Jelena McWilliams

Jelena McWilliams was sworn in as the 21st chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) on June 5, 2018. She serves a six-year term on the FDIC Board of Directors, and is designated as chairman for a term of five years.  Prior to joining the FDIC, McWilliams was executive vice president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary for Fifth Third Bank in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Prior to joining Fifth Third, she worked in the United States Senate for six years, most recently as chief counsel and deputy staff director with the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, and as assistant chief counsel with the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship committee.  From 2007 to 2010, McWilliams served as an attorney with the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.  Before entering public service, she practiced corporate and securities law at Morrison & Foerster LLP in Palo Alto, California, and Hogan & Hartson LLP (now Hogan Lovells LLP) in Washington, D.C.  She graduated with highest honors from the University of California at Berkeley with a Bachelor of Science in political science, and earned her Juris Doctor from the UC Berkeley School of Law.