DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

OFFICE OF DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND ACCESSIBILITY (ODEIA)

TREASURY ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON RACIAL EQUITY (TACRE)

MINUTES – March 9, 2023

The Treasury Advisory Committee on Racial Equity (TACRE) convened at 2:00 PM on 9 March 

2023 in the Cash Room, Department of the Treasury, with Felicia Wong, Vice Chair, presiding. 

Committee Members Present

FELICIA WONG, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Roosevelt Institute, Vice Chair

NICOLE ANAND, Deputy Director, Inclusive Action for the City

JANIE BARRERA, President and Chief Executive Officer, LiftFund, Inc.

NICOLE BORROMEO, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Alaska Federation of 

Natives

DOROTHY BROWN, Martin D. Ginsburg Chair in Taxation, Georgetown University

WILLIAM BYNUM, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Hope Enterprise Corporation (via 

video teleconference) 

DAVID CLUNIE, Principal-Head of Community Relations, Edward Jones 

GARY CUNNINGHAM, President and Chief Executive Officer, Prosperity Now

NICOLE ELAM, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Bankers Association

JOHN FRIEDMAN, PDBF Distinguished Professor of Economics, Brown University

BULBUL GUPTA, President and Chief Executive Officer, Pacific Community Ventures

DARRICK HAMILTON, Henry Cohen Professor of Economics and Urban Policy, The New 

School

GINA NISBETH, President, 9th and Clinton Advisory

JOSE QUINONEZ, Chief Executive Officer, Mission Asset Fund

CARLOS RANGEL, Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation

VALERIE RED-HORSE MOHL, President and Co-Founder, Known Holdings

AMANDA RENTERIA, Chief Executive Officer, Code for America

JOHN ROGERS, Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer, Ariel Investments (via video 

teleconference) 

CHILING TONG, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Asian/Pacific Islander 

American Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship

BARIKA X. WILLIAMS, Executive Director, Association for Neighborhood Housing & 

Development

Department of Treasury Staff Present

JANIS BOWDLER, Counselor for Racial Equity

SNIDER PAGE, Designated Federal Official (DFO)

At 2:01 p.m., Vice Chair Wong called the meeting to order, conducted roll call, and thanked the 

members of the Treasury Advisory Committee on Racial Equity (TACRE). In her introductory 

remarks, Vice Chair Wong highlighted the mission of TACRE to advise the offices of the 
Secretary and Deputy Secretary on measures to advance racial equity in the Department of the 

Treasury. Across its four subcommittees, TACRE is focused on providing advice concerning 

implementing the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), internal culture and employment best practices 

at the agency, and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) modernization. 

Ms. Bowdler’s Remarks 

Ms. Bowdler thanked the committee members for their hard work and emphasized the need to 

address structural economic inequality, especially for marginalized communities, using new 

available tools. By leveraging TACRE’s subcommittees, she hoped that members would develop 

action-oriented recommendations in the areas of: 

1. Financial Health Inclusion and Access to Capital, 

2. Internal Staffing and Culture, 

3. Research and Data Equity, and 

4. IRA Implementation. 

Vice Chair Wong asked each subcommittee chair to present on recommended priorities for full 

Committee consideration, in the order of Research and Data Equity, IRA Implementation, 

Financial Health (Inclusion) and Access to Capital, and Internal Staffing and Culture. Each 

subcommittee was allotted 10-15 minutes to present, with the opportunity to answer clarifying 

questions. 

Research and Data Equity subcommittee

Member Brown recommended that Treasury prioritize analyzing IRS data by race and ethnicity 

to expand the set of tax information available for analysis. Currently, the most comprehensive 

and available data on race and ethnicity come from the decennial census files. She indicated that 

“to expand the set of tax information available for analysis, the [C]enus has requested additional 

variable from IRS.” Member Brown noted that the subcommittee believes that providing such 

data is technically feasible and would enable the greatest expansion of data available to assess 

the distributional impacts of taxes and other policies. She stated that to fulfill the Census request, 

considerable administrative steps, including revising IRS regulations, are required. Member 

Brown recommended for the subcommittee that Treasury prioritize this process and complete it 

by the Spring/Summer of 2024. 

Member Brown emphasized that this recommendation is a complement to, and not a substitute 

for, analysis of racial disparities using imputed racial and ethnic information. 

