

percentage points, respectively. In contrast, while the new hire rate for Hispanic/Latinos 

20 U.S. Office of Personnel Management, FedScope: Federal Workforce Data, Dynamics Data, Accessions from 

January to September 2023, https://www.fedscope.opm.gov. 
 

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in the federal workforce was 10.9 percent, the Agency hired Hispanics/Latinos at a rate of 

2.9 percent. 

• Promotions – In the five-year period, the highest number of promotions occurred in 

2023. Of all promotions, 45.4 percent were for racial and ethnic minorities, of which 

Black/African Americans represented 24.7 percent. Additionally, 10.3 percent of 

promotions were for employees with disabilities. However, the Agency has an 

opportunity to enhance its organizational growth by focusing on the advancement of its 

female staff. In the five-year period, the majority of promotions were for non-minority 

males. For example, in 2023, for every female minority promotion, there were 1.6 male 

non-minority promotions. 

Promotions of racial and ethnic minorities in the Agency at 45.4 percent were above the 

benchmark21 of 41.1 percent. However, the promotion rates for females (39.2 percent) 

and employees with disabilities (10.3 percent) were below the benchmarks by 7.2 

percentage points and 0.4 percentage points,22 respectively. 

• Attrition – In 2023, approximately 60 percent of separations corresponded to 

retirements, while the remaining attritions were due to terminations and voluntary 

departures. In total during 2023, FHFA lost 42 employees who were racial and ethnic 

minorities, 56 who were females, and fewer than 5 who were individuals with disabilities. 

FHFA had a higher rate of separations compared to the federal workforce23 for females 

and all race and ethnic minority groups, except Hispanic/Latinos. The Agency separation 

rates were higher for females and racial and ethnic minorities by 9.1 and 2.7 percentage 

points, respectively. Specifically, among racial and ethnic minorities, individuals 

identified as Asians, Black/African Americans, and Two or More Races separated at a 

higher rate by 6.4, 2.5, and 0.4 percentage points. In contrast, FHFA’s separation rate for 

Hispanic/Latinos was below the benchmark by 5.2 percentage points. 

21 Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency 

Annual Report to Congress, Calendar Year 2022 FHFA OMWI Annual Report to Congress. 22 EEO Status of workers with disabilities in the federal sector FY2018 data by the U.S. Equal Employment 

Opportunity Commission. 23 U.S. Office of Personnel Management, FedScope: Federal Workforce Data, Dynamics Data, Separations from 

January to September 2023, https://www.fedscope.opm.gov. 
 

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Figure 2: Diversity in Employment Actions in 2023 

Table 5: Diversity in Employment Actions in 2023 (Percentages)24

Demographic Group New Hires Promotions Attrition

Total Actions 100.0 100.0 100.0

Race/Ethnicity

Minority 59.4 45.4 42.4

Black/African American 36.2 24.7 22.2

Asian 15.9 14.4 12.1

Hispanic/Latino 2.9 3.1 5.1

Two or More Races 4.3 3.1 3.0

Non-Minority 40.6 54.6 56.6

Unidentified Race/Ethnicity 1.0

Sex

Female 53.6 39.2 56.6

Male 46.4 60.8 43.4

Disability Status

Employees with Disabilities 13.0 10.3 4.0

Employees without Disabilities 68.1 79.4 83.8

Did not self-identify 18.8 10.3 12.1

24 In this report, rounding causes sums to be off by 1 percent in some instances.
 

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d. Applications 

As mentioned previously, FHFA has now incorporated applications data into this report. This 

section offers details about the Agency’s job postings, data on qualified and selected 

applications, and an adverse impact analysis. The goal is to provide insights into demographic 

groups that may have experienced disparate impacts during the hiring process. 

In 2023, FHFA had a total of 115 job openings, with nearly two-thirds of its job postings (64.3 

percent) open to the public and one-third (31.3 percent) for internal merit promotions. FHFA 

received 4,008 applications, qualified 1,557 applications (38.8 percent), and referred 1,436 

applications (35.8 percent) to hiring managers as illustrated in Figure 3. Hiring managers 

selected 82 applications (6.7 percent) for 67 postings, with some postings resulting in multiple 

selections. Hiring managers closed 48 positions without selecting a candidate. 

Figure 3: Total Applications in 2023

i. Diversity in Applications

FHFA has effectively drawn a diverse group of well-qualified applicants. In the year 2023, racial 

and ethnic minorities, females, and individuals with disabilities accounted for 53.9 percent, 37.2 

percent, and 7.8 percent of the applications, respectively. Table 6 offers an overview of the 

diversity within the applications submitted during that year. 
 

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202 3 OMWI Annual Report to Congress

Table 6: Diversity in Employment Applications, 2023 

Demographic Group Qualified 

Applications

Percent 

Qualified 

Selected 

Applications

Percent 

Selected 

Total Applications 1,557 100.0 82 100.0

Race/Ethnicity

Black/African American 469 30.1 21 25.6

Asian 193 12.4 11 13.4

Small Racial/Ethnic Minorities 178 11.4 8 9.8

Non-Minority 441 28.3 29 35.4

Unidentified Race/Ethnicity 276 17.7 13 15.9

Sex

Female 579 37.2 31 37.8

Male 714 45.9 39 47.6

Unidentified Sex 264 17.0 12 14.6

To provide additional perspective, key findings regarding diversity in applications compared to 

benchmarks presented in Table 3 are listed below: 

• Racial and ethnic minorities represented over half of the qualified applications, 

surpassing the benchmarks of 28.8 percent for RCLF, 32.5 percent CLF, and 39.5 percent 

for federal workforce.

o Black/African Americans accounted for 30.1 percent of qualified applications, 

exceeding the RCLF and CLF benchmarks of 10.0 percent and 18.4 percent, 

respectively; 

o Asians represented 12.4 percent of the qualified applications, surpassing both 

RCLF and CLF benchmarks of 4.4 percent and 6.8 percent, respectively; 

o Hispanic/Latino comprised almost 8.0 percent of qualified applications, below the 

benchmarks of 9.9 percent for RCLF and 13.0 percent for CLF; 

o American Indian or Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific 

Islanders made up less than one percent of qualified applications, which is slightly 

above RCLF. 

• Females accounted for 37.2 percent of qualified applications, falling below the 57.0 

percent for RCLF. 

• Individuals with disabilities represented approximately 7.0 percent of the qualified 

application pool, which was below the 19.5 percent for federal workforce. 
 

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202 3 OMWI Annual Report to Congress

Within the applications data, OMWI observed a significant number of omissions, which are 

instances where applicants did not provide a response. Applications had notable omissions in 

their self-identification of race and ethnicity and sex at 17.0 and 16.0 percent on average, 

respectively. The most significant omissions were related to disability status at 56.1 percent on 

average. These omissions may in some cases limit the efficacy of the analyses and comparisons

presented in this report. The lack of disclosure regarding disability status significantly impacts 

FHFA’s recruitment efforts. Without this information, it becomes challenging to identify focus 

areas in the recruitment process and to make necessary adjustments.

ii. Adverse Impact 

To further assess the applications data, FHFA performed an adverse impact analysis to compare 

selection rates across different demographic groups to identify any potential disparate impact 

these groups might have experienced during the hiring process. 

The adverse impact assessment was conducted to assess adherance with Title VII of the Civil 

Rights Act of 1964. Aside from intentional discrimination, Title VII also prohibits employers 

from using selection procedures that have the effect of disproportionately excluding persons 

based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. In 1978, the U.S. Civil Service 

Commission, the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity 

Commission, and the U.S. Department of Justice jointly adopted the Uniform Guidelines on 

Employee Selection Procedures to establish uniform standards for the use of selection procedures 

and address adverse impact. Adverse impact refers to practices that appear to have a 

discriminatory effect on a protected group, which can occur in any stage of the employment 

lifecycle. Employers can either eliminate the use of a selection procedure if it results in adverse 

impact or demonstrate a business need to justify its continued use. 

In this statistical analysis,25 adverse impact indicates a substantially different rate of selection

from the qualified pool for a demographic group during the hiring process. FHFA’s 2023 data 

revealed no significant impact on applications from demographic groups as seen in Table 7. 

25 Appendix C provides details on the methodology used for the adverse impact analysis. 
 

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202 3 OMWI Annual Report to Congress

Table 7: Adverse Impact in Employment Applications 2023 

Demographic Group Adverse 

Impact Qualified Selected Mean Variance Standard Deviation

95% CI 

Low

95% CI 

High T-Stat

Race/Ethnicity

Black/African American No 469 21 0.0448 0.0001 0.0095 0.0238 0.0658 -0.9547

Asian No 193 11 0.0570 0.0003 0.0167 0.0203 0.0937 0.2786

Small Racial/Ethnic 

Minorities No 178 8 0.0449 0.0002 0.0155 0.0108 0.0791 -0.5229

Non-Minority No 441 29 0.0658 0.0001 0.0118 0.0398 0.0917 1.3623

Unidentified 

Race/Ethnicity No 276 13 0.0471 0.0002 0.0128 0.0190 0.0752 -0.4753

Sex

Female No 579 31 0.0535 0.0001 0.0094 0.0330 0.0741 0.1186

Male No 714 39 0.0546 0.0001 0.0085 0.0359 0.0733 0.3172

Unidentified Sex No 264 12 0.0455 0.0002 0.0128 0.0173 0.0737 -0.6080

II. Mission-Critical Occupations

Most of FHFA’s workforce consists of the following six Mission Critical Occupations (MCO) 

with their respective occupational series: Economists (0110); Policy Analysts (a subset of the 

Management and Program Analyst series) (0343);26 Accountants (0510); Financial Institution 

Examiners (0570); Attorneys (0905); and Financial Analysts (1160). These MCOs require highly 

skilled practitioners with substantive knowledge of, and significant experience in, examining, 

analyzing, and/or evaluating large complex financial institutions and mortgage finance products 

and services. Analyzing workforce trends in MCOs allows FHFA to ascertain whether and how 

it can focus attention and efforts on diversity in these critical categories.

Workforce composition by MCOs has maintained relative stability from 2019 to 2023. On 

average over these years, MCOs accounted for over 60 percent of the total employees. Among 

the MCOs, financial institution examiners constituted the largest group, representing 

approximately 30 percent of the workforce (equivalent to around 190 individuals). Following 

closely were financial analysts, comprising approximately 12 percent of the workforce with 

nearly 80 employees. Economists, policy analysts, attorneys, and accountants each represented

less than 10 percent of the workforce, with fewer than 60 individuals per MCO. Figure 4 and 

26 This category only includes Policy Analysts in the 0343 job series.
 

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202 3 OMWI Annual Report to Congress

Table 8 illustrate the Agency demographic composition by MCOs for 2023, while Table 9

includes comparable information for 2019. 

MCO staff as a whole were less diverse compared to non-MCO staff in terms of race and 

ethnicity, sex, and disability status. Racial and ethnic minorities constituted 46.8 percent of 

MCOs compared to 59.1 percent for non-MCOs. The largest gap was for females, which 

represented 37.1 percent for MCOs versus 54.0 percent for non-MCOs (a 16.9 percentage point 

difference). The smallest gap was for employees with disabilities, which represented 9.0 percent 

of the MCO population in contrast to 13.5 percent of the non-MCO population (a 4.5 percentage 

point difference). 

Although a majority of FHFA’s job postings in 2023 were for MCOs (52.2 percent), a similar 

trend was observed for FHFA’s application pool. The diversity in applications for MCOs was 

lower compared to applications for non-MCOs. Out of 1,821 MCO applications, racial and 

ethnic minorities accounted for 53.5 percent, females with 34.2 percent, and individuals with 

disabilities at 6.8 percent. In comparison, racial and ethnic minorities represented 58.0 percent of 

the non-MCO application pool (2,187 applications), females with 39.5 percent, and individuals 

with disabilities at 9.0 percent. Similar to FHFA’s workforce, financial institution examiner 

applications was the highest MCO with 15.6 percent of all the applications. The remaining 

MCOs each consitituted less than 10.0 percent of all the applications.

