Mary Daly

Mary Daly became president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco in 2018, the first openly gay person to lead a Federal Reserve Bank. She has a labor economics background and her FOMC positions have tended toward dovish, emphasizing the importance of full employment and the distributional implications of monetary policy. Daly is known for accessible communication about Fed policy and for bringing perspectives from the technology-heavy San Francisco Fed district. She has spoken extensively on income inequality and the future of work in the age of automation. Her academic work focused on disability, labor supply, and labor force participation — research that gave her particular insight into segments of the labor force that are often underrepresented in aggregate statistics. She grew up in difficult economic circumstances and has spoken candidly about her personal experience with economic hardship as context for her policy focus on full employment and broad labor market participation. Her district covers the Western United States including California's technology sector, giving the San Francisco Fed unusual visibility into tech industry cycles, venture investment, and housing costs. She became a regular presence in media discussions about Federal Reserve policy, known for clear and direct communication with lay audiences.