i often get : why do you have such an unusual name? the answer to this question is that my father was asian indian – and was, more specifically, from the state of andhra pradesh. ( i add that specificity because it matters : my last name is very much identified with that particular state – a state that has roughly one - fourth the population of the united states. ) my father immigrated to the united states in 1960 to attend graduate school in statistics, which is where he met my mother. my mother is of european descent. she grew up in a suburb of pittsburgh, pennsylvania, and her parents were both born in the united states. my parents got married when they were in grad school, and so i was able to attend my father ’ s ph. d. graduation ceremony. i probably didn ’ t appreciate the event as much as i should have. in my defense, i was only nine months old. my parents ’ household was – automatically – a diverse household. it was diverse in terms of food – something that mattered a lot to me as a child. it was diverse in terms of our family and friends. perhaps most importantly, it was diverse in terms of ideas. as a child, i read the lives and words of american heroes like abraham lincoln. but i also read the lives and words of indian heroes like mohandas gandhi. in this way, i learned at a young age that two different cultures can give us at least two different ways to think about a problem. i learned too that both of those different ways can provide valuable insights, even if they seem to be in conflict. perhaps as a consequence, i tend to follow many tracks – almost at once – in my thinking about problems. i have found this multipronged approach to problems helpful in many facets of my life. but it does have the potential to create communication challenges! i can sum up the overall impact of my beginnings in this way. when i was a child, and especially when i was a teen, my parents seemed, well, old - fashioned. i suspect that i was not the first nor the last child or teen to feel that way! but, looking back, i realize that, in many ways, my upbringing in the 1960s and 1970s was surprisingly well - designed for the 21st century that was to come. in particular, our internationally diverse household was ideal preparation for our increasingly diverse country and interconnected world. some final reflections on workplace diversity i ’ ve talked about two kinds

narayana kocherlakota : reflections on diversity speech by mr narayana kocherlakota, president of the federal reserve bank of minneapolis, at the council on asian pacific minnesotans 2014 asian heritage dinner, st. paul, minnesota, 9 may 2014. * * * thanks to dorothy bridges, duane carter and david fettig for their assistance with these remarks. i would like to thank state senator alice johnson and executive director sia her for the invitation to attend the 2014 asian heritage dinner. i am honored to participate in this prestigious event. my talk tonight will consist of some reflections on diversity. i ’ ll first talk about the regional diversity that lies at the heart of the federal reserve system. i ’ ll talk next about my journey to my current position and the role that international diversity played in that journey. finally, i ’ ll close with some thoughts on the role of workplace diversity. my remarks represent my own views, which are not necessarily those of anyone else in the federal reserve system. the federal reserve system : a regionally diverse central bank i ’ ll begin by telling you a few things about my organization, the federal reserve system. i will be highlighting the role of regional diversity in the federal reserve ’ s formulation of economic policy. relative to other central banks around the world, the federal reserve system is highly decentralized. the federal reserve bank of minneapolis is one of 12 regional reserve banks that, along with the board of governors in washington, d. c., make up the federal reserve system. our bank represents the ninth of the 12 federal reserve districts and includes montana, the dakotas, minnesota, northwestern wisconsin and the upper peninsula of michigan. this basic structure has a long history. in fact, this year is the centennial of the opening of the 12 reserve banks and the start of the work undertaken by the federal reserve system. it ’ s been a fascinating hundred years, with many twists and turns along the way. i ’ m sure that many of you have questions about that journey. the answers to all of your questions – and probably more – are on a new website that the fed has created at federalreservehistory. org. i encourage you to visit this site to learn more about the people, places and events that have shaped federal reserve history. over the course of its long history, the federal reserve system has performed many economic functions. in my view, its regional diversity improves its effectiveness with respect to virtually all of those functions. however,