Key takeaways on the representation of racial and ethnic minorities, females, and individuals 

with disabilities in applications and the Agency’s workforce for MCOs are noted below: 

• Financial Institution Examiners (0570) – In 2023, the number of financial institution 

examiner job openings was the highest, at 31 postings or 27.0 percent. From 2019 to 

2023, the number of applications for financial institution examiners decreased by 29.8 

percent, from 889 to 624 applications. Of the total examiner applications submitted in 

2023, 56.7 percent were submitted by racial and ethnic minorities, 33.2 percent by 

females, and 6.4 percent by individuals with disabilities. The proportion of applications 

from racial/ethnic minorities and females increased by 11.5 and 4.4 percentage points 

from 2019 to 2023, respectively, whereas the proportion of applications from individuals 

with disabilities remained stable for the same period. 
 

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202 3 OMWI Annual Report to Congress

While the size of FHFA’s financial institution examiner MCO saw a net increase27 of 

only about five individuals between 2019 and 2023, the composition of racial and ethnic 

minorities increased, consistent with the change in application pool. Notably, over half 

(51.1 percent) of these examiners (around 100 employees) belonged to racial and ethnic 

minorities in 2023. This percentage marked an increase of 11.4 percentage points from 

2019 where 39.7 percent of racial and ethnic minorities represented fewer than 80 

employees. 

Even though the proportion of female financial examiners remained at around 33.0 

percent (approximately 60 employees) in both years, the composition of females by race 

and ethnicity changed to a more diverse group between 2019 and 2023. Both 

Black/African American and Asian female representation increased by 4.0 and 0.9 

percentage points from 2019 to 2023, respectively. 

Moreover, the overall Hispanic/Latino representation decreased by 2.3 percentage points 

between 2019 to 2023, female Hispanic/Latino representation remained stable while male 

Hispanic/Latino representation declined during this period. This was mainly driven by 

separations from half of the male Hispanic/Latino examiners in 2023 compared to 2019. 

The number of financial examiners with disabilities increased by 70 percent between 

2019 and 2023. By the end of 2023, the number of employees with disabilities in this 

MCO was about 20. 

• Financial Analysts (1160) – Financial analyst job openings ranked second among all 

MCOs, totaling 10 (8.7 percent) openings in 2023. Financial analyst applications 

increased more than threefold from 91 in 2019 to 378 in 2023. Of the total applications 

submitted in 2023, 60.1 percent were from racial and ethnic minorities, 31.8 percent were

from females, and 4.2 percent were from individuals with disabilities. In 2023, 

Black/African Americans submitted the highest proportion of applications to this MCO at 

30.7 percent. From 2019 to 2023, financial analyst applications surged for racial and 

27 Of all MCOs, the category of financial institution examiners has the largest number of separations every year from 

2019 to 2023. This MCO experienced the highest number of separations in 2023, constituting one-third of all 

FHFA separations. 
 

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202 3 OMWI Annual Report to Congress

ethnic minorities, females, and individuals with disabilities by 18.3, 1.0, and 0.9 

percentage points, respectively.

Meanwhile, the number of FHFA financial analysts between 2019 and 2023 grew by 23.4 

percent. Although the number of racial and ethnic minorities in this occupation rose, the 

number of non-minorities increased at a faster rate. 

The number of male financial analysts and the number of financial analysts with 

disabilities increased between 2019 and 2023 (by around 15 and less than 5 individuals, 

respectively), but the number of female financial analysts did not change (steady at 

around 25 employees). 

• Economists (0110) – In 2023, 7 Economist job openings received 229 applications. Of 

the total economist applications submitted, 49.8 percent were by racial and ethnic 

minorities, 26.2 percent were by females, and 6.1 percent were by individuals with 

disabilities. Notably, Asians had the highest proportion of economist applications among 

racial and ethnic minorities, accounting for 19.7 percent. Males represented over twothirds of the economist applications (67.7 percent), compared to just over a quarter of the 

female applications. 

The number of FHFA economists experienced the highest net increase in the number of 

employees across all MCOs, growing from approximately 40 employees in 2019 to 

around 60 employees in 2023. By end of 2023, racial and ethnic minorities represented

38.6 percent of all economists, females accounted for 33.3 percent, and employees with 

disabilities constituted 15.8 percent. Both minority and non-minority groups increased at 

a similar rate, around 47.0 percent between 2019 and 2023. However, the number of male 

Economists, and especially those who were non-minorities, increased at a faster rate than 

their female peers. 

Of the MCOs, Asian economists was the largest minority group. In 2019, the ratio of 

Asian to Black/African American Economists was 5.5 to 1, and this ratio increased to 7 

to 1 in 2023. Hispanic/Latinos represented less than five economists in both years. 

• Policy Analysts (0343) – The 6 policy analyst postings received 391 applications in 

2023. Of the total policy analyst applications, half (50.6 percent) were submitted by racial 

and ethnic minorities. Black/African Americans represented the highest proportion of 
 

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202 3 OMWI Annual Report to Congress

racial and ethnic minority applications at 31.7 percent. Additionally, females and 

individuals with disabilities submitted 146 (37.3 percent) and 35 (9.0 percent) 

applications, respectively.

Similar to 2019, the number of FHFA staff in this occupation was consistent at less than 

50 individuals in 2023. Nearly half (48.9 percent) the employees belonged to racial and 

ethnic minorities in 2023. Black/African Americans represented the most predominant 

group among all racial and ethnic minorities, at 16.3 percent. However, Hispanic/Latinos 

represented less than 5.0 percent of the Policy Analyst staff. 

In 2023, over half (60.0 percent) of the policy analysts were female and 11.1 percent 

identified as having a disability. Additionally, in the same year, Black/African American 

females had the highest representation at 17.8 percent of all the racial and ethnic 

minorities. 

• Attorneys (0905) – In 2023, a total of 5 Attorney openings received 196 applications. Of 

these applications, 80 (40.8 percent) were submitted by racial and ethnic minorities, and 

Black/African American applications were the highest at 24.0 percent followed by 

Hispanic/Latino applications at 9.7 percent among racial and ethnic minorities. Female 

attorney applications surpassed males at 45.9 percent; the attorney category had the 

highest representation of female applications. Individuals with disabilities represented 9.7 

percent of all attorney applications. 

As for the FHFA workforce, in 2023, 42.5 percent of attorneys were racial and ethnic 

minorities, an increase in 10.1 percentage points compared to 2019. Black/African 

American and Hispanic/Latino attorneys represented the highest proportion of attorneys 

among all racial and ethnic minorities, with both at 15.0 percent. 

Female representation among attorneys increased by 6.6 percentage points between 2019 

and 2023, to 52.5 percent in 2023. The number of attorney employees with disabilities 

has remained the same, at fewer than five individuals since 2019. 

• Accountants (0510) – Information regarding accountant job openings and applications is 

excluded from this section of the Report, as the numbers fall below FHFA’s anonymity 

threshold. 
 

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202 3 OMWI Annual Report to Congress

The composition of FHFA staff in this occupation has remained nearly the same as 2019. 

Accountants comprised less than 30 individuals in 2023, with 56.0 percent being racial 

and ethnic minorities. Asian accountants represented the highest proportion at 28.0 

percent of the racial and ethnic minorities. Female accountants decreased by 7.5 

percentage points since 2019, to 36.0 percent in 2023. Individuals with disabilities 

represent less than 5.0 percent of the total accountants. 

In 2023, the Agency received diverse applications for certain MCOs. Racial and ethnic 

minorities submitted over half of the applications for financial analysts (60.1 percent), financial 

institution examiners (56.7 percent), and policy analysts (50.6 percent). Attorney and policy 

analyst applications had the highest representation of females among the MCOs at 37.3 and 45.9 

percent, respectively. Among the MCOs, attorney applications included the highest proportion of 

individuals with disabilities. 

The Agency’s MCO workforce also saw increases between 2019 and 2023. The number of racial 

and ethnic minorities, females, and employees with disabilities across the Agency’s top six 

MCOs grew during this period by around 50, 10, and 20 employees, respectively. Black/African 

Americans, Asian males, and employees with disabilities were the groups that showed the 

greatest growth in the Agency’s MCOs during this period. 

Despite these growths, challenges remain in other aspects. Males have dominated the application 

pool across most of the job categories except for attorneys. Females were the most 

underrepresented in applications for economists and financial analysts. Financial analyst 

applications from individuals with disabilities comprised the lowest proportion across all MCOs. 

The Agency’s MCO workforce reflected a similar trend; non-minorities and males comprised the 

majority for four out of six MCOs, and employees without disabilities constituted 83.4 percent of 

the MCOs in 2023. 

To achieve its mission, FHFA continues to work diligently to attract individuals with experience 

in financial regulation and supervision, the financial institution private sector, and academia. The 

underrepresentation of racial and ethnic minorities, females, and individuals with disabilities in 

certain MCOs could be due to a variety of factors, such as a lack of diversity in the industry or 

geographically, as most of FHFA’s job openings are concentrated in the Washington D.C., 

Maryland, and Virginia metro area, and a lack of outreach and recruitment efforts to 

underrepresented groups, among others. To address these challenges, the Agency is also 

committed to increasing the diversity of the pipeline to these MCOs through its internship 
 

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202 3 OMWI Annual Report to Congress

program as well as outreach, education, and promotion of opportunities in FHFA for 

underrepresented populations. 

Figure 4: Diversity in FHFA Mission-Critical Occupations as of December 31, 2023
 

 28 

202 3 OMWI Annual Report to Congress

Table 8: Diversity in FHFA Top Six Mission-Critical Occupations as of December 31, 2023 (Percentages) 

Demographic Group

Financial 

Institution 

Examiners (0570)

Financial 

Analysts 

(1160)

Economists 

(0110)

Policy 

Analysts 

(0343)

Attorneys 

(0905)

Accountants 

(0510) Total

Total Workforce 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Minority 51.1 40.5 38.6 48.9 42.5 56.0 46.8

Non-Minority 48.9 59.5 59.6 51.1 57.5 44.0 53.0

Unidentified Race/Ethnicity 0.0 0.0 1.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2

Female 33.0 29.1 33.3 60.0 52.5 36.0 37.1

Black/African American 12.2 6.3 3.5 17.8 10.0 4.0 9.9

Asian 7.4 7.6 8.8 6.7 2.5 16.0 7.6

Hispanic/Latino 1.6 1.3 1.8 2.2 10.0 0.0 2.3

Two or More Races 1.6 0.0 1.8 2.2 0.0 0.0 1.2

Non-Minority 10.1 13.9 17.5 31.1 30.0 16.0 16.1

Male 67.0 70.9 66.7 40.0 47.5 64.0 62.9

Black/African American 12.2 7.6 0.0 8.9 5.0 12.0 8.8

Asian 12.8 15.2 15.8 4.4 10.0 12.0 12.4

Hispanic/Latino 2.1 2.5 3.5 0.0 5.0 4.0 2.5

Two or More Races 1.1 0.0 3.5 6.7 0.0 8.0 2.1

Unidentified Race/Ethnicity 0.0 0.0 1.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2

Non-Minority 38.8 45.6 42.1 20.0 27.5 28.0 36.9

Employees with Disabilities 9.0 6.3 15.8 11.1 5.0 4.0 9.0

Employees without Disabilities 85.1 83.5 77.2 84.4 80.0 88.0 83.4

Did not self-identify 5.9 10.1 7.0 4.4 15.0 8.0 7.6
 

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202 3 OMWI Annual Report to Congress

Table 9: Diversity in FHFA Top Six Mission-Critical Occupations as of December 31, 2019 (Percentages) 

Demographic Group

Financial 

Institution 

Examiners (0570)

Financial 

Analysts (1160)