Member Friedman recommended that Treasury add estimates of the distributional impacts of 

proposals to the General Explanations of the Administration's FY2024 Revenue Proposals 

(Green Book), which is a document produced by the Treasury Department that details tax-related 

proposals in the President’s Budget. Specifically, he stated that the subcommittee recommends 

adding estimates of the impact of each proposal by race and ethnicity to make salient the extent 

to which individual provisions of the budget lessen or exacerbate racial gaps. It would also be 

valuable to publish estimates of the impacts of each proposal across the income distribution. He 
indicated that the subcommittee member believes that adding these types of distributional 

estimates to the Green Book would allow Treasury and the administration to take a leadership 

role in emphasizing distributional concerns in policymaking. 

Vice Chair Wong asked if anyone had clarifying questions about two proposed priority areas by 

Members Brown and Friedman. As there were no questions, the meeting moved on to Amanda 

Renteria, chair of the Inflation Reduction Act Implementation Subcommittee.

IRA Implementation subcommittee

Member Renteria discussed the five key topics the subcommittee would work on over the next 

six months. 

The first topic was metrics and accountability. Member Renteria asserted that the subcommittee

members discussed the importance of identifying metrics and ensuring accountability at the 

outset of the IRA implementation. She stated the subcommittee identified three specific areas to 

focus on: population uptake, infrastructure and how organizations are being tracked in this area, 

and (tax) audit disparities. The subcommittee plans to work with others to specify these metrics 

further.

The second topic was ensuring the quality-of-service delivery. She noted the subcommittee 

members identified three areas to focus on: simplification, navigation, and customer satisfaction. 

They discussed the importance of making the process for applying for services and benefits 

simple and easy to navigate, particularly for communities that have historically been left out of 

programs. They also emphasized the need to understand how people feel during the process, 

including whether they were treated with dignity and respect. 

The third topic was monitoring incentives for effectiveness. Member Renteria expressed that the 

subcommittee members discussed the need to target specific incentives to particular communities 

and to monitor their effectiveness. They plan to work on identifying these incentives and 

ensuring they reach the communities they are intended to help. 

The fourth topic was protecting people from predatory activities. Member Renteria disclosed that 

the subcommittee members recognized that Black, Brown, Native American, and Asian 

American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities are often and 

disproportionately targeted by predatory actors and discussed the importance of protecting these 

communities. While they didn't identify specific actions, they emphasized the need to consider 

this issue at the outset.

The final topic was outreach. Member Renteria communicated that the subcommittee members 

discussed the importance of messaging and resources for communities. They identified two areas 

to focus on: the overall messaging of the different programs within the IRA Implementation, and 

how to resource outreach efforts in a way that lifts communities who are closest to the people the 

programs are intended to help. 
Overall, Member Renteria affirmed that the subcommittee recognized the importance of these 

topics and plans to work on them over the next six months. She emphasized thesubcommittee

need to work with others to identify specific actions and metrics to ensure the success of the IRA 

implementation.

Vice Chair Wong asked if anyone had questions about the priority areas proposed by Member 

Renteria. As there were no questions, the meeting moved on to the Financial Health Inclusion 

and Access to Capital Subcommittee.

Financial Health Inclusion and Access to Capital subcommittee

Member Red-Horse Mohl discussed the subcommittee’s focus on increasing financial access and 

capital flow to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) fund managers and vendors. 

The subcommittee members highlighted the fact that despite 40% of the U.S. population 

identifying as people of color, less than 2% of assets in the country and globally are managed by 

people of color. To address this issue, the subcommittee members suggested incentivizing large 

endowments in universities and corporations that have received tax benefits to encourage capital 

flow to BIPOC entities. A discussion was held exploring the idea of creating standardized 

questions in solicitations and procurement that would reward companies with extra points or 

benefits if they can demonstrate their commitment to investing in BIPOC fund managers and 

vendors. 

Member Gupta prepared recommendations focused on two areas, the first being deepen the 

impact guidelines across Treasury capital access programs that strengthen BIPOC-led 

community institutions, such as CDFIs (community development financial institutions), MDIs 

(minority depository institutions), and other institutions historically undercapitalized to 

effectively reach historically marginalized communities . Additionally, they suggested 

implementing incentives for investors, including tax credits and direct grants to increase 

investments in startups in underserved areas. 

