Neel Kashkari
President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
First recorded May 12, 2020
Neel Kashkari is the president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, a position he has held since 2016. The Minneapolis Fed addresses public policy topics and supports initiatives that it believes are important for advancing prosperity across the Upper Midwest region.
Neel was instrumental in establishing the Opportunity & Inclusive Growth Institute at the Minneapolis Fed. This includes the Fed’s focus on addressing the challenges of early childhood education and housing affordability head-on.
Most recently, he has joined with retired Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan Page to propose amending Minnesota’s constitution to make quality public education a fundamental right. This effort supports the Fed’s mandate to achieve maximum employment, with education being a key to obtaining a good job.
Neel earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois. He became an aerospace engineer, developing technology for NASA missions. Eventually turning to finance and public policy, he earned his MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, joined Goldman Sachs, and served in several senior positions at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, including overseeing the Troubled Asset Relief Program during the 2008 financial crisis. Before joining the Minneapolis Fed, he ran for governor of California in 2014 on a platform focused on economic opportunity.