Economists 

(0110)

Policy Analysts 

(0343)

Attorneys 

(0905)

Accountants 

(0510) Total

Total Workforce 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Minority 39.7 42.2 39.5 44.2 32.4 52.2 40.6

Non-Minority 59.8 57.8 60.5 55.8 67.6 47.8 59.1

Unidentified Race/Ethnicity 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3

Female 33.7 35.9 36.8 55.8 45.9 43.5 38.6

Black/African American 8.2 9.4 5.3 14.0 5.4 0.0 8.0

Asian 6.5 6.3 7.9 4.7 2.7 26.1 7.2

Hispanic/Latino 1.6 0.0 2.6 2.3 5.4 0.0 1.8

Two or More Races 2.2 0.0 0.0 2.3 0.0 0.0 1.3

Non-Minority 15.2 20.3 21.1 32.6 32.4 17.4 20.3

Male 66.3 64.1 63.2 44.2 54.1 56.5 61.4

Black/African American 8.2 9.4 0.0 2.3 8.1 8.7 6.9

Asian 8.7 14.1 21.1 7.0 5.4 8.7 10.3

Hispanic/Latino 4.3 3.1 0.0 7.0 5.4 4.3 4.1

American Indian/Alaska Native 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.3 0.0 0.0 0.3

Two or More Races 0.0 0.0 2.6 2.3 0.0 4.3 0.8

Unidentified Race/Ethnicity 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3

Non-Minority 44.6 37.5 39.5 23.3 35.1 30.4 38.8

Employees with Disabilities 5.4 4.7 2.6 11.6 5.4 8.7 5.9

Employees without Disabilities 90.2 90.6 89.5 86.0 86.5 91.3 89.5

Did not self-identify 4.3 4.7 7.9 2.3 8.1 0.0 4.6
 

 30 

202 3 OMWI Annual Report to Congress

III. Career Development

To ensure FHFA’s workforce is well represented and diverse for both management and nonmanagement positions, OMWI analyzes the workforce data by pay band and grade categories. 

The composition of FHFA’s workforce by pay band category and grade levels remained 

generally stable between 2019 and 2023. Figure 5 and Table 10 illustrate the demographic 

composition by pay band category, Employee Level (EL) and Leadership Level (LL), and grade 

levels for 2023, while Table 11 includes comparable information for 2019. 

On average, in both years, the distribution by pay band and grade overall was as follows: 

Non-Management 

• Employees in EL-12 or below represented around 16 percent of the workforce, or about 

100 individuals; 

• Employees in EL-13 constituted slightly over one in ten individuals (just over 10 

percent) of the workforce or around 70 individuals; and 

• Employees in EL-14/15 non-supervisory positions accounted for slightly over half of 

the workforce (around 51 percent), totaling approximately 340 employees.

Management 

• Employees in EL- 14/15 supervisory positions comprised around one in ten individuals 

(about 12 percent) of the workforce, about 80 employees; and 

• Employees in LL-01 executive positions represented around 8 percent of the workforce, 

approximately 50 individuals. 

Across all categories, from 2019 to 2023, supervisors and executives represented the highest 

overall growth in the number of employees, at 41.9 percent and 25.0 percent, respectively. 

a. Non-Management Position Diversity

Employees in EL-12 or below represented the highest diversity rates across race and ethnicity, 

sex, and disability status in 2023. In this group, more than 7 in 10 employees self-identified as 
 

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202 3 OMWI Annual Report to Congress

racial and ethnic minorities, 5 in 10 employees identified as female, and 2 in 10 employees had a 

disability. However, the diverse rates in 2023 were below those of 2019 for racial and ethnic 

minorities and females for EL-12. 

Over half of the EL-13 workforce identified as racial and ethnic minorities (56.8 percent) and 

female (52.7 percent). Similar to EL-12 or below, close to 2 in 10 (17.6 percent) of the EL-13 

workforce had a disability. Compared to 2019, rates increased for racial and ethnic minorities, 

females, and employees with disabilities in EL-13 by 7.6, 9.8, and 11.3 percentage points, 

respectively. 

The EL-14/15 non-supervisors group emerged as the majority of the workforce within the 

Agency in 2023. However, its diversity rates for racial and ethnic minorities (47.2 percent), 

females (37.4 percent), and employees with disabilities (7.8 percent) in 2023 were below the 

overall Agency average for the same year (51.1 percent racial and ethnic minorities, 43.1 percent 

females, and 10.6 percent employees with disabilities).

In 2019, less than 7 percent of employees in grades EL-11 and above had disabilities. In 

alignment with the federal government’s goal28 of increasing the number of employees with 

disabilities in grades EL-11 and above, this representation increased to around 10 percent by 

2023. Similarly, the proportion of new hires of employees with disabilities in any pay plan and 

grade was 13 percent in 2023. 

28 29 CFR 1614.203(d)(7)(i)(a)
 

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202 3 OMWI Annual Report to Congress

Figure 5: Diversity in FHFA Workforce by Pay Band Category and Grade as of 

December 31, 2023

Table 10: Diversity in FHFA Workforce by Pay Band Category and Grade as of 

December 31, 2023 (Percentages) 

Demographic Group EL-12 or 

below EL-13 EL-14/15Non-Supervisors

EL-14/15

Supervisors

LL-01 

Executives Total

Total Workforce 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Race/Ethnicity

Minority 70.6 56.8 47.2 46.6 36.4 51.1

Black/African American 52.3 25.7 18.6 22.7 18.2 25.3

Asian 9.2 20.3 20.9 15.9 12.7 17.6

Small Racial/Ethnic Minorities 9.2 10.8 7.8 8.0 5.5 8.2

Non-Minority 29.4 41.9 52.5 53.4 63.6 48.6

Unidentified Race/Ethnicity 1.4 0.3 0.3

Sex

Female 54.1 52.7 37.4 47.7 36.4 43.1

Male 45.9 47.3 62.6 52.3 63.6 56.9

Disability Status

Employees with Disabilities 20.2 17.6 7.8 3.4 10.9 10.6

Employees without Disabilities 68.8 77.0 84.3 90.9 83.6 81.8

Did not self-identify 11.0 5.4 7.8 5.7 5.5 7.6
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202 3 OMWI Annual Report to Congress

Table 11: Diversity in FHFA Workforce by Pay Band Category and Grade as of 

December 31, 2019 (Percentages)

Demographic Group EL-12 or 

below EL-13 EL-14/15Non-Supervisors

EL-14/15

Supervisors

LL-01

Executives Total

Total Workforce 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Race/Ethnicity

Minority 74.7 49.2 38.9 40.3 22.7 44.4

Black/African American 51.6 23.8 14.5 19.4 11.4 21.5

Asian 11.0 19.0 16.9 9.7 4.5 14.5

Small Racial/Ethnic Minorities 12.1 6.3 7.5 11.3 6.8 8.4

Non-Minority 25.3 49.2 60.8 59.7 77.3 55.2

Unidentified Race/Ethnicity 1.6 0.3 0.3

Sex

Female 62.6 42.9 41.0 41.9 29.5 43.8

Male 37.4 57.1 59.0 58.1 70.5 56.3

Disability Status

Employees with Disabilities 9.9 6.3 6.3 4.8 9.1 6.9

Employees without Disabilities 80.2 92.1 89.8 90.3 88.6 88.5

Did not self-identify 9.9 1.6 3.9 4.8 2.3 4.6

b. Management Position Diversity

FHFA’s management team consists of employees with leadership skills and broad perspectives 

from years of experience in government, the private sector, and/or academia. As FHFA’s 

workforce has grown to support the Agency in executing its mission and achieving its strategic 

goals, the number of supervisors and executives has also grown. FHFA is committed to ensuring 

diverse representation at all levels of the Agency, including the supervisor and executive level. 

Table 12 depicts the number and percentage of FHFA’s EL-14 and EL-15 supervisors by race, 

ethnicity, sex, and disability status for 2019 and 2023. Table 13 illustrates this data for FHFA 

LL-01 executives in a corresponding format.

EL-14 and EL-15 supervisors increased by approximately 30 new supervisors between 2019 and 

2023. Asian supervisors more than doubled in number during this period, and the proportion of 

Asian supervisors rose from 9.7 percent of all supervisors in 2019 to 15.9 percent in 2023. 

Similarly, the proportion of Black/African American supervisors increased from 19.4 percent in 
 

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202 3 OMWI Annual Report to Congress

2019 to 22.7 percent in 2023. The number of supervisors from Small Racial/Ethnic Minorities 

remained almost the same, but the percentage dropped by 3.3 percentage points between 2019 

and 2023 as the overall number of supervisors grew. 

The number of EL-14 and EL-15 female supervisors experienced a noteworthy increase, surging 

by over 60.0 percent from 2019 to 2023. As evidenced in Table 12, the proportion of female 

supervisors rose from 41.9 percent in 2019 to 47.7 percent in 2023. Asian female supervisors 

increased from zero in 2019 to more than five in 2023. 

Lastly, while the number of EL-14 and EL-15 supervisors with disabilities remained comparable 

across both years, the proportion of supervisors with disabilities decreased by approximately 1.4 

percentage points. This is mainly attributed to the increase in the number of supervisors without 

disabilities during the same period. 

Table 12: Diversity in FHFA EL-14 and EL-15 Supervisors 2019 and 2023 (Percentages)

Demographic Group 2019 2023

Total Supervisors 100.0 100.0

Race/Ethnicity

Black/African American 19.4 22.7

Asian 9.7 15.9

Small Racial/Ethnic Minorities 11.3 8.0

Non-Minority and Unidentified 59.7 53.4

Sex

Female 41.9 47.7

Male 58.1 52.3

Disability Status

Employees with Disabilities 4.8 3.4

Employees without Disabilities 90.3 90.9

Did not self-identify 4.8 5.7

The number of LL-01 executives increased substantially between 2019 and 2023, with a fiveyear increase of approximately 25.0 percent. Of these, 36.4 percent were racial and ethnic 

minorities. Similar to the surge in the number of Asians and Black/African American 

supervisors, executives in these groups doubled or even tripled their numbers from 2019. 

Black/African American executives experienced the most notable increase between 2019 and 
 

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2023. By the end of 2023, nearly two in every ten executives was Black/African American, and 

Asian executives constituted 12.7 percent of all executives, as presented in Table 13. 

Furthermore, the number of female executives increased by more than 50 percent from 2019 to 

2023. In 2023, females held almost 4 in every 10 executive positions during the same period, up 

from 3 out of every 10 executive positions in 2019. 

For employees with disabilities, both the number and the proportion of executives with 

disabilities increased from 2019 to 2023. The percent of executives with disabilities rose from 

9.1 percent in 2019 to 10.9 percent in 2023, reflecting a positive trend toward increased diversity 

within this group. 

Table 13: Diversity in FHFA Executives 2019 and 2023 (Percentages) 

Demographic Group 2019 2023

Total Executives 100.0 100.0

Race/Ethnicity

Black/African American 11.4 18.2

Asian 4.5 12.7

Small Racial/Ethnic Minorities 6.8 5.5

Non-Minority and Unidentified 77.3 63.6

Sex

Female 29.5 36.4

Male 70.5 63.6

Disability Status

Employees with Disabilities 9.1 10.9

Employees without Disabilities 88.6 83.6

Did not self-identify 2.3 5.5

IV. Internships

Each year FHFA participates in the federal government’s Pathways Summer Internship Program 

(PSIP) for college and graduate students. PSIP provides meaningful training and career 

development opportunities for individuals interested in a career in the federal government, and 

for those pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree in economics, financial or business 

management, statistics, mathematics, accounting, or information technology, an internship at 
 

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FHFA is especially a good fit. Internships at FHFA are paid positions where students work on 

assignments that correlate to their areas of study. 