The second area of focus for Member Gupta's recommendations for the subcommittee was “to 

advance demographic and race disaggregated data collection analysis and reporting across 

financial inclusion and capital access programs at Treasury . . . to help improve access to and 

leverage of private sector partnerships and capital markets” to reach the most intended 

communities and small business owners in low-income and communities of color. 

Vice Chair Wong asked a clarifying question to Member Gupta regarding the subcommittee 

recommendation on investing in and modernizing access to capital for BIPOC communities. 

Member Gupta confirmed that Vice Chair Wong's summary captured all three elements of the 

recommendation. Member Gupta explained that the intention was to improve access to capital 

for communities that are not well-reached by CDFIs and MDIs, including immigrants, 

undocumented, and justice-impacted individuals. She also emphasized the importance of 

investing in and capitalizing on organizations that reach impact metrics in communities designed 

to be impacted through Treasury programs. 
Member Renteria and Member Rangel both shared their thoughts on the importance of 

leveraging data to analyze loans in the context of climate change and risk-taking. Member Gupta 

suggested that Treasury's programs, including the CDFI Fund, should require CDFIs to report on 

data collection analysis, and that Treasury should build a data team to analyze and report on its 

data.

Internal Staffing and Culture subcommittee

Member Cunningham outlined three high-level priorities that the subcommittee is focusing on.

The first priority is to foster an inclusive culture and environment within Treasury. This involves 

reviewing the tools currently being used to promote inclusivity, determining if they are effective, 

and providing training and education to all members of the Department to help create a culture of 

belonging and inclusion. 

The second priority is to improve the hiring practices for disadvantaged groups and groups that 

have been historically left out at all levels of the Treasury. Member Cunningham stated this 

includes analyzing all employment transactions, not just hiring, and making recommendations to 

address any disparities that are found. He asserted that the subcommittee will also be studying 

the staff development pipeline and pathways to increase the representation of underrepresented 

groups in the senior executive service. 

The third priority is to increase the participation of underrepresented groups in business and 

procurement practices with the Treasury. Member Cunningham expressed that this would 

involve looking at the best-value approach, which considers more than just the lowest bid, and 

reviewing outreach practices to increase the utilization of disadvantaged businesses. He 

confirmed that the subcommittee also wants to disaggregate purchasing by industry to gain a 

clearer picture of opportunities for underrepresented groups. 

Member Cunningham explained that the subcommittee believes that the Treasury Department 

should put mechanisms in place to help industries with low levels of representation for people of 

color diversify. The subcommittee will be reviewing subcontracting opportunities to ensure that 

goals for underrepresented groups are being met and that the system is working effectively. 

Finally, Member Cunningham stated that the subcommittee is concerned about the level of 

investment being made in the systems and people necessary to carry out these goals. He 

indicated that the subcommittee will be looking at benchmarking data from Treasury’s Office of 

Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI) to determine how much Treasury is investing compared 

to other offices in the federal government. The subcommittee believes that if Treasury underinvests, the Department will not achieve the necessary outputs to meet the subcommittee’s 

recommended goals. 

Member Red-Horse Mohl commented on the intersection of the Financial Health Inclusion and 

Access to Capital subcommittee's work with the internal programs that Member Cunningham 

was exploring as part of the Internal Staffing and Culture subcommittee. Member Red-Horse 

Mohl asked if Member Cunningham’s subcommittee finds any successful models and language 
used to recruit people of color to be shared with them. Member Red-Horse Mohl expressed 

interest in learning more about the internal programs. 

Member Cunningham acknowledged the overlap between the Internal Staffing and Culture 

subcommittee’s work and Member Red-Horse Mohl's subcommittee's work and suggested that 

they put their heads together to discuss what that means. Member Cunningham explained that the 

Internal Staffing and Culture subcommittee had not talked about setting specific goals but rather 

looked at disparate impact in relationship to what would be expected. He stated that the 

subcommittee aimed to examine what is available in the marketplace and compare it to the 

expected level, because levels that are “statistically impossible” or outside the expected level, 

would require an explanation from Treasury. 

Roundtable Discussion 

After the subcommittee presentations, Vice Chair Wong listed out thirteen priority area 

recommendations for collective consideration. She also identified themes she heard across all of 

the priority area. She asked the members to think about the overlap and joint areas of research 

together. 

