Federal Deposit Insurance 

Corporation 

2011 

Report to Congress on the 

Office of Minority and Women Inclusion 
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 

Office of Minority and Women Inclusion 

2011 Report to Congress 

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation submits this Annual Report prepared by the 

Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI) pursuant to section 342(e)(1-5) of the 

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (DFA). As required, this 

report covers contracting, outreach, and hiring activities for the 2011 calendar year. 

On January 21, 2011, pursuant to Section 342 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and 

Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (DFA), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 

Board of Directors established the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI). 

To ensure coordination across the FDIC for OMWI programs, the FDIC established an 

OMWI Steering Committee composed of the Director of OMWI, the new OMWI Senior 

Deputy Director, and other key FDIC Division Directors and senior staff. The Steering 

Committee promotes coordination and awareness of OMWI responsibilities across the 

FDIC and ensures that they are managed in the most effective manner. 

The OMWI promotes the mission of the FDIC through the pursuit of equal employment 

opportunity, affirmative employment initiatives, diversity and inclusion, and outreach 

efforts to increase contracting and investment opportunities for minority- and womenowned businesses. The DFA allows the FDIC to enhance its longstanding commitment 

to promote equality in employment opportunities and diversity in all business areas of the 

FDIC. 

DFA Section 342(e)(1) and (2) requires data on payments made by the agency to 

contractors, including the percentage paid to those that are minority-owned and womenowned. DFA Section 342(e)(3) requires a report on the successes and challenges the 

agency faced in operating minority and women outreach programs. DFA Section 

342(e)(4) requires a reports on any challenges the agency may face in hiring qualified 

minority and women employees and contracting with qualified MWOBs. And finally, 

DFA Section 342(e)(5) requests any other information, findings, conclusions, and 

recommendations from the FDIC. Each of these issues is addressed in this report. 

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DFA Section 342(e)(1) and (2) requires the FDIC to report the total amounts paid by 

the agency to contractors during the reporting period, as well as the amount and 

related percentage paid to those that are minority-owned and women-owned. 

The FDIC reports contracting with minority- and women-owned businesses (MWOBs) 

separately from contracting with minority- and women-owned law firms (MWOLFs). 

Below are the data for each group: 

Total Contracting Payments:

The FDIC paid a total of $861.3 million to contractors in 2011, under 2,877 active 

contracts. 

Contracting with MWOBs:

 The FDIC paid a total of $166 million to MWOBs in 2011, under 742 active 

MWOB contracts. The $166 million represents 19.3 percent of the total paid to 

all contractors. Payments on 742 active MWOB contracts represent 25.8 percent 

of the number of total contracts receiving payments. 

 The payments made in 2011 include payments for contracts awarded in 2011 and 

payments for active contracts awarded prior to 2011. 

FDIC contracts are typically awarded through a competitive best value solicitation 

process. The solicitations describe what offerors are required to include in their 

proposals and proposal evaluation criteria specific to the good or service being procured. 

Proposals are evaluated and rated by a panel of FDIC subject matter experts, which 

includes a representative from OMWI. Awards are made to the offeror that provides the 

best value to the FDIC. Best value considers the offeror’s technical and price proposals. 

For all contracts over $100,000, OMWI identifies competitive minority and women 

owned businesses to participate in contract solicitations. This requirement ensures that a 

diverse pool of contractors are solicited and considered for each major contract. 

The FDIC’s website provides information, announcements, and technical assistance 

related to minority- and women-owned businesses, law firms, and investors. This portal 

can be accessed at www.fdic.gov/mwop. The FDIC also has a “small business resource 

page,” which contains over 40 modules and is a technical assistance aid and metric for 

businesses that desire to compete for contract opportunities. 

Referrals to Law Firms

 The FDIC paid $137 million to outside counsel in 2011. 

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 The FDIC paid a total of $22.7 million to MWOLFs in 2011, which represents 17 

percent of the total paid to law firms. 

Referrals to law firms also are typically made on a competitive basis. Price, expertise, 

and capacity are among some of the criteria considered in making the selections. 

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DFA Section 342(e)(3) requires the FDIC to report on the successes achieved and 

challenges faced by the agency in operating minority and women outreach 

programs. 

