WASHINGTON, D.C.— This week the Senate confirmed Janet Yellen appointment to be Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, making her the first woman to lead the agency in its 232-year history.

As the previous head of the Council of Economic Advisers and former Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Secretary Yellen worked with AEO to champion impactful, effective fiscal policies. With her new position as head of the nation’s leading financial institution, we believe that Secretary Yellen holds the aptitude and resolve to provide consequential support to the country’s most vulnerable. Precisely, this historic moment comes at a time when the nation’s smallest and most fragile entrepreneurs and small business owners are grappling with desperate economic challenges brought on by the coronavirus pandemic and decades of systemic hurdles.

As Secretary Yellen takes the helm of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, AEO stands ready to support and assist our nation’s top economic leader—and Congress—in creating economic opportunities for underserved entrepreneurs and engineer transformational change that gives way to a robust and inclusive marketplace. In tandem with such goals, we push to safeguard and grow the country’s vast network of Community Development Financial Institutions through the CDFI Fund at the Department of Treasury.

To this end, we emphatically concur with Secretary Yellen’s call for lawmakers and the Biden Administration to provide further action to combat the current economic and health crisis. Such actions would mitigate the risk of a deeper, more severe recession now and long-term damage to the country’s small business ecosystem.

Connie Evans, President & CEO
The Association for Enterprise Opportunity

About Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO)
AEO is the leading voice of innovation for microbusiness and microfinance. We create economic opportunity for underserved entrepreneurs throughout the United States. We engineer transformational change through Research, Incubation, Convening & Advocacy to foster a robust and inclusive marketplace. For more information, visit aeoworks.org.

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