FHFA hosted 29 PSIP interns in 2023 from various schools across the nation. The students 

acclimated quickly into their new roles and significantly contributed to their assigned 

division/office. The interns strengthened their interpersonal, technical, and analytical skills 

through projects that included developing Tableau dashboards, creating software programs, 

designing program requirements and guidance, and performing audits of examination 

workpapers. They also participated in “Lunch and Learn” events led by several FHFA senior 

leaders, including a Friday series titled “Securitization 101” and 45-minute training modules 

covering the Enterprises and the FHLBanks’ mission and operations. The sessions provided 

interns with background knowledge necessary to be successful in their assignments. Table 14

shows the diversity profile of the 29 interns who completed PSIP. Of the 29 individuals, 34.5 

percent were female, and 48.3 percent identified as racial and ethnic minorities. 

Table 14: Diversity in FHFA 2023 Summer Interns 

Race and 

Ethnicity

Female Male Total

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent 

Total Interns 10 34.5 19 65.5 29 100

Minority 5 17.2 9 31.0 14 48.3

Non-Minority 5 17.2 10 34.5 15 51.7

FHFA also hosted its second annual High School Scholars Internship Program (HSSIP) in 2023. 

The program welcomed eight rising seniors from D.C. public high schools to participate in a sixweek paid summer internship.29 FHFA partnered with the Office of the Comptroller of the 

Currency (OCC), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and the District of Columbia 

Department of Employment Services (DOES) under the Mayor Marion S. Barry Summer Youth 

Employment Program. The goal of the program was to explore professional workplace 

knowledge, skills and competencies, improve financial literacy, and gain valuable information 

29 HSSIP interns were employed as contract workers at FHFA through an agreement with DOES, and therefore, are 

not included in the Agency’s workforce data. 
 

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202 3 OMWI Annual Report to Congress

about career paths in the financial services industry. The 2023 program was enhanced by 

incorporating external learning experiences such as off-site visits to Low Income Housing Tax 

Credit residential communities, Fannie Mae offices in Midtown Center, the White House, and 

the National Building Museum. Furthermore, through FHFA’s partnership with OCC, interns 

participated in the first HSSIP Career Fair which featured multiple exhibitors, group activities, 

fireside chats, and presentations from over 50 interns. Of the eight high school interns, fewer

than half were female, and all of them identified as racial and ethnic minorities. 

V. Successes

a. Management Development and Employee Training

FHFA makes available a variety of career and leadership development opportunities and 

encourages employees at all levels within the organization to enhance their knowledge through 

formal training, job rotation, details, and self-development. These opportunities and programs 

serve the growth of diverse and non-diverse staff alike. To further enhance Agency-wide 

professional development offerings, FHFA implemented Talent365, a new Learning 

Management System in September 2023. This new system puts learning and career development 

in the hands of each employee by providing them access to over 3,000 on-demand videos and 

training courses, in a variety of subject areas, including DEIA. Additionally, Talent365 houses 

information about all professional, mission/technical, career, and leadership development 

programs and opportunities, including for coaching, mentoring, developmental details, and much 

more. 

Also, in FY 2023, the Agency launched FHFA’s People Plan, which was designed to ensure that 

FHFA uses a holistic strategy to equip and empower its workforce to fulfill the Agency’s 

mission and goals successfully. The People Plan aims to achieve three core goals while focusing 

on FAIR Values and DEIA: building workforce capacity, developing workforce capabilities, and 

cultivating a performance culture. The FY 2023 People Operating Plan was focused on the 

objective to “build a sustained leadership commitment and accountability for a diverse and 

inclusive FHFA.” To support that objective, in 2023 FHFA opened its Annual Managers’ 

Conference to non-managers and renamed it the FHFA Leadership Conference, with a theme of 

“Accountable Leadership at all Levels.” Additionally, FHFA Senior Leadership participated in 

“Outward Mindset,” a one-day workshop facilitated by the Arbinger Institute. This workshop 
 

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focused on developing a leadership mindset that governs behaviors towards and relationships 

with colleagues and employees. 

Each year, FHFA issues an EEO Policy Statement to its employees, accompanied by educational

programs and materials focused on preventing discriminatory harassment and fostering 

workplace civility. This initiative aims to prevent disrespectful behavior and harassment within 

the organization. Furthermore, the policy emphasized FHFA’s dedication to instilling FHFA’s 

FAIR Values into the Agency’s culture, as well as into its policies, practices, and procedures. 

Throughout the year, newly hired employees received training on the No FEAR Act, covering 

antidiscrimination and whistleblower protection laws during the New Employee Orientation 

(NEO) program. Additionally, the Agency offers confidential ombuds services to its employees 

in collaboration with a third-party organization. These services help to facilitate the resolution of 

both EEO and non-EEO disputes. 

FHFA’s Ethics Office, within the Office of General Counsel (OGC), provided annual ethics 

training to all employees, accessible online through the Agency’s training portal. The training 

used a gamified approach to review ethics statutes and regulations and addressed common ethics 

issues, where participants actively controlled the outcome. In 2023, FHFA provided new FHFA 

employees an in-person ethics briefing and related materials within two weeks of joining the 

Agency. FHFA employee iPhones include the FHFA Ethics application (“app”), which 

summarizes federal ethics rules and Agency policies as well as contact information for FHFA’s

Ethics Office, FHFA’s Office of Inspector General, U.S. Office of Government Ethics

(USOGE), and the U.S. Office of Special Counsel. FHFA’s Ethics Office sends quarterly 

newsletters to all FHFA employees featuring principles of ethical behavior, updates from the 

USOGE, and other information supporting OMWI initiatives. 

b. Reasonable Accommodations and Section 508 Program

The Agency provides managers and employees education regarding FHFA’s Reasonable 

Accommodation and Personal Assistance Services policy, procedures, and processes through 

online training and individual briefings. Managers and employees also receive assistance through 

the employee relations process. New employees receive information about how to initiate a 

request for an accommodation at the NEO session. Additionally, FHFA provided employees with 

guidance on requesting reasonable accommodations through the weekly FHFA Fresh Facts 
 

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newsletter. The Reasonable Accommodation program continued to see an increase in the number 

of requests since FHFA transitioned to a hybrid work environment. FHFA vacancy 

announcements provide instructions for applicants with disabilities who require reasonable 

accommodation during any stage of the application and hiring process. However, no applicants 

requested accommodation in 2023. FHFA has an interagency agreement with the Federal 

Occupational Health (FOH) and consults with FOH for analyses and recommendations on 

reasonable accommodation requests. 

The Chief Operating Officer and Chief Information Officer at FHFA oversee the Agency’s 

efforts to comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (commonly known as the 

Section 508 Program).30 As part of the program, FHFA conducts periodic information sharing 

sessions with its divisions and offices. The goal is to increase accessibility of Information 

Communications Technology (ICT) developed, procured, maintained, or used by the Agency. In 

2023, FHFA maintained its commitment to enhancing the accessibility of Portable Document 

Format (PDF) files that it published externally. The Agency placed greater emphasis on overall 

accessibility for FHFA.gov. Notably, FHFA introduced a third-party tool that empowers endusers to customize accessibility adjustments according to their preference. 

FHFA continues to review ICT acquisitions to ensure that products and services are reviewed 

and selected pursuant to the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

31 The Agency’s 508 Compliance 

Specialist continues to collaborate with each division and office to provide training and guidance 

to further enhance compliance.

FHFA responded to the requirements of Section 752 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 

2023 by providing an Agency assessment to the General Services Administration for compliance 

with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. 

30 29 U.S.C. § 794(d). 31 FAR subpart 39.2 – Information and Communication Technology.
 

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c. Diversity Awareness Through Special Emphasis Programs

OMWI is responsible for leading FHFA’s DEIA efforts. An important component of this is

hosting the Agency’s SEP events. To foster awareness among employees and promote DEIA 

within the Agency, OMWI collaborates with the FHFA SEP Working Group32 to develop and 

organize educational and culturally competent SEP events. These events serve as a pillar of 

FHFA’s community and workplace culture, providing opportunities for the FHFA community to 

come together and deepen their DEIA knowledge through the experiences of guest speakers, 

cultural events, and personal stories.

In 2023, OMWI organized and co-sponsored a series of SEP events in collaboration with other 

FHFA divisions and offices. Several of these events were conducted in a hybrid format, 

expanding accessibility for staff on remote or hybrid work schedules. As demonstrated by 

positive feedback received through post-event surveys and the adoption of hybrid formats, 

OMWI has witnessed a notable increase in participation in SEP events. In addition to the events 

required by regulation – focused on the Hispanic Employment Program, Federal Women’s 

Program, and Program for Persons with Disabilities33 – the SEP events commemorated Martin 

Luther King, Jr. Day; African American History Month; Women’s History Month; Holocaust 

Remembrance Day; Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) 

Heritage Month; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer+ (LGBTQ+) Month; Juneteenth; 

Women’s Equality Day; National Hispanic Heritage Month; National Disability Employment 

Awareness Month; and Native American Heritage Month. See Appendix A for a detailed list of 

the 2023 co-sponsored SEP events. 

A noteworthy accomplishment of the SEP program in 2023 was that for the first time in Agency 

history, FHFA collaborated with other agencies when hosting SEP events. In celebration of 

Native American Heritage Month, FHFA, National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National 

Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and OCC hosted an event celebrating tribal sovereignty 

and identity. The event featured speakers including Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson, NEA Chair, Chef 

32 OMWI formed the SEP Working Group in July 2018 as an employee engagement and inclusion strategy to 

facilitate the development and production of SEP events. The SEP Working Group consist of representatives of 

the Office of General Counsel, the Office of Chief Operating Officer, the Office of Equal Opportunity and 

Fairness, and the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion. 33 See 29 CFR 1614.102.
 

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Sean Sherman, Executive Director and founder of North American Traditional Indigenous Food 

Systems (NATIFS), and Shelly C. Lowe, NEH Chair. Dr. Jackson interviewed Ms. Lowe, who 

shared her firsthand experience on growing up on a reservation without learning the native 

language. Chef Sherman discussed indigenous food and provided education on the traditions lost 

due to forced assimilation that NATIFS is trying to revive. There were 301 employees across all 

agencies in attendance. 

d. Workforce Culture – Employee Resource Groups

FHFA ERGs are voluntary, employee-led groups that provide key support resources for 

employees and play an essential role in fostering an engaged and inclusive workforce. ERGs 

encourage networking and collaboration on career management, personal and professional 

development, community involvement, and other issues. The ERGs are inclusive groups open to 

all employees, regardless of their affiliation with a particular group’s area of focus. Each group’s 

activities are guided by a leadership team made up of employee volunteers and an executive 

sponsor. The Agency supports six ERGs: Pride Alliance (LGBTQ+); FHFA Cares: Parents and 

Caregivers; Asian-American Pacific Islander Leadership, Engagement, Affinity, and Diversity 

(AAPI-LEAD); Veterans Employee Resource Group (VeRG); Disability Perspectives; and the 

Jewish Culture Club (JCC). 

OMWI functions as the overall program coordinator of the FHFA ERG program, and in 2023, 

took steps to improve the administrative functions of the ERGs, such as maintaining intranet 

pages, coordinating with leadership from each ERG on budget and schedules, and assisting with 

event planning. Each of the Agency ERGs have a specific focus area, plan events, and provide 

resources to help support their members. The ERGs have provided a valuable resource for 

employees to develop networks and relationships and promote overall workforce inclusiveness 

and engagement. 

The Pride Alliance promotes equitable policies and practices for FHFA employees including, but 

not restricted to, LGBTQ+ identities. This ERG engaged its membership in numerous activities 

throughout the year including highlighting in the Agency’s Fresh Facts newsletter the OPM 

guidance and White House Fact sheet released on International Transgender Day of Visibility

and encouraging the publication of a new Agency procedure on employees’ ability to use their 

chosen names in Microsoft Outlook and Teams. The Pride Alliance also co-sponsored the 
 

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Agency’s Pride month SEP event in June, welcoming two transgender presenters to speak to the 

FHFA workforce on bringing their skills to the Agency mission.