Successes

The FDIC places a high priority on achieving diversity across the spectrum of agency 

activities, including employment, outreach, asset sales, and contracting efforts. To ensure 

an agency-wide focus on these critical issues in 2011, one of the FDIC’s Corporate 

Performance Goals was to develop strategies to increase the participation of businesses 

owned by minorities and women in FDIC business opportunities. The following 

successes occurred under this performance goal: 

 FDIC awarded $1.4 billion in contracts in 2011, of which $416.5 million (28.9 

percent) was awarded to MWOBs. (See FDIC MWOB Activity Report 2011 data. 

http://www.fdic.gov/buying/goods/mwob/mwobreportytddec2011.pdf) 

 MWOBs were awarded 558 (28.8 percent) of the 1,936 total contract actions in 

2011. (See FDIC MWOB Activity Report 2011 data. 

http://www.fdic.gov/buying/goods/mwob/mwobreportytddec2011.pdf) 

 As of December 31, 2011, there were 766 (27.8 percent) active MWOB contracts 

within the FDIC out of a total of 2,751 active contracts. The active contracts to 

MWOB firms by category were as follows: Asians (60), Blacks (130), Hispanics 

(344), Native Americans (20), and Women (281). [Some contracts were awarded 

to firms that were both minority owned and women owned.] 

 The FDIC made 1,142 referrals to outside counsel in 2011, of which 345 (30 

percent) were made to MWOLFs. The referrals by category were as follows: 

Asians (14), Blacks (37), Hispanics (80), and Women (214) 

 In 2011, the FDIC participated in 18 procurement trade events where the OMWI 

conducted outreach, matchmaking, and provided technical assistance to attendees. 

There were 12 additional outreach events in which the FDIC Legal Division 

participated, most of which were directed to MWOLFs. 

 The OMWI updated ARON, the database it created in 2010. ARON can search 

the entire Central Contractor Registry (CCR), a registry of over 600,000 

businesses registered to contract with the federal government, to identify 

competitive MWOBs in order to respond quickly to requests for competitive 

MWOBs in connection with FDIC contracting solicitations. In 2011, OMWI used 

ARON extensively to increase the number of competitive MWOBs in connection 

with FDIC contract solicitations. 

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 The OMWI updated and enhanced the Minority and Women Outreach Program 

Portal and Small Business Resource Page on the FDIC website. The MWOP 

Portal is a “one-stop” location that provides links to information at the FDIC 

useful for MWOBs, MWOLFs, and investors. The Small Business Resource Page 

provides technical assistance for business development and self-evaluation for 

businesses interested in federal government contract opportunities. 

http://www.fdic.gov/about/diversity/sbrp/index.html

In addition to the foregoing achievements, the FDIC also developed new contracting 

policies effective September 2011. 

 All major contract solicitations are required to have appropriate representation of 

MWOB firms included on source lists. In 2011, 417 (50.1 percent) of the 832 

firms solicited under FDIC solicitations were MWOB firms. 

 New language has been added to FDIC solicitations that require contractors under 

their subcontracting plans to include information on efforts undertaken by the 

contractor to include subcontractors that are minority owned and women owned. 

 For new solicitations for contract awards over $100,000, bidders are now required 

to certify support of diversity and the fair inclusion of minorities and women in 

their workforce and the workforce of their subcontractors. Contractors receiving 

awards from the FDIC after September 1, 2011, with a value greater than 

$100,000 and a period of performance of more than one year, are further required 

to submit to their FDIC Contracting Officer an annual certification stating their 

commitment to diversity and the fair inclusion of minorities and women in their 

workforce. 

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DFA Section 342(e)(4) requires the FDIC to report on challenges the agency may 

face in hiring qualified minority and women employees and contracting with 

qualified MWOBs. 

Challenges Faced in Employment of Minorities and Women

The FDIC takes very seriously the need to ensure a diverse workforce and utilizes several 

methods in pursuing that goal. The FDIC seeks the widest range possible of diverse 

applicants for employment opportunities. The FDIC Division of Administration (DOA) 

and OMWI provide direction to the FDIC’s 250 recruiters nation-wide to ensure that 

diverse segments of the population are reached to attract a broad range and diverse pool 

of applicants for employment. The FDIC’s recruitment efforts are accomplished through 

briefings with Division and Office Directors to report progress towards, and provide 

policy guidance and standards for, fair and inclusive employment. 

In 2011, FDIC recruiters maintained ongoing relationships with a range of colleges and 

universities, as well as with a number of minority professional organizations. Included 

among the recruitment efforts at colleges and universities were Historically Black 

Colleges and Universities and Hispanic-Serving Institutions. In addition, the FDIC 

recruited through summer internship programs of organizations such as the Workforce 

Recruitment Program, the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher 

Education, the LEAD (Leadership Education and Development) Program, and the 

Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, and through national publications and 

publications targeted to minorities and women. 

