For immediate release: January 12, 2021

ATLANTA—The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta announces the designation of Elizabeth A. Smith as the 2021 chair of its board of directors, and Claire Lewis Arnold as the 2021 deputy chair. Both are Class C directors, appointed to the board by the Board of Governors in Washington, DC.

Smith is former executive chair of Bloomin' Brands Inc. in Tampa, Florida, and previously served as chairman and CEO for the restaurant brand that includes Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill, and Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar. Prior joining to Bloomin' Brands, she was president of Avon Products and previously worked in several roles at Kraft Foods. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia and Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Arnold is CEO of Leapfrog Services Inc. in Atlanta, a managed service provider she cofounded in 1998. Prior to starting Leapfrog, she acquired and was CEO of NCC, a local distributor of consumer goods to convenience stores and mass merchandisers, and she built it into one of Georgia's five largest privately held companies. She also previously spent nearly 10 years with Coca-Cola USA. She is a graduate of Mary Baldwin College in Virginia.

Additionally, Gregory A. Haile has been elected by Group 2 member banks to the board of directors serving a three-year term beginning January 1, 2021, and ending December 31, 2023. Haile is a Class B director.

Haile has served as president of Broward College in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, since 2018. Before that, he was general counsel and vice president of public policy and government affairs for the college. He is a graduate of Columbia University School of Law and Arizona State University.

The Bank also announces the following reappointments and reelections:

  • Myron A. Gray, former president of U.S. operations at United Parcel Service in Atlanta, was reappointed by the Board of Governors to serve on the board of directors for one year of a three-year term beginning January 1, 2021, and ending December 31, 2023. Gray, who previously served as board chair, is a Class C director.
  • Kessel D. Stelling Jr., chairman and CEO of Synovus Financial Corp. in Columbus, Georgia, has been reelected by Group 1 member banks to a three-year term on the board of directors beginning January 1, 2021, and ending December 31, 2023. Stelling is a Class A director.
  • Rajinder P. Singh, chairman, president, and CEO of BankUnited Inc. in Miami, has been reappointed the Sixth District representative to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors' Federal Advisory Council. He was reappointed by the Atlanta board of directors to a one-year term beginning January 1, 2021, and ending December 31, 2021.

The remaining Atlanta Fed Board of Directors includes:

  • Robert W. Dumas, chairman, president, and CEO of AuburnBank in Auburn, Alabama (Class A, term expires December 31, 2022),
  • Mary A. Laschinger, former chairman and CEO of Veritiv Corporation in Atlanta (Class B, term expires December 31, 2022),
  • Michael Russell, CEO of H.J. Russell & Company in Atlanta (Class B, term expires December 31, 2021), and
  • Claire W. Tucker, CEO of CapStar Financial Holdings in Nashville, Tennessee (Class A, term expires December 31, 2021).

Each of the nation's 12 Federal Reserve Banks has a nine-member board of directors. Three Class A directors are generally bankers and are elected by national and state-chartered banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System. Three Class B directors are also elected by these banks but represent commerce, industry, agriculture, labor, and consumers. Three Class C directors represent the same broad array of public interests but are appointed by the Board of Governors in Washington, DC. The Reserve Bank's chair and deputy chair must be Class C directors.

The board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta oversees the management of the bank's operations and recommends changes in the discount rate. Board members also contribute to the formulation of U.S. monetary policy through the economic information they provide the bank's president.