FHFA Cares provides a networking and relationship building resource for FHFA employees who 

are caregivers outside of work, whether for their children, grandchildren, parents, or others. In 

2023, FHFA Cares launched a quarterly in-person informal lunch networking series for group 

members to meet, engage, and share resources with others about their caregiving experiences and 

challenges. FHFA Cares also coordinated with OHRM for an orientation on the benefits 

available to FHFA employees under the Employee Assistance Program and Work Life Programs. 

AAPI-LEAD fosters an environment at FHFA in which AAPI employees can grow 

professionally and personally through career development, networking, community, and 

coalition building, while celebrating their unique identities as individuals and cultural heritages.

In May 2023, AAPI-LEAD partnered with OMWI and OCC’s ERG, the Network of Asian 

Pacific Americans, to honor AANHPI Heritage Month. Acting Comptroller Hsu shared insight 

on existing barriers for AANHPI communities in obtaining leadership opportunities and 

provided personal experience of his leadership journey. In addition, in September 2023, AAPILEAD hosted a professional development training to equip group members with ways to reach 

their unique potential in the workplace. The ERG also coordinated an Agency-wide Diwali 

celebration in November 2023, bringing together employees to network and learn about the 

holiday. 

VeRG promotes professionalism and develops training and programs to enhance the lives of 

veterans and improve the work of those they support. VeRG coordinated several events to 

commemorate Veterans Day during November 2023, including a lunch with the Agency Director 

and staff who are veterans. The group’s members additionally gathered for a walk to the World 

War II memorial on the National Mall. VeRG also sponsored a “Service to Service” panel 

discussion where FHFA employee panelists shared stories about their transition from military to 

federal service. Finally, during the 2023 Combined Federal Campaign, FHFA hosted shelter and 

housing-related charities and partnered with VeRG to showcase military and veterans-related 

charities.

Disability Perspectives provides a platform for individuals with disabilities and their allies to 

discuss workplace accessibility and engagement, as well as ways in which the Agency can 

enhance the experience of persons with disabilities. In July 2023, Disability Perspectives hosted 
 

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virtual team trivia, which featured questions on a variety of topics including laws protecting 

individuals with disabilities. In honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month in 

October, the ERG co-hosted three programs throughout the month to promote the 2023 theme 

“Advancing Access and Equity.” These programs included an external speaker who discussed 

empowering employees with disabilities, reducing stigmas surrounding disabilities, and valuing 

individuals’ differences. In addition, the ERG co-sponsored two lunch-and-learns during 

October. An employee from FHFA’s Office of Technology and Information Management 

(OTIM) delivered presentations on accessibility, accessible PDF content, and document 

compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. These educational sessions also 

discussed employing the FHFA Style Guide and OTIM’s Enterprise Architecture and 

Compliance Formatting Guide to generate inclusive and accessible Word and PowerPoint 

materials.

JCC fosters an environment at FHFA for Jewish employees and all others seeking to cultivate an 

understanding of Jewish culture to grow professionally. JCC launched in 2023 and kicked off 

their ERG programming with a virtual lunch-and-learn in September to educate participants on 

the meanings, traditions, and foods of the Jewish holidays in the Fall. JCC also hosts regular 

group check-ins for members. 

e. Workforce Culture – Values-Based Culture Initiative 

FHFA launched a Values-Based Culture Initiative (VBCI) in 2022 to critically examine its 

current culture and define a more unified future that is firmly rooted in the FAIR Values of 

Fairness, Accountability, Integrity, and Respect. The VBCI addressed a variety of topics in 2023 

pertinent to building a values-based culture for FHFA through communications campaigns

related to each of the FAIR Values as well as Psychological Safety. Within each campaign, the 

Agency presented the workforce with articles, tools, resources, talking points, and curated 

content to highlight each theme area. In addition, FHFA installed a FAIR Values sign in the 

FHFA lobby as a reminder of the expectations for staff. 

Collaboratively across the Agency, we have identified behaviors that best demonstrate the FAIR 

Values: 

• Fairness

 Treat others equitably; 

 Listen with an open mind, considering all ideas; and 
 

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 Make informed decisions through transparent processes.

• Accountability 

 Pursue professional excellence while honoring the commitment to public service; 

 Give and accept feedback; and

 Reflect upon and own your actions. 

• Integrity

 Be ethical, honest, and truthful in all interactions;

 Make clear commitments and take responsibility for them; and

 Acknowledge the contributions of others. 

• Respect

 Treat others with professionalism and dignity;

 Learn, understand, and honor employee differences; and 

 Collaborate and communicate with others, sharing information and resources. 

As a continuation of the VBCI, OMWI spearheaded a DEIA Awareness Campaign designed to 

provide staff a sound understanding of DEIA and how these foundational principles support the 

Agency’s core values and organizational culture. OMWI kicked off the campaign with a focus 

on inclusion, which the Agency recognizes as a critical and foundational principle in achieving 

success in its mission. The Agency is continuing the DEIA Awareness Campaign in 2024 with a 

focus on the remaining concepts of diversity, equity, and accessibility. 

Each campaign featured a speaker to talk about their respective theme area. The following events 

took place in 2023: 

• On January 19, Kimberly Young-McLear, Ph.D., an expert of organizational culture and 

culture change, presented the seven parts of her framework for creating a healthy and 

innovative workforce. 

• On August 22, Minette Norman came to FHFA to present on a book she co-authored, 

“The Psychological Safety Playbook.” She discussed how creating a high performing, 

innovate workforce starts with building a foundation of respect and shared humanity. 

• On November 21, Minette Norman returned to FHFA and joined the DEIA Awareness 

Campaign for a discussion on inclusion. She discussed her new book, “The Boldly 

Inclusive Leader,” which describes how to create a culture where diverse teams flourish 

through inclusive leadership. 
 

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f. Workforce Culture – DEIA Author Series and Leadership Speaker

Series

FHFA strives to provide opportunities for growth, learning, and understanding of various 

cultures and backgrounds. FHFA regularly notifies employees about DEIA activities, training, 

and related policies through postings in the weekly FHFA Fresh Facts newsletter and on the 

FHFA intranet, including through communications displayed on the Agency’s events rotator. As 

part of this effort, DEIA programming and communication in 2023 included providing training 

resources to staff as well as offering a recurring DEIA Author Series, and Leadership Speaker 

series co-sponsored by Agency divisions and offices. 

In the events featured below, an author presented on their area of expertise and interacted with 

participants in a virtual setting. Additionally, interested employees received the author’s 

associated book to assist with application beyond the event. Employees claimed over 800 books. 

Some of the highlighted events include:

• On February 1, Jacqueline Baker presented “The Unexpected Leader.” This session 

focused on accountability and meeting the demands of a rapidly changing workforce with 

a new approach to leadership development. A total of 150 employees received books for 

this event.

• On May 2, Sally Helgesen presented “Rising Together: How We Can Bridge Divides and 

Create a More Inclusive Workplace!” This session focused on practical ways to build 

more inclusive relationships, teams, and workplaces. A total of 71 employees received 

books for this event. 

• On June 6, Richard and Leah Rothstein presented “Just Action: How to Challenge 

Segregation Under the Color of Law.” The presentation tackled the challenging question 

of what can be done to disrupt segregation so that all can realize the promise of 

opportunity and prosperity. A total of 100 employees received books for this event.

• On July 18, Ella Washington presented “The Necessary Journey: Making Real Progress 

on Equity and Inclusion!” This session provided insight into the difficult journey of 

creating an organization that values diversity, equity, and inclusion rather than viewing it 

as a program to get done. A total of 100 employees received books for this event. 

• On August 8, Dr. J. Bruce Stewart presented “The Click Code – Why Some Teams Click 

and Other’s Don’t!” This session provided a focus on the need to have a diversity of 

roles, putting the team first, and fostering psychological safety. A total of 100 employees 
 

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received books for this event.

• On September 12, Carol Kauffman presented “Real-Time Leadership.” session provided 

insight into Kauffman’s MOVE framework which equips leaders with the tactics 

necessary to slow down high-stakes situations so they can master the moment, generate

response options, and evaluate those options before acting. A total of 71 employees 

received books for this event. 

• On September 14, Dr. Heidi Roop presented “The Climate Action Handbook: A Visual 

Guide to 100 Climate Solutions for Everyone.” This session provided expert advice on 

building resilience to climate change. A total of 100 employees received books for this 

event. 

• On December 6, Jerry Colonna presented “Reunion: Leadership and the Longing to 

Belong.” This session provided insights and advice that will help create an inclusive and 

welcoming workspace, discover the best of who they are, and nurture and support those 

whom they are privileged to lead. A total of 55 employees received books for this event. 

g. Diversity Recruitment

FHFA’s ongoing recruitment strategy resulted in new external networking opportunities and 

internal collaborations from which to develop a diverse pool of applicants. With the continuation 

of a hybrid working environment, the Agency used both virtual and in-person recruitment 

strategies.

FHFA is continuing to integrate DEIA into each stage of the Agency’s recruitment efforts. 

FHFA finalized a Strategic Recruitment Plan that incorporates DEIA as a key component to the 

overall strategy. The Agency has used the strategy to recruit honors attorneys, examiner trainees, 

student trainees, and other positions. Additionally, FHFA has contracted with the Professional 

Diversity Network (PDN) to increase diversity recruitment. All FHFA job announcements are 

now posted with PDN’s 8 affinity sites as well as over 26 professional diversity partnership sites.

FHFA staff attended the following events to support diversity outreach: 

• Partnership for Public Service: Navigating Your Federal Career: Expo for Students, 

Interns and Recent Grads; 

• University of Maryland ECON Career Success Night; and 
 

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• CyberCorps Scholarship for Service Job Fair. 

VI. Challenges

While FHFA launched a variety of initiatives designed to improve the Agency’s culture and 

overall employee satisfaction, we experienced a downward trend in the Employee Engagement34

index of the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS). As measured by this index, Employee 

Engagement has declined since its peak in 2020 at 78.5 percent. The index hit 70.8 percent in 

2023, which was a 5.7 percentage point decrease from 2022. The biggest impact in employee 

engagement was seen in Leaders Lead where there was a 14.8 percentage point decrease from 

the peak in 2020 (71.4 percent) to 2023 (56.6 percent). In response to the FEVS results, to the 

Agency implemented a series of actions to aid progress in increasing clarity of work 

expectations, building trust between staff and leadership, and educating senior leadership on 

motivating and inspiring staff. 

In addition, the Agency has opportunities to increase representation of females, Hispanic/Latino, 

and employees with disabilities in its workforce. Although the number of FHFA employees 

increased by 13.3 percent, female representation decreased slightly by 0.7 percentage points in 

2023 as compared to 2019. Additionally, female representation at FHFA (43.1 percent) is lower 

than all three benchmarks RCLF (57.0 percent), CLF (48.2 percent), and federal workforce (45.4 

percent). Hispanic/Latino representation remained stagnant at less than 6.0 percent in 2023, 

similar to 2019 levels. From 2019 to 2023, employees with disabilities increased by 3.7 

percentage points, to 10.6 percent in 2023. However, this was still lower than the federal 

workforce benchmark of 19.5 percent. Additionally, FHFA employees with disabilities in the 

EL-11 and above category represented 10.0 percent in 2023, below the federal government goal 

of 12.0 percent for the same category. This is also reflected in the results of the barrier analysis 

performed by OPM for FHFA in 2022, which indicated adverse impact in the selection of 

Hispanic/Latino, females, and persons with disabilities. Based on the recommendations, the 

34 The Employee Engagement Index measures conditions that are conducive to employee engagement. Engagement 

overall relates to employee motivation. The index is comprised of three sub-indices: Leaders Lead, Supervisors, 

and Intrinsic Work Experience. 
 

