Ms. Nikita Pearson

Nikita serves as Deputy to the Chairman for External Affairs and Director of the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI). As Deputy to the Chairman she manages the FDIC's broader engagement mission, including oversight of the FDIC's Office of Communications and Office of the Ombudsman. As OMWI Director, she is responsible for: promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility among the FDIC's 6,000 employees; assessing diversity policies and practices of approximately 3,200 banks supervised by the FDIC; and increasing participation of minority-owned and women-owned businesses in the FDIC's operations.

Nikita has testified before the U.S. House Financial Services Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee to discuss the agency's efforts to enhance diversity and inclusion in the FDIC's workforce and contracting, and to promote financial inclusion. She has been featured in Minority Business Entrepreneur Magazine, Diversity Professional Magazine, and Federal News Network. Nikita serves as co-Chair of the Economic Development Cluster for the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity. Excellence. and Economic Opportunity through Historically Black College and Universities. She also serves as the FDIC's representative on the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics.

Nikita is an experienced executive, serving on several of the FDIC's executive committees, including being a voting member of the Audit Committee and Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Executive Advisory Council. She is a commissioned bank examiner that has held progressively more responsible positions in three of the FDIC's six regions and Washington Office since joining the agency in 1998.

Nikita holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from Savannah State University, Savannah, Georgia, where she graduated magna cum laude and joined Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. She also completed the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and holds an Executive Education Certificate from Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.