2025 Community Banking Research Conference

Michael S. Barr took office as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on July 19, 2022, for an unexpired term ending January 31, 2032. Mr. Barr served as the Vice Chair for Supervision of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from July 19, 2022, to February 28, 2025.

Prior to his appointment to the Board, Mr. Barr was the Joan and Sanford Weill Dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, the Frank Murphy Collegiate Professor of Public Policy, the Roy F. and Jean Humphrey Proffitt Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School, and the founder and faculty director of the University of Michigan's Center on Finance, Law & Policy. At the University of Michigan Law School, Mr. Barr taught financial regulation and international finance and co-founded the International Transactions Clinic and the Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project.

Mr. Barr served as the U.S. Department of the Treasury's assistant secretary for financial institutions, 2009-2010. Under President William J. Clinton, he served as the Treasury Secretary's special assistant, as deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury, as special adviser to the President, and as a special adviser and counselor on the policy planning staff at the U.S. Department of State.

Additionally, Mr. Barr served as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter during October Term 1993, and previously to the Honorable Pierre N. Leval, then of the Southern District of New York.

Mr. Barr received a BA in history from Yale University, an MPhil in international relations from Oxford University, and a JD from Yale Law School.

Jim Fuchs is a vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, overseeing the operations of the bank’s Applications, Credit, Reserves, Statistics, Business Line Training Services, Quality Assurance, Digital Transformation Consulting, Supervision Policy Research and Analysis, and Supervision Outreach units. Fuchs also oversees a wide range of national outreach programs developed by the St. Louis Fed for community bankers and is a member of several Federal Reserve System workgroups focused on community banking issues. Fuchs also chairs the organizing committee the Federal Reserve/ Conference of State Bank Supervisors’/FDIC annual Community Banking Research Conference. Before joining the St. Louis Fed, Fuchs served as a banking policy adviser and directed financial communications for New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. Earlier, he was chief of staff to former New York State Banking Superintendent Diana Taylor and served as an advisor to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He is a former captain in the United States Air Force serving during Operations Desert Storm, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom. Fuchs received his MBA from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and his Bachelor of Science from the U.S. Air Force Academy. He also earned a graduate certificate in communications from the University of Oklahoma and a teaching certificate in secondary mathematics from City College in New York. In addition, Fuchs is a graduate of the Department of Defense Information School and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He is also a graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.

On August 18, 2025, Kara Hunter began serving as Colorado’s State Bank Commissioner, responsible for the regulation of state-chartered commercial banks, trust companies, licensed money transmitters, and the Public Deposit Protection Act under the Colorado State Banking Board’s policy and rule-making authority.

Ms. Hunter has been with the Colorado Division of Banking since 1998, serving as Director of Operations from 2001 and Deputy State Bank Commissioner from January 2020. Throughout her tenure, she has provided strategic and operational leadership, managing regulatory programs, budget oversight, and staff supervision, while acting as a key advisor on complex regulatory issues and coordinating with federal agencies.

Before joining the Division, she was a senior examiner at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City - Denver Branch, where she began her career as a bank examiner trainee in 1989.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and Political Science from Augustana College – Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Brandon Milhorn is the president and chief executive officer of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS), the national association representing state financial regulators and a champion for the system of state financial supervision. He was appointed by the Board of Directors in December 2023. CSBS supports state regulators by advocating for responsible policy; engaging with federal regulatory counterparts, the Administration, and Congress; providing research on economic matters, industry trends, and best practices; conducting training and professional development; and developing transformative supervisory technology, such as the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System and Registry.

Milhorn previously held leadership roles at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), serving as deputy to Vice Chairman Travis Hill and as chief of staff and deputy to Chairman Jelena McWilliams. Before the FDIC, he spent seven years in the private sector with Raytheon Corporation. Before Raytheon, he held numerous positions over a decade of public service, including as staff director and chief counsel for the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, general counsel for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and as an attorney at the CIA. He began his career with two federal clerkships.

Milhorn holds a B.S. in economics from East Tennessee State University and a J.D. from Cornell Law School.

Alberto G. Musalem is the president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. In this role, he participates on the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee, or FOMC,
which meets at least eight times each year to set the direction of U.S. monetary policy. He also oversees the activities of the Eighth Federal Reserve District at its St. Louis headquarters and branches in Little Rock, Ark., Louisville, Ky., and Memphis, Tenn. These activities include economic research, fiscal agent responsibilities for the U.S. Treasury, supervision of District financial institutions, community development, and regional payments, transparency, technology and support functions. As the St. Louis Fed president, Musalem makes public outreach a priority, talking regularly with people and communities across the Eighth District about the economy. Engaging with Main Street provides him with important insights as he represents the District at the monetary policy table. Musalem is an economist and executive with nearly three decades of prior public and private sector experience in economic policy, finance and markets. He earned a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania. He also holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees in economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science. 