As required by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Management 

Directive 715, the FDIC reviews the diversity data for its applicant pool for major 

occupations. The most populous and mission-essential occupation in the FDIC is the 

Financial Institution Examiner occupation. The FDIC primarily conducts examiner 

recruitment through its Corporate Employee Program (CEP). The CEP prepares the 

FDIC’s workforce of Financial Institution Specialists (FIS) in an array of functional 

proficiencies and prepares them to be ready for rapid changes in the financial industry 

and resulting shifts in corporate workload. 

The OMWI issued periodic reports in 2011 on the participation and attrition rates for 

CEP participants based on race, ethnicity, and gender. These reports are prepared after 

every incoming class of CEP hires, and each report includes the total CEP hires from the 

inception of the program, FIS currently on-board, and voluntary and involuntary attrition 

information. 

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In addition, each Division and Office Director having major occupations in their division 

receives similar information regarding the applicant data related to vacancy 

announcements for those occupations during the previous fiscal year. With this 

information, strategies are determined to meet targeted recruitment efforts. The FDIC 

and the CEP Recruiting Task Force continue to seek ways to increase the recruitment and 

hiring of minorities and women into the program. 

As of December 31, 2011, out of the total FDIC workforce of 8,261 employees, 

minorities constituted 26.79 percent (2,213) and women were 42.50 percent (3,511). 

The FDIC, while achieving some successes, faces various challenges in the participation 

rates of minorities and women in the CEP. At the outset of the CEP, several racial, 

ethnicity and gender groups, and disabled employees, had very low participation rates 

within the FDIC’s Examiner workforce. As a result, the FDIC engaged in a proactive 

recruiting effort. The CEP recruiting program has incorporated affirmative employment 

strategies that have already achieved a significant degree of success in addressing the 

recruitment aspects of this issue for many racial, national origin and gender groups 

having low participation rates. The progress in addressing the low participation rates is 

especially apparent with respect to females overall, Black/African American males and 

females, Hispanic females, and Asian males and females. 

Bank and compliance examiner positions represent by far the largest occupational group 

within the FDIC, and individuals who began their FDIC careers as examiners occupy a 

high percentage of executive and managerial leadership positions, as well as other nonexaminer positions throughout the FDIC. Thus, participation rates within the examiner 

workforce are key elements to achieving satisfactory participation rates within the 

broader FDIC workforce. 

The hiring rate for Black and Hispanic women is above the ratios in the CLF (Civilian 

Labor Force), but the hiring rate for other groups of women still lags below the CLF. 

The other issue faced by the CEP is the high level of involuntary attrition among many 

minority groups, especially men in those groups. 

The Division of Risk Management Supervision (RMS), the largest employer of CEP 

participants, took the lead and proactively began evaluating this issue to determine the 

reason(s) for the attrition within the division and the need for appropriate strategies to 

address these issues. Because the Division of Depositor and Consumer Protection (DCP) 

and Division of Resolutions and Receiverships (DRR) also employ CEP participants, 

they have also begun to evaluate the retention data in order to take appropriate corrective 

action. 

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While there is not continuous hiring as there is for the CEP, annual statistical analyses 

also have shown low participation rates in other occupations and in other FDIC divisions 

and offices. For instance, participation rates are low for Hispanic males and females, 

White females, and Asian females in the 0501 Financial Administration and Program 

occupation in the FDIC’s Division of Finance (DOF), and that underrepresentation has 

remained fairly constant due to the lack of hiring in that occupation. Similarly, there are 

various areas of underrepresentation in the 0510 Accountant occupation in both DOF and 

DRR and the 1101 General Business and Industry (Resolution and Receiverships 

Specialist) occupation in DRR. To the extent that hiring is conducted in any major 

occupation having low participation rates of certain groups, divisions and offices with the 

vacancies must coordinate with OMWI and Corporate Recruitment personnel to 

determine the best strategies available to broaden the applicant pool to include candidates 

in the underrepresented groups. 

Additionally, after determining that there were low participation rates of women and 

minorities in the executive ranks, a 2011 Corporate Performance Goal was established for 

the FDIC to develop strategies to increase the diversity of qualified applicants for FDIC 

positions, including managerial and executive positions. The FDIC conducted a review 

of its recruitment functions as well as its Affirmative Employment Plan to determine their 

sufficiency. After that review, the FDIC developed a process to more consistently 

disseminate vacancy announcements for positions at Grades 13 and above to minority 

and women professional groups and representative trade and consumer organizations as 

these positions are announced. This process will apply to all FDIC organizations 

including OMWI and should be in place by the second quarter of 2012. 