The thirteen recommendations discussed are as follows:

1. Making sure that the IRS can fulfill the census request for data sharing to complement the 

imputation methods already being used by the IRS and IRS researchers.

2. Utilizing distributional analyses in the Green Book across the range of all of the tax law 

that it documents.

3. Metrics and accountability as the Inflation Reduction Act is shaped, including population 

uptake, growth of infrastructure, and an audit request to audit disparate uptake. 

4. Service delivery within the Inflation Reduction Act to make sure that service delivery is 

simple, people can find benefits, and they report a level of satisfaction with their 

interaction with government and their access of those benefits.

5. Incentives for people and communities to report to ensure there are effective outcomes, 

for both people and communities. 

6. Protection from predatory actors who may try to misappropriate the IRA program money. 

The IRA has money designed to incentivize new, clean business, in and owned by 

communities that are traditionally underserved.

7. Conducting outreach about the benefits of the IRA and how outreach can be wellresourced and what the message should be. 

8. Mechanisms to increase the diversity of both fund managers and asset managers, as well 

as supplier diversity. 

9. More investment in BIPOC-owned assets, modernizing the vehicles that reach BIPOC 

communities, and overall making sure that they measure those appropriately.

10. Proper reporting for the reach of capital access programs, disaggregated data collection 

and reporting of people who are actually accessing capital and receiving capital. 

11. Creating an inclusive culture at Treasury, improving Treasury's ability to hire from

diverse groups of people and markets of people that have been historically excluded. 
12. Making sure that once people are hired, there are actual resources to support internal 

change.

13. Improving Treasury's ability to hire from groups of people and markets of people that 

have been historically excluded.

The themes that Vice Chair Wong identified across all of these recommendations were data and 

measurement, people and places, and Treasury's ability to act and catalyze actions of other actors 

in the economy.

Member Hamilton expressed his concerns around data. He asserted that a framework should be 

added to ensure that once data is collected, safeguards are in place to avoid its exploitation and 

extraction. 

Member Gupta suggested that the Data and Equity Subcommittee should lead this conversation 

for the Committee, and Vice Chair Wong asked whether artificial intelligence (AI) should be its 

own recommendation or incorporated into existing ones. 

Vice Chair Wong also expressed concern about ensuring equitable distribution of resources and 

cited examples where low-income communities did not benefit from development projects. 

Member Brown reported on the longer-term goals of the Data and Equity Subcommittee, which 

included examining the Treasury's top programs from an equity perspective. 

Member Williams suggested that a more nuanced and nuclear understanding of “place” was 

necessary, and recommended that the council use a micro-level geographic lens to understand the 

impact of place.

Member Rangel suggested that it's important to focus on technical assistance, and that cultural 

competence is critical for the success of technical assistance programs. 

Vice Chair Wong agreed and suggested that outreach and marketing are important as well. She 

notes that communication can be complicated and suggests that technical assistance and outreach 

are related but separable. 

Member Rangel added that this is an opportunity for learning and suggested that the members 

could be good ambassadors for the technical assistance programs.

Member Bynum added on to Member Rangel's point by noting that the ability of certain 

communities to put together applications and strategies to take advantage of resources may be 

weaker than others. He suggested that the advisory services and technical assistants are critical in 

economically underserved and diverse places like the Black Belt.

Member Renteria suggested that cultural competency in messaging is important when thinking 

about simplification and outreach. She gave an example of how the tone and approach of 

connecting with people matters.
Member Elam noted that the private sector and philanthropic sector can play a role in data 

collection and technical assistance and suggested that Treasury could help catalyze this role. She 

encouraged the other subcommittees to think about this as well.

Public Comments

Vice Chair Wong proceeded to review the public comments that the committee has received. 

Member Gupta indicated that the Financial Health Inclusion and Capital Access Subcommittee 

will take the public comment from CSH under consideration. 

Before adjourning, Vice Chair Wong shared that the next TACRE meeting would be scheduled 

for June 8th. Mr. Page reminded the Committee of the importance of timely submitting their 

travel records for processing. Ms. Bowdler remarked on some of the items that might be covered 

in the June meeting, such as the new Executive Order on racial equity and rolling announcements 

on the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) and CDFI Fund. 

Vice Chair Wong adjourned the meeting at 4:20 p.m.