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Agency is planning to conduct a review of FHFA’s policies and procedures in 2024 to further 

identify potential barriers. 
 

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C. FHFA Business Diversity and Inclusion

FHFA’s DEI objectives also extend to its contracting activities. To meet requirements to

promote the use of MWOBs in the Agency’s business activities, FHFA strives to increase 

the percentage of its funds obligated under contracting actions with MWOBs, consistent 

with legal standards. For purposes of this Report, contracting actions include contract 

awards, contract modifications, and contract cancellations. Contract obligations reflect the 

total amount of dollars obligated and de-obligated on contracts throughout CY 2023. This 

section provides information on the Agency’s contracting activities, as well as the Agency’s 

procurement-related DEI strategies, successes, and challenges during CY 2023. As FHFA 

implements its DEIA Policy Statement and Standards, it will leverage its commitment to all 

the elements of DEIA in its contractor outreach efforts to continue to promote increased 

MWOB participation in FHFA business opportunities. 

I. Contracting Activities and Five-Year Analysis

In 2023, FHFA executed 806 contracting actions with a total obligated amount of $104,374,713 

($34,551,496 more than in 2022), of which 410 contracting actions were with MWOBs for total 

obligations of $36,439,719.

35 In fact, the 2023 MWOB obligation amount was the largest in 

FHFA’s history and exceeded 2022’s previous historical obligation amount by $6,582,821, or 

22.0 percent. The Agency also continued to exceed its annual performance goal based on an 

average of the previous five fiscal years’ total obligated amount since FY 2021. 

Table 15 and Table 16 provide a historical breakdown, from 2019 through 2023, of contracting 

actions and percentages, as well as the dollar value of obligations to MWOBs.

35 Building leases and interagency agreements are not included in the total actions and obligated amounts reported.
 

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Table 15: FHFA Five-Year Contracting Actions Overview 2019 -202336

Business Diversity Status

Calendar Year

2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

No Percent No Percent No Percent No Percent No Percent

Total Contracting Actions 472 100 568 100 680 100 721 100 806 100

MWOBs37 178 37.7 206 36.3 276 40.6 346 48 410 50.9

Non-MWOBs 294 62.3 362 63.7 404 59.4 375 52 396 49.1

Minority-Owned 105 22.2 122 21.5 162 23.8 225 31.2 233 28.9

Black/African American 26 5.5 45 7.9 56 8.2 92 12.8 92 11.4

Asian American 36 7.6 32 5.6 39 5.7 59 8.2 76 9.4

Hispanic American 30 6.4 26 4.6 40 5.9 47 6.5 38 4.7

Native American 13 2.8 19 3.3 27 4 27 3.7 27 3.3

Women-Owned 115 24.4 138 24.3 190 27.9 237 32.9 287 35.6

Black/African American 16 3.4 29 5.1 37 5.4 67 9.3 58 7.2

Asian American 9 1.9 7 1.2 15 2.2 20 2.8 27 3.3

Hispanic American 17 3.6 18 3.2 24 3.5 28 3.9 18 2.2

Native American 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 1 0.1 7 0.9

Non-Minority 73 15.5 84 14.8 114 16.8 121 16.8 177 22

36 Historical data may differ slightly due to rounding and changes in methodology over time. 37 In Tables 15 through 18: MWOBs stands for Minority- and Women-Owned Businesses. In the separate Minority-Owned and Women-Owned 

categories, double counting occurs as these figures include businesses that are both Minority- and Women-Owned. Thus, if added together, the 

Minority-Owned and Women-Owned categories may be greater than the total number of MWOBs.
 

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Table 16: FHFA Five-Year Obligated Amount Overview 2019 - 202338

Business Diversity Status

Calendar Year

2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

Dollars Percent Dollars Percent Dollars Percent Dollars Percent Dollars Percent

Total Obligated Amount $47,985,308 100.0 $70,322,529 100.0 $72,888,707 100.0 $69,823,217 100.0 $104,374,713 100.0

MWOBs $10,755,549 22.4 $11,523,955 16.4 $13,755,131 18.9 $29,856,898 42.8 $36,439,719 34.9

Non-MWOBs $37,229,760 77.6 $58,798,574 83.6 $59,133,575 81.1 $39,966,320 57.2 $67,934,994 65.1

Minority-Owned $7,159,277 14.9 $9,270,904 13.2 $10,669,734 14.6 $21,739,742 31.1 $28,436,027 27.2

Black/African 

American $1,012,364 2.1 $1,071,349 1.5 $1,769,331 2.4 $2,537,118 3.6 $4,814,552 4.6

Asian American $1,213,127 2.5 $2,495,645 3.5 $3,018,087 4.1 $10,802,459 15.5 $10,037,694 9.6

Hispanic American $4,661,607 9.7 $5,198,365 7.4 $5,292,867 7.3 $7,168,620 10.3 $10,954,469 10.5

Native American $272,178 0.6 $505,546 0.7 $589,449 0.8 $1,231,544 1.8 $2,629,341 2.5

Women-Owned $8,161,429 17.0 $8,615,825 12.3 $9,669,495 13.3 $14,356,938 20.6 $22,991,181 22.0

Black/African 

American $894,894 1.9 $994,413 1.4 $1,358,102 1.9 $1,579,063 2.3 $3,459,284 3.3

Asian American $148,945 0.3 $245,757 0.3 $321,385 0.4 $1,086,028 1.6 $3,428,346 3.3

Hispanic American $3,521,319 7.3 $5,122,605 7.3 $4,904,612 6.7 $3,574,691 5.1 $8,038,101 7.7

Native American $0 0.0 $0 0.0 $0 0.0 $0 0.0 $61,758 0.1

Non-Minority $3,596,271 7.5 $2,253,051 3.2 $3,085,397 4.2 $8,117,156 11.6 $8,003,693 7.7

38 Rounding causes a difference of $1 when comparing the sum of obligated dollars for MWOBs and non-MWOBs to total dollars obligated. Historical 

data may differ slightly due to rounding and changes in methodology over time.
 

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II. FHFA 2023 Top Six North American Industry Classification System

Codes Contracting Actions and Obligated Amounts 

During 2023, FHFA evaluated the contracting actions and obligated amounts as categorized 

under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). This standardized system is 

used by federal agencies to categorize business establishments for collecting, analyzing, and 

publishing statistical data related to the country’s economy.39 

FHFA’s highest categories of obligations in 2023 were in six specific NAICS categories and 

codes that collectively accounted for slightly over half (52.4 percent) of all contracting actions 

and 76.6 percent of the total obligated amount. The top six NAICS codes include: Offices of 

Lawyers (541110), Other Computer Related Services (541519), Administrative Management and 

General Management Consulting Services (541611), Custom Computer Programming Services 

(541511), Investment Banking and Securities Intermediation (523150),40 and Credit Bureaus 

(561450). These categories correspond generally to information, legal, technology, and other 

consulting services. 

In 2023, there were a total of 422 contracting actions within the top six NAICS categories. 

Among these, 227 (53.8 percent) were with MWOBs, while the remaining 195 (46.2 percent) 

were with non-MWOBs. Notably, for two consecutive years, FHFA conducted more than half of 

all actions within these top six NAICS categories with MWOBs. Figure 6 and Table 17 provide 

a visual representation of FHFA’s distribution of contracting actions between MWOBs and nonMWOBs in these categories. 

Of the total obligated amount of $79,963,456 in the top six NAICS categories, 35.7 percent were

with MWOBs. Three categories accounted for 99.5 percent of the obligated amount with 

MWOBs. These three: Other Computer Related Services (541519), Administrative Management 

and General Management (541611), and Custom Computer Programming Services (541511) 

39 North American Industry Classification System, 2022, U.S. Census. During 2022, FHFA updated its records to 

the 2022 NAICS; https://www.census.gov/naics/reference_files_tools/2022_NAICS_Manual.pdf 40 The NAICS code for Investment Banking and Securities Intermediation (523150) was previously 523110 in 

previous years’ reports prior to the NAICS 2022 update. 
 

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awarded 84.7 percent, 61.6 percent, and 42.7 percent of their total obligated amounts to 

MWOBs, respectively. In contrast, Offices of Lawyers (541110) awarded 99.5 percent of their 

obligations to non-MWOBs. Moreover, Investment Banking and Securities Intermediation 

(523150) and Credit Bureaus (561450) did not have obligations with MWOBs throughout 2023.

The distribution of obligation amounts to MWOBs in the top six NAICS categories for 2023 is 

shown in Figure 7 and Table 18.

Figure 6: FHFA 2023 Contracting Actions in Top Six NAICS Categories 

Figure 7: FHFA 2023 Obligated Amount in Top Six NAICS Categories 
 

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Table 17: FHFA 2023 Overview of Contracting Actions in Top Six NAICS Categories 

Business Diversity 

Status

541110 541519 541611 541511 523150 561450 Total Top NAICS

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

Total Contracting 

Actions 84 100.0 162 100.0 149 100.0 18 100.0 2 100.0 7 100.0 422 100.0

MWOBs 24 28.6 110 67.9 84 56.4 9 50.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 227 53.8

Non-MWOBs 60 71.4 52 32.1 65 43.6 9 50.0 2 100.0 7 100.0 195 46.2

Minority-Owned 9 10.7 55 34.0 55 36.9 9 50.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 128 30.3

Black/African 

American 1 1.2 2 1.2 39 26.2 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 42 10.0

Asian American 8 9.5 26 16.0 15 10.1 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 49 11.6

Hispanic American 0 0.0 20 12.3 0 0.0 9 50.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 29 6.9

Native American 0 0.0 7 4.3 1 0.7 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 8 1.9

Women-Owned 16 19.0 81 50.0 67 45.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 164 38.9

Black/African 

American 1 1.2 0 0.0 34 22.8 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 35 8.3

Asian American 0 0.0 12 7.4 4 2.7 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 16 3.8

Hispanic American 0 0.0 14 8.6 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 14 3.3

Non-Minority 15 17.9 55 34.0 29 19.5 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 99 23.5
 

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Table 18: FHFA 2023 Overview of Obligated Amount in Top Six NAICS Categories41

Business Diversity 

Status 

541110 541519 541611 541511 523150 561450 Total Top NAICS

Dollars Percent Dollars Percent Dollars Percent Dollars Percent Dollars Percent Dollars Percent Dollars Percent

Total Obligated 

Amount $30,783,170 100.0 $20,016,062 100.0 $13,854,909 100.0 $6,839,429 100.0 $5,000,000 100.0 $3,469,886 100.0 $79,963,456 100.0 

MWOBs $139,080 0.5 $16,944,354 84.7 $8,541,042 61.6 $2,922,024 42.7 $0 0.0 $0 0.0 $28,546,499 35.7 

Non-MWOBs $30,644,091 99.5 $3,071,709 15.3 $5,313,867 38.4 $3,917,405 57.3 $5,000,000 100.0 $3,469,886 100.0 $51,416,957 64.3

Minority-Owned -$37,509 -0.1 $13,657,350 68.2 $6,006,032 43.3 $2,922,024 42.7 $0 0.0 $0 0.0 $22,547,897 28.2 

Black/African 

American -$22,509 -0.1 $73,822 0.4 $3,020,148 21.8 $0 0.0 $0 0.0 $0 0.0 $3,071,461 3.8 

Asian 

American -$15,000 0.0 $3,580,331 17.9 $2,088,337 15.1 $0 0.0 $0 0.0 $0 0.0 $5,653,688 7.1 

Hispanic 

American $0 0.0 $8,440,843 42.2 $0 0.0 $2,922,024 42.7 $0 0.0 $0 0.0 $11,362,867 14.2 

Native 

American $0 0.0 $1,562,353 7.8 $897,548 6.5 $0 0.0 $0 0.0 $0 0.0 $2,459,901 3.1 

Women-Owned $154,080 0.5 $12,368,900 61.8 $5,374,056 38.8 $0 0.0 $0 0.0 $0 0.0 $17,897,036 22.4 

Black/African 

American -$22,509 -0.1 $0 0.0 $2,785,528 20.1 $0 0.0 $0 0.0 $0 0.0 $2,763,018 3.5 

Asian 

American $0 0.0 $1,214,458 6.1 $53,519 0.4 $0 0.0 $0 0.0 $0 0.0 $1,267,976 1.6 

Hispanic 

American $0 0.0 $7,867,438 39.3 $0 0.0 $0 0.0 $0 0.0 $0 0.0 $7,867,438 9.8 

Non-Minority $176,589 0.6 $3,287,004 16.4 $2,535,010 18.3 $0 0.0 $0 0.0 $0 0.0 $5,998,603 7.5 

41 Rounding causes sums to be off by $1 in some instances. The presented values are nominal.
 

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III. Successes

a. Contract Awards

FHFA routinely monitors its contracting activities with MWOBs on a quarterly basis. These 

metrics serve to fulfill statutory requirements and assess the impact of DEI efforts in promoting 

greater representation of diverse firms. 