Kathleen Navin is a senior business economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis in the division of Supervision. Navin’s responsibilities pertain to analyzing and presenting on economic and banking conditions in the United States and regionally. Prior to joining the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Navin held the position of Economics Executive Director in U.S. Economics at S&P Global Market Intelligence, joining the firm through the acquisition of Macroeconomic Advisers. In this role, she produced analysis on economic data and forecasts related to the US economic outlook and developed alternative macroeconomic scenarios for use in bank stress testing. She was previously a research associate at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City in the division of Macroeconomics and Monetary Policy. Navin graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Economics and her Master of Arts in Economics from the University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri. Navin is an active member of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE), currently serving a three-year term as a member of its board of directors. She became a member of NABE’s inaugural class of Certified Business Economists in 2015.

President and CEO Alexander Price is responsible for the oversight of all seven branches of the bank, and serves as a director for Citizens State Bank and CSBO Holdings, Inc.

Alexander has spent his career in technology. He started on the government side as the IT policy advisor and speechwriter for Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper. Alexander then moved to the business development side, working for companies in application platforms and manufacturing and restaurant automation. He has a BA in international relations and economics from Claremont McKenna College and an MBA from Northwestern University.

Antonio Salazar is the commissioner of the Maryland Department Financial Regulation. Commissioner Salazar is an attorney with a distinguished 39-year career in the banking and financial services sector. He is currently serving his eighth year as Maryland’s Commissioner of Financial Regulation. Under his leadership, Maryland’s consumer financial protection agency oversees the chartering, licensing, and supervision of all state-chartered depository institutions and financial service providers. As Maryland’s financial regulator, Commissioner Salazar is an active member of CSBS, where he serves as Chair of the Board of Directors and is a member of the Non-Depository Supervisory Committee. He maintains regular contact with federal regulatory authorities, other state bank regulators, and state and federal legislators. Committed to strengthening community banks and the dual banking system, he has led his office in early adoption of the State Examination System, sponsored various financial service model laws such as the Model Money Transmission Act, and achieved accreditation as a banking, mortgage, and money service business regulatory agency. His office has also championed the Maryland Access to Banking Act, incentivizing community bank investments in underbanked communities. In addition to his regulatory duties, Commissioner Salazar is a member of the Maryland Commission on Financial Education and Capability. He is honored to be a part of the AIR TechSprint judging team.

Joey Samowitz is a director of policy development with the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS). He serves as the senior analyst and facilitator on multiple committees and provides analysis on regulatory and legislative topics. Samowitz’s areas of focus include cryptocurrency, fintech and bank supervision. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, going on to serve as campaign manager for then Maryland House of Delegates Majority Leader Anne Kaiser. After the campaign’s completion, he worked for the Washington Commanders football team, eventually becoming an assistant for owner Dan Snyder. He joined CSBS in 2017.

Thomas Siems is the chief economist with the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS). He joined CSBS in 2019 after serving 34 years at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and more than 20-year teaching at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Siems earned a Bachelor of Science in industrial and operations engineering from the University of Michigan and his Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in operations research from Southern Methodist University. Siems is also a graduate of the Graduate School of Banking at Colorado and has published more than 75 articles in academic, Federal Reserve and referred journals. He delivered a 2015 TEDxSMU Talk, “The Wealth of Innovations,” and has authored five children’s picture books, including “The Dangerous Pet,” which poetically helps readers understand the dangers of debt. 

Carl White is the senior vice president of the Supervision, Credit, Community Development and Learning Innovation division at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. White has more than 35 years of experience in the Supervision Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.  He is currently senior vice president of the Supervision, Credit and Learning Innovation Division. He has served in various other roles within Safety and Soundness, beginning his career as an examiner. Mr. White has served as lead instructor and course developer on numerous Fed System training courses, including an international assignment in Brazil. In addition, he served as the central point of contact for the District’s largest state member bank before and during the financial crisis. He and his team were nominated for the District’s President’s Award for Innovation as a result of efforts to implement and enhance off-site loan review and examination processes. Mr. White holds a bachelor’s degree with a major in finance from St. Louis University.