Challenges Faced in Contracting with Qualified MWOBs and MWOLFs

The FDIC has faced some challenges to increasing the participation of MWOBs. In 

2011, challenges continued to exist for identifying MWOB firms that have a national 

capability. As a result, the FDIC has begun to issue more solicitations on a regional basis 

and to allow potential bidders to bid only on a subset of a requirement, rather than having 

to bid on the entire requirement. Often missing are MWOB relationships with large 

federal contracting companies where subcontracting opportunities most often exist. To 

help encourage these relationships and address this concern, the FDIC emphasizes the 

importance of large contractors subcontracting with MWOB firms and has negotiated 

increases in MWOB subcontracting participation with many large contractors. 

Similar challenges were experienced with referrals to MWOLFs that may lack the 

capacity to handle the larger legal matters and ones with wide-ranging issues. To address 

this issue, the FDIC has been encouraging MWOLFs to partner with other MWOLF and 

majority firms. 

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Since the beginning of the financial crisis in 2008, OMWI, DOA and FDIC Division of 

Resolutions and Receiverships (DRR) and Legal Division staff have been conducting 

“Doing Business with the FDIC/Representing the FDIC” seminars across the country to 

address challenges as well as issues among MWOBs and MWOLFs concerning 

awareness regarding business opportunities with the FDIC, how the FDIC outsources 

business, and how firms should align themselves to become more competitive in 

connection with the FDIC’s procurement process. The FDIC contracting procedures and 

upcoming solicitations are discussed at these events. Additionally, FDIC personnel 

conducted 10 seminars for minority- and women-owned investors regarding structured 

sales in 2010-11, and exhibited at 18 specific procurement trade shows and provided 

contracting opportunity information at an additional 7 non-procurement events in 2011. 

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DFA Section 342(e)(5) requires the FDIC to report any other information, findings, 

conclusions, and recommendations relevant to this Section. 

Other Information, Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations

In 2011, the OMWI was active in working with the other agencies identified in DFA 

Section 342 to develop appropriate “standards for assessing diversity policies and 

practices of entities regulated by the agencies” as required by the Act. An interagency 

group was formed in early 2011, and met at least monthly to discuss approaches to 

implementing Section 342. During the fourth quarter 2011 and early first quarter 2012, 

representatives from these agencies met among themselves and with financial industry 

trade organizations and began considering how to develop standards for assessing the 

diversity policies and practices of regulated entities that would consider a regulated 

entity’s size, complexity, and market area. Meetings with regulated representatives are 

continuing in an effort to define the standards and assessment process. 

The FDIC developed the Investor Match Program (IMP) in 2011. The IMP encourages 

and facilitates interaction among small investors, asset managers, and large investors to 

bring sources of capital together with the expertise needed to participate in structured 

loan sale transactions. The Program also responds to feedback gathered from Asset 

Purchaser and Investor Seminars conducted by the FDIC, as well as from many other 

conversations with small and minority- and women-owned investors. 

The IMP was launched in September 2011. As of December 31, 2011, the IMP had 157 

registered members, of which 50 firms (32 percent) were identified as MWOBs. During 

the third and fourth quarters of 2011, DRR also pre-qualified 46 MWOB investors to bid 

on securities and structured loan sales representing 21 percent of the 224 total investors 

pre-qualified over the same period. 

Similarly, the FDIC also developed the Small Investor Program (SIP) in 2011. The SIP 

is geared towards the small investor and offers smaller sized asset pools and unique 

structural features to make it more accessible for smaller investors and increase 

participation in structured sales while maintaining a level playing field for all investors. 

DRR closed two SIP Structured Transaction Sales in 2011 that were comprised of three 

pools of 275 performing and non-performing commercial and acquisition, development 

and construction loans having a book value of $398 million. There were 22 bidders for 

the two SIPs, of which 11 bidders (50 percent) contained an MWOB member. The 

winning bidder for all three pools contained an MWOB member. 

Finally, the FDIC dedicates significant resources to expanding its Internet presence. The 

FDIC’s public website has extensive information accessible to the public both on “doing 

business with the FDIC” and links to updated contractor and MWOB information. We 

encourage interested parties to start at http://www.fdic.gov/mwop to find more 

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information. Some of the charts available on the web are attached to help amplify the 

findings reported above.