According to Table 15, the total number of contracting actions rose by 11.8 percent, increasing 

from 721 in 2022 to 806 during 2023. Additionally, the number of contracting actions 

specifically involving MWOBs surged by 18.5 percent, climbing from 346 in 2022 to 410 in 

2023. 

Table 16 reveals that funds obligated to MWOBs experienced a significant increase from 2019 

to 2023, growing by $6,582,821 or 22.0 percent. The 2023 MWOB obligation surpassed the 

previous record in 2022. 

FHFA successfully awarded the following new major contracts to diverse suppliers: 

• Deduplication storage system appliances to a Minority-Owned Small Business (MOSB) / 

Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB); 

• Full lifecycle support services to for an Enterprise Service Automation solution to an 

MOSB/WOSB;

• IT training assessment services to an MOSB;

• Laptop hardware refresh to a WOSB; and 

• Oracle licenses and support services to an MOSB. 

b. Supplier Diversity Program

In 2023, FHFA’s Supplier Diversity team continued to collaborate with MWOBs. These firms

have consistently expressed a keen interest in conducting business with the Agency. 

Additionally, the team actively contributed to shaping performance benchmarks, standards, and a 
 

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best practice framework. These efforts are aimed at fostering greater business opportunities for 

MWOBs. 

After a period of inactivity lasting over two years, the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, 

and Enforcement Act (FIRREA) agencies reestablished their Supplier Diversity Working Group 

in 2023. The primary objective of this group is to benchmark and exchange best practices among 

its members. FHFA’s Supplier Diversity team actively participated in this initiative, providing 

valuable insights. As a result of this collaborative effort, OMWI now has the capability to offer 

recommendations to Agency stakeholders regarding the inclusion of MWOB sources in 

competitive procurement processes. 

Section 342 of the Dodd-Frank Act specifically requires the OMWI Director to develop 

standards for increased participation of MWOBs in the contracts of the Agency.42 To further 

support this effort, OMWI has a Supplier Diversity Dashboard that provides a centralized 

repository of supplier diversity data used to monitor Agency contract obligations and contract 

awards. The automated dashboard has the flexibility to perform multi-year trend analyses across 

the various demographic categories of vendors.

IV. Challenges

While FHFA experienced a historic increase in the number of contracting actions and obligated 

dollars awarded to MWOBs in 2023, room for improvement remains in representation across the 

Agency’s top six NAICS categories. For example, existing contractual relationships and a lack of 

specialized institutional knowledge or industry substitutes resulted in reduced or no opportunity 

to introduce MWOBs in Offices of Lawyers (541110), Investment Banking and Securities 

Intermediation (523150), and Credit Bureaus (561450). Equipped with the supplier diversity 

program and Supplier Diversity Dashboard, FHFA will continue to focus on MWOB 

representation in the Office of Lawyers (541110) NAICS, as well as in other categories. 

42 12 U.S.C. § 5452(b)(2)(B).
 

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D. Ensuring Diversity and Inclusion at FHFA Regulated 

Entities 

FHFA ensures that the regulated entities have D&I programs through its supervision and 

examination authorities, as well as in its role as conservator of the Enterprises. 

I. D&I Supervision and Examination

Under Section 1116 of HERA, FHFA has regulatory, supervisory, and enforcement authority 

over the D&I programs of the regulated entities. To implement Section 1116 of HERA, FHFA 

adopted the MWI Rule43 in 2010, setting forth the minimum requirements for diversity programs 

as well as reporting requirements for the regulated entities. Pursuant to the MWI Rule, each of 

the regulated entities must implement policies and procedures to ensure, to the maximum extent 

possible in balance with financially safe and sound business practices, the inclusion and 

utilization of minorities, women, individuals with disabilities, and Minority-, Women-, and 

Disabled-Owned Businesses in all business activities at all levels of the regulated entity, 

including in management, employment, procurement, insurance, and all types of contracts.44 The 

MWI Rule provides the FHFA Director with examination and enforcement authority over the 

regulated entities’ D&I programs, stating that “[t]he Director may conduct examinations of a 

regulated entity’s activities under and in compliance with this part pursuant to 12 U.S.C. 

4517.”45 

OMWI began D&I supervision with baseline reviews of the regulated entities in 2015 and 2016. 

In 2016, FHFA approved incorporation of D&I into Agency examinations. In December 2020, 

OMWI finalized the D&I Examination Manual to guide D&I examinations and set supervisory 

expectations for the regulated entities. As part of this update, FHFA implemented a new 

examination rating system beginning with the January 2021 examination cycle, where the 

regulated entities were assigned a D&I composite rating from “1” to “5.” Under this examination 

43 12 CFR Part 1223. 44 12 U.S.C. § 4520(b). 45 12 CFR 1223.24.
 

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rating system, OMWI D&I examiners completed annual D&I examinations and other reviews of 

D&I activities at FHFA’s regulated entities.

As a result of an internal assessment of the D&I examination function in 2022, OMWI 

recognized the importance of aligning the D&I examination ratings with other offices and 

divisions within FHFA and committed to taking a thoughtful approach to modifying the D&I 

rating system. In 2023, the D&I Examination function rolled out a revamped, pilot D&I 

examination to provide consistency and focus on critical “pillar” areas and management using 

the Employment, Procurement, Integration of D&I into Financial Activities, and Corporate 

Governance (EPIC) rating system. In 2023, FHFA completed its seventh year of examinations of 

the regulated entities’ D&I programs. FHFA examined the D&I programs of the Enterprises and 

CSS, as well as four FHLBanks,

46 and delivered the first D&I report of examination under the 

pilot EPIC rating system. 

II. Conservatorship Scorecard

As conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, FHFA establishes priorities for the Enterprises. 

Since 2012,47 FHFA has created an annual Conservatorship Scorecard that summarizes the 

Agency’s priorities and expectations for both Enterprises and CSS and charts their performance 

against those goals and objectives. Published in January 2023, the 2023 Scorecard for Fannie 

Mae, Freddie Mac, and Common Securitization Solutions, LLC48 included consideration of D&I 

as one of its assessment criteria: “Each Enterprise ensures that diversity, equity, and inclusion 

remain top priorities in strategic planning, operations, and business development.” 

46 Beginning in the second quarter of 2022, FHFA updated the D&I examination schedule for the FHLBanks and 

OF. This schedule uses an extended interval where FHFA examines one of the FHLBanks or the OF each 

calendar quarter, resulting in each FHLBank and the OF receiving a D&I examination approximately every three 

years. 47 2012 Conservatorship Scorecard, Published March 9, 2012, https://www.fhfa.gov/AboutUs/Reports/Pages/2012-

Conservatorship-Scorecard.aspx. 48 2023 Scorecard for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Common Securitization Solutions, LLC., Published January 4, 

2023, 2023 Scorecard for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Common Securitization Solutions | Federal Housing 

Finance Agency (fhfa.gov 2023). 
 

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In alignment with 12 CFR 1223 and Conservatorship Scorecard requirements, both Enterprises 

and CSS implemented formalized processes to assess and, where appropriate, integrate D&I

across their organizations, and in their business activities, programs, and initiatives, specifically 

under the three pillars of workforce, procurement, and finance. During the first quarter of each 

year, the Enterprises develop strategies, goals, and quantifiable and performance-based targets 

and metrics for advancing D&I, with consideration of workforce, procurement, and finance 

opportunities. Throughout the year, the Enterprises report to OMWI on their progress towards 

these goals, both in quarterly meetings and through their submissions of the quarterly Scorecard 

Report. OMWI assesses the Enterprises’ progress and provides feedback as needed to drive 

continuous improvement and accomplishment in the D&I Scorecard space throughout each year. 

At the end of the year, OMWI reviews the Enterprises’ D&I accomplishments and determines 

whether the Enterprises achieved their annual Scorecard targets. The D&I Scorecard process is 

enhanced by strong communication and collaboration between the Enterprises and OMWI 

throughout the year. OMWI also partners with FHFA stakeholders to provide feedback on 

Scorecard guidance language to ensure D&I remains embedded as a foundational component of 

the Enterprises’ overall public Scorecard processes. In 2023, OMWI found the Enterprises 

showed consistent progress towards their Scorecard targets each quarter, and met their annual 

D&I targets by the end of the year. 
 

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E. DEI Agency Practice and OMWI Operations

The responsibilities of the OMWI DEI Agency Practice function include the following activities, 

designed with the goal of promoting DEIA throughout the Agency: 

• Overseeing and implementing DEIA policies for FHFA’s workforce and its contracting 

and procurement activities; 

• Coordinating with FHFA’s ERGs to manage administrative functions such as budgets, 

schedules, and maintaining intranet pages; and

• Developing and organizing culturally competent SEP events in collaboration with other 

divisions and offices.

The responsibilities of the OMWI Operations function include the following activities, all 

designed with the goal of creating a sustainable OMWI for the future:

• Building a foundational vision and developing a strategic plan to drive business 

operations; 

• Measuring the overall health of OMWI, understanding how each strategic initiative 

impacts the office, and providing transparency into OMWI’s work to make informed 

decisions; 

• Creating a system (processes, tools, and templates) that OMWI staff can use to

understand the overall organizational structure, prioritize initiatives, and support the 

business strategy; and 

• Ensuring that, at the project or program level, there is inclusion of appropriate 

stakeholders, clearly defined roles, alignment with the overall strategy, and the 

availability of relevant supporting tools and templates.

In 2023, OMWI Operations facilitated the use of a standardized process for tracking high-level 

projects consistently across all functions. The standardized process development included: 

• Project tracking sheets for each function that include a work breakdown structure for 

each high-level project; 

• Maintaining functional dashboards that highlight comprehensive project data and show, 

in real time, the status of each OMWI project; and
 

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• Developing a resource management system that tracks availability and capacity of 

staffing resources. 

OMWI’s Strategic Goal 1 is to Ensure Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in all Business and 

Activities of the Agency. In 2023, OMWI Operations developed tools and trainings and provided 

support in the execution of the office’s DEI business and activities. Examples include:

• Collaborating with OHRM in the development of a Strategic Recruitment Plan that was 

finalized in November 2023 as part of the recommendations from the working group on 

Executive Order 14035; and 

• Collaborating with Federal Management Partners, Inc. on the development of a DEIA 

framework for FHFA. 

OMWI Operations also developed an FHFA Student Financial Literacy Program (FSFLP). The 

FSFLP helps educate and mentor inner city high school students about topics such as preparing a 

budget, developing and understanding the importance of a credit history, purchasing and renting 

a home, and using banking services. The program fulfills the Agency requirement outlined in 12 

U.S.C. § 5452 (f)(5). FHFA partnered with Benjamin Banneker Academic High School in 

Washington, D.C. to work with students up to two hours each Wednesday and three full days 

throughout the academic year. The students serve as volunteers in accordance with 5 CFR 308,49

while simultaneously earning prerequisite community service credit hours for graduation. FHFA 

staff volunteered to serve as financial literacy instructors, career planning instructors, 

presentation skill facilitators, career and college panelists, mentors, and shadowing leaders. 

