Jackson Winsett is assistant vice president and community affairs officer for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, which serves the seven states of the Tenth District: Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming, northern New Mexico and western Missouri. Winsett oversees research, resource development and outreach initiatives that promote community development and fair and impartial access to credit. 

“I am fairly new to the function of community development; however, my passion for it runs deep,” he said. “I’m honored to lead a team of community and economic development professionals located in Kansas City and each of our Branch offices.” 

Winsett develops the Kansas City Fed’s community and economic development strategy, leads the execution of programs and manages the Community Development Advisory Council. In 2019, he has been focused on digital inclusion initiatives and applying innovation concepts and methodologies into the daily functions of team members. 

“In a nutshell, the innovation program trains community development leaders on how to approach and solve their issues differently. I am excited about all of our upcoming initiatives because of the positive impact each one of them brings,” he said.

Winsett joined the Bank in 2015 after having leadership positions at Navy Federal Credit Union and the IBM Corp. For more than 20 years, Winsett has utilized his blend of business and technical knowledge across a broad range of industries. He has defined and implemented technology, business and operational improvement solutions that aligned with business strategies and objectives to grow revenue and strengthen performance.

The move into community development stemmed from a desire to work more closely with his community and to help those around him.

“I grew up in urban Kansas City, Missouri, and watched my neighborhood decline year after year since I was born and it still hasn’t really bounced back,” he said. “It’s an honor to have this opportunity to strive to improve the socioeconomic prospects of low- and moderate-income communities.” 

Before he accepted the position, he did extensive research about community development and the important role the KC Fed plays in strengthening communities through research and activities related to affordable housing, workforce development, small business development, and access to credit, healthy communities and the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). He found it inspiring.

“I felt I’d have a bigger voice to serve the community; it is a great opportunity to be involved and know first-hand the needs of our region,” he said. “I feel privileged to carry out the mission of the central bank’s community development efforts.”

Winsett says process improvement goes hand in hand with innovation and that is what he hopes to bring to the team. He wants to encourage the team to challenge everything—long-accepted ways of working, successful programs and initiatives and effective working processes—to continuously improve. In fact, the Kansas City Fed is elevating innovation in its culture with a dedicated team, training and tools. 

“My goal is to try to find areas for improvement and seed innovation concepts to leave our comfort zone. I also want to support the team any way I can by promoting and celebrating their achievements, which is very important to me as a leader,” he said.

His two passions outside of work are his family and traveling with them internationally to experience different cultures together. He and his wife have been married for more than 16 years and have two children: a 13-year-old son and an 8-year-old daughter.