Press
NCUA’s OMWI director James retiring
ALEXANDRIA, VA (January 2, 2014) — Tawana Y. James, Director of the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion at the National Credit Union Administration, will retire today.
James started at NCUA in 1980 as a temporary technician and later became an examiner. Most recently, Ms. James led the establishment of the agency’s Office of Minority and Women Inclusion as part of the implementation of Section 342 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. In this role, she addressed issues of diversity, civil rights and the promotion of minority and women hiring, as well as the contracting practices of minority- and women-owned businesses within NCUA and the credit union industry at large.
“Promoting greater diversity is one of this agency’s top priorities,” NCUA Board Chairman Debbie Matz said, “and Tawana has served NCUA and the credit union system well in her role as point person on these issues. She took on the formidable task of creating a new office with broad responsibilities and succeeded. She also provided valuable support for credit unions serving diverse communities. Everyone has benefitted from her wealth of experience and her top-notch management skills, and we will miss her greatly.”
Since 1994, James has held executive-level positions at NCUA. Prior to taking over as OMWI Director in January 2011, James served as Director of the Office of Small Credit Union Initiatives, Deputy Executive Director, a regional director, Deputy Director of the Office of Examination and Insurance, and an associate regional director of operations. Earlier in her career, James was a problem case officer, a problem loss officer and a director of supervision.
“Tawana James has spent 36 years in public service and has been a valuable employee at NCUA,” Board Member Michael E. Fryzel said. “She has done an outstanding job as head of the Office of Minority Women and Inclusion, and her expertise will be missed. We wish her good health and happiness as she begins the next chapter in her life.”
James holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Maryland’s Towson State University and attended the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Program for Senior Managers. She is also a recipient of several NCUA recognitions, including a 2012 Supervisor of the Year Award and the 2007 Pete Crear Lifetime Achievement Award.
Upon James’ retirement, Linda Dent, NCUA’s Associate General Counsel for Administrative Law, will take over as Acting OMWI Director. NCUA will name a permanent OMWI Director at a later date.
NCUA is the independent federal agency created by the U.S. Congress to regulate, charter and supervise federal credit unions. With the backing of the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government, NCUA operates and manages the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, insuring the deposits of more than 95 million account holders in all federal credit unions and the overwhelming majority of state-chartered credit unions.