FHFA offered the FSFLP for the first time as a pilot program in the 2022-2023 academic year. 

The first year of the program was a success as evidenced by students rating the overall program 

highly and most volunteers stating they were either likely or very likely to volunteer for the 

program again. The second year of the program kicked-off at the start of the 2023-2024 

49 5 CFR 308 allows students that volunteer with federal agencies to receive credit from their educational institution. 

Volunteers will not be compensated and will only be considered as employees for purposes of the Federal Tort 

Claims Act 28 USC § 1346 (b) and Compensation for injuries 5 U.S.C. Chapter 81.
 

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academic year. The schedule for the 2023-2024 program includes 26 workshops, 8 mentoring 

sessions, 1 flash networking event, and college and career days. 
 

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202 3 OMWI Annual Report to Congress

F. DEI Data Management

The OMWI Data Strategic Plan for FY 2022 – FY 2024 represents FHFA’s commitment to 

leverage DEI data as a strategic asset to facilitate oversight, promote transparency, and increase 

efficiency. To ensure effective implementation, OMWI developed a Data Management 

Framework to align with the strategic approach. The framework applies to the supervision of 

FHFA’s regulated entities and processes internal to the Agency. It centers on three key areas of 

standardization and automation: business intelligence tools, communication, and training. 

In 2023, OMWI hosted an inaugural Regulatory Reporting Conference. Approximately 60 

attendees attended the two-day event, of which over 40 participants represented the 15 regulated 

entities. The conference focused on data reporting requirements for D&I programs at the 

regulated entities. Overall, attendees rated the conference highly and expressed appreciation for 

this opportunity for dialogue on data reporting expectations. 

In addition, OMWI developed and released on a preliminary basis an Agency DEIA Index, 

intended to be an informational tool to present a holistic view of DEIA through various aspects 

of employment, management, and business activities across the Agency and each division and 

office. The DEIA Index includes a series of dashboards to display breakouts of workforce, 

employment actions (including applicant flow), procurement, and assessment (based on the 

FEVS data) for each division and office. The index supports FHFA in achieving its DEIA 

strategic goals and objectives by highlighting growth areas as well as demonstrating FHFA 

successes. 
 

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Appendix A

OMWI 2023 Special Emphasis Programs

January 12 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – OMWI and the Office of Director (OD) co-hosted a virtual 

program to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Ford Foundation 

Professor of History, Race and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, presented “Dr. King’s 

Legacy in a Turbulent Time,” and centered his presentation around Dr. King’s quote, “If America is to 

remain a first-class nation, it cannot have second-class citizens.” He discussed Dr. King’s experiences and 

teachings and how they may apply to today’s American Landscape. 

February 22 – African American History Month – OMWI and the Division of Conservatorship 

Oversight and Readiness co-hosted a hybrid program to celebrate African American History Month. Dr. 

Felicia D. Griffin-Fennell, Director of Social and Behavioral Sciences at RISE led a discussion on “Strand 

by Strand: Exploring the Legacy, Resistance, and Uplifting of Black Hair.” 

March 29 – Women’s History Month – OMWI and the Division of Housing Mission and Goals 

(DHMG) co-hosted a virtual program to celebrate Women’s History Month. Author Ashley Brown 

presented on her book, “Serving Herself: The Life and Times of Althea Gibson.” Ms. Brown is also an 

Assistant U.S. History Professor and the Allan H. Selig Chair in Sport and Society at the University of 

Wisconsin-Madison. 

April 20 – Holocaust Remembrance Day – OMWI and the Office of the Chief Operating Officer cohosted a virtual program to honor Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah). Judith Cohen, Curator 

at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum presented on “Jewish Ghetto Photographers.”

May 11 – Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month – OMWI, FHFA AAPI-LEAD, and OCC 

co-hosted a hybrid Fireside Chat featuring Michael J. Hsu, Acting Comptroller of the Currency. They 

discussed advancing leaders in the community through opportunity.

June 08 – Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ+) Month – OMWI and the FHFA 

Pride Alliance ERG co-hosted a hybrid program to celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride Month. Ann Murdoch, 

speaker, writer, and activist, along with Karen Kendra Holmes, transgender community activist presented 

on “Bringing Skills to Mission.”

June 13 – Juneteenth – OMWI and OGC co-hosted a virtual program to celebrate Juneteenth. Michelle 

Coles, award-winning Novelist, former DOJ Civil Rights Attorney, and Public Speaker presented on 

“After Juneteenth: The Promise of Freedom.”

August 16 – Women’s Equality Day – OMWI and the Division of Federal Home Loan Bank Regulations 

co-hosted a virtual program to celebrate Women’s Equality Day. Migdalia Gonzalez, Hispanic 

Employment Program Manager at the Office of Civil Rights for the Federal Aviation Administration, 

discussed women’s equality and incorporating FHFA’s FAIR values.
 

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202 3 OMWI Annual Report to Congress

Appendix A Continued

OMWI 2023 Special Emphasis Programs

September 27 – National Hispanic Heritage Month – OMWI and the Division of Accounting and 

Financial Standards co-hosted a hybrid event to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month. Judith 

Morrison, Senior Advisor for Social Development in the Gender and Diversity Division at the InterAmerican Development Bank presented on Latin and Hispanic Identity and Housing Policy.

October 4 – National Disability Employment Awareness Month – OMWI, a number of FHFA offices, 

and the Disability Perspectives ERG co-hosted a virtual event in honor of National Disability Employment 

Awareness Month. Betsy Furler, founder of For All Abilities, LLC., gave a presentation on “Dispelling 

Five Myths of Disability in the Workplace” which discussed empowering employees with disabilities, 

reducing stigmas surrounding disabilities, and valuing individuals’ differences. Furler is a subject matter 

expert in disabilities, education, cognition, and language. She specializes in cognitive accessibility and 

workplace disability issues especially for employees with ADHD, dyslexia, learning differences, autism, 

and other forms of neurodiversity.

November 7 – Native American Heritage Month – OMWI and DHMG co-hosted a virtual presentation 

featuring James Roan Gray, the former Principal Chief of the Osage Nation. Chief Gray was the youngest 

Chief in the history of the Osage Nation. Chief Gray is also the great-grandson of Henry Roan – whose 

murder was depicted in the book and newly released film, Killers of the Flower Moon. Chief Gray 

discussed the “Reign of Terror” on the Osage Nation, where an unknown number of indigenous people 

were murdered for their land rights. 

November 28 – Native American Heritage Month – FHFA, National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), 

National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and OCC co-hosted a hybrid presentation in observance 

of Native American Heritage Month celebrating tribal sovereignty and identity. Dr. Maria Rosario 

Jackson, NEA Chair; Chef Sean Sherman (Oglala Lakota), NATIFS; and Shelly C. Lowe (Navajo), 

National Endowment for the Humanities Chair were the speakers for the event. 
 

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Appendix B

ACRONYM DEFINITION

Agency Federal Housing Finance Agency

AANHPI Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders

AAPI-LEAD Asian-American Pacific Islander Leadership, Engagement, Affinity, and 

Diversity Employee Resource Group

CLF Civilian Labor Force

CoP Community of Practice

CSS Common Securitization Solutions, LLC

CY Calendar Year

D&I Diversity and Inclusion

D&I ROE Diversity & Inclusion Report of Examination

DOES District of Columbia Department of Employment Services

DEI Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

DEIA Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

DHMG FHFA’s Division of Housing Mission and Goals

Dodd-Frank Act Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010

EEO Equal Employment Opportunity

EL Employee Level

Enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

EPIC Employment, Procurement, Integration of D&I into Financial Activities, 

and Corporate Governance

ERG Employee Resource Group

FAIR Values FHFA’s core values: Fairness, Accountability, Integrity, and Respect 

Fannie Mae Federal National Mortgage Association

FEVS Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey

FHFA Federal Housing Finance Agency

FHLBanks Federal Home Loan Banks

FIRREA Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989

FOH Federal Occupational Health

Freddie Mac Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation

FSFLP FHFA Student Financial Literacy Program

FY Fiscal Year

HERA Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008

HSSIP High School Scholars Internship Program

ICT Information Communications Technology

JCC Jewish Culture Club
 

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202 3 OMWI Annual Report to Congress

Appendix B Continued

ACRONYM DEFINITION

LGBTQ+ Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer +

LL Leadership Level

MCO Mission-Critical Occupations

MOSB Minority-Owned Small Business

MWI Rule FHFA’s Minority and Women Inclusion Rule

MWOB Minority- and Women-Owned Business

NAICS North American Industry Classification System

NATIFS North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems

NEA National Endowment for the Arts

NEH National Endowment for the Humanities

NEO New Employee Orientation

OF Office of Finance

OGC FHFA’s Office of General Counsel

OHRM FHFA’s Office of Human Resources Management

OMWI FHFA’s Office of Minority and Women Inclusion

OPM U.S. Office of Personnel Management

OTIM FHFA’s Office of Technology and Information Management

PDN Professional Diversity Network

PSIP Pathways Summer Internship Program

QC Quality Control

RCLF Relevant Civilian Labor Workforce

Regulated Entities Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, CSS, the FHLBanks, and OF

SEP Special Emphasis Programs

USOGE U.S. Office of Government Ethics

VBCI Values-Based Culture Initiative

VERA Voluntary Early Retirement Authority

VeRG Veterans Employee Resource Group

VSIP Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment

WOSB Women-Owned Small Business
 

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202 3 OMWI Annual Report to Congress

Appendix C

Four-Fifths Rule

The Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures includes information on impact and 

describes the Four-Fifths Rule analysis. This approach compares each sub-category's selection 

rate to the highest selection rate in the same category and flag a disparity if the rate is less than 

four-fifths or 80 percent of the highest rate. This method was likely developed using specific data 

sizes.

The accuracy of this method for analyzing FHFA's data relies on how closely the original data 

used to create this heuristic resembles FHFA's data. FHFA, being a small agency, has a limited 

data selection compared to other agencies. There is a potential problem with the 80 percent 

heuristic, which is that the comparisons of sub-category selection rates are not independent. This 

is because the test criteria are based on comparing the observed rates to 80 percent of the 

maximum sub-category rate observed, and order statistics are generally not independent of each 

other. 

T-Test

An alternative approach based on hypothesis testing using the t-stat was determined to better 

accommodate the size of FHFA’s application and selection pool. With this approach, each subcategory selection rate is compared to the overall selection rate of all other sub-categories within 

the same category. This approach avoids creating a sample that is statistically dependent. Under 

the null hypothesis that the true selection rates are all equal, the test statistic would be:

tt = pp�1−pp�2

�pp�1(1−pp�1)

nn1 +pp�2(1−pp�2)

nn2 [1] 

Subscript 1 corresponds to one of the sub-categories in a category such as race and the subscript 

2 corresponds to the combined value of all other sub-categories within the category. So, for 

example pp̂1might be the observed selection rate for Black/African Americans and pp̂2might be the 

observed selection rate for all races other than Black/African Americans. Similarly, nn1would be 

the number of qualified Black/African American applications and nn2would be the number of 

non-Black/African American qualified applications. The statistic tt in Equation [1] has a 

Student’s t-distribution with min(nn1, nn2) degrees of freedom.

An adverse impact is identified when the null hypothesis HH0 can be rejected indicating that the 

selection rate for a particular sub-category is statistically significantly less than the selection rate 
 

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202 3 OMWI Annual Report to Congress

for all other sub-categories of the category being examined. The results are based on a one-tailed 

t-test, with HH0: pp̂1 = pp̂2 versus HHAA: pp̂1 ≤ pp̂2 and an αα = 0.05. If the t-stat is less than αα = 0.05, 

then the result is significant for the group.