Where Asian Americans in Public Finance go, others hope to follow

The U.S. Supreme Court decision reversing affirmative action has helped breathe new life into some of California’s municipal bond industry affinity groups.

Some, like the four-year-old Muni Pride that went national this year and the Asians in Public Finance, were already clicking along.

But two former board members of Women in Public Finance — Carmen Vargas, director of U.S. Public Finance for Barclays, and Jade Turner-Bond, a Nixon Peabody partner in the firm’s Sacramento office — are helping to relaunch and/or reinvigorate Latinos in Public Finance and African Americans in Public Finance.

Vargas specifically mentioned the U.S. Supreme Court decision as a motivator, but also a mixer in Los Angeles in July that brought members from various affinity groups together.

That same month, the high court issued a ruling banning affirmative action, which is likely to compel colleges and universities to boost enrollment with costly outreach programs amid the prospect of chilled interest from nonwhite students, who represent the only growing segment of future student demand, sources told The Bond Buyer in July.

Analysts do not expect the June 29 SCOTUS ruling to impact ratings, because it will mostly affect highly selective, wealthier schools, but over the longer term it may prove costly and complicated to schools that want to maintain or create diverse student bodies.

Vargas, who spoke on a DEI panel at last week’s California Public Finance conference, said the ruling could result in high school students not applying to colleges.

“Since Proposition 209 (eliminated affirmative action in California), we have seen California universities and colleges work through it,” Vargas said.

Officials from both the University of California system and the California State University system told The Bond Buyer in July that they have created programs specifically aimed at maintaining diversity since Proposition 209 was approved by voters in 1996.

But the nascent affinity groups, fearing that high school students might be deterred from applying to colleges, want to offer scholarships and have outreach to high school students, similar to what the more established Asian Americans in Public Finance does.

Five affinity groups helped organize the July mixer in Los Angeles: African Americans in Public Finance, Asian Americans in Public Finance, Latinos in Public Finance, Muni Pride and Women in Public Finance.

Vargas and Turner-Bond said in interviews during the California Public Finance conference in San Francisco that they both decided to take what they learned working with WIP-LA and use it to strengthen their respective ethnic affinity groups. Vargas was a co-founder and former board member of Women in Public Finance’s Los Angeles Chapter, and also served on WIP’s national board in 2012. Turner-Bond served on WIP-LA’s board.

Latinos in Public Finance formerly launched on September 13 during a networking event at Nixon Peabody’s Los Angeles office. The launch included a fireside chat with Juan Fernandez, deputy treasurer of the state of California and Ben Ceja, assistant chief administrative officer for the city of Los Angeles, moderated by Vargas, president and co-founder of the affinity group.

The affinity group was originally launched in 2019, but gatherings were put on hold due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Vargas said. While the LPF launch is in Los Angeles, the aim is to grow into a national organization.

LPF Vice Presidents for Programming Eric Rodriguez of Citigroup and Angelica Valencia, a partner at Nixon Peabody and former Bond Buyer Rising Star, are planning a holiday reception in Los Angeles and events for 2024.

The African Americans in Public Finance group being formed includes Eugene Clark-Herrera, an Orrick partner; Vincent McCarley, CEO of Backstrom McCarley Berry & Co.; Gary Hall, president of the infrastructure and public finance division at Siebert Williams Shank & Co.; Gaspar David Stinfil, a managing director at Siebert; Dia Walrath, an associate at Nixon Peabody; Lisa Marie Harris, the finance director at San Diego County Water Authority, as well as Turner-Bond.

Lisa Smith, who retired from MUFG, and Celeste Davis, who retired from RBC, were the pair who sparked efforts to create a more formal organization, but they were soon joined by the others, Turner-Bond said.

Orrick typically hosts a reception for African-Americans annually during the conference, Turner-Bond said, but they wanted to have events more regularly, similar to Asian Americans in Public Finance, which has several events a year, and even hosts movie nights, she said.

They handed out surveys at the California Public Finance conference reception to see if there was interest in having a more robust group, and Turner-Bond said they are seeing a lot of interest. The goal is by the end of the year to have enough interest to support a 10-member board and attract younger members. The group also hopes to incorporate.

When WIP-LA hosted WIP’s national conference in the City of Angels in 2017, it was the first time the national organization (founded in 1997) had held its national conference away from its hometown of Chicago. Both Vargas and Turner-Bond were involved in organizing that event.

Turner-Bond, who was named a partner at Nixon Peabody in 2021, and a Bond Buyer Rising Star the same year, has been an active member and mentor to the firm’s Black Resource Group. She also helped develop Nixon Peabody’s podcast “To Live and Law in LA.”

A dinner for black women in public finance that Turner-Bond organized during last week’s conference ended up drawing more interest than the 22 people she had reserved seating for, she said, adding they would try to find a larger venue next time.

“It was a great success,” Turner-Bond said. “We had wanted to keep it intimate, so that people could get to know each other.”

The established Asian Americans in Public Finance also expected it might have to turn some people away from its Friday morning breakfast at The Bond Buyer’s California Public Finance conference last week, because it received so much interest.

Keynote speakers included Clifford Chan, general manager of the East Bay Municipal Utility District, California State Treasurer Fiona Ma and California State Controller Malia Cohen. San Francisco City Administrator Carmen Chu, who was Thursday’s keynote speaker of the conference, wasn’t present at the breakfast that drew 100 people, said Kevin Kone, chair of the organization. (The California Public Finance conference has keynote speakers on opening day — it was Ma— and the second day, which was Chu.)

“The breakfast was hugely successful,” Kone said. “All the speeches were inspiring.”

AAPF, a California-based organization with nationwide membership, typically holds four to six events annually in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles for its 300 members, Kone said. Though national, the affinity group’s membership is concentrated in northern and southern California and New York City, he said.

The organization has experienced steady growth since its inception. The focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion over the past few years has “just brought more visibility to our group and financial support for our programs,” Kone said. “I believe we are the largest affinity group in public finance in the country.”

The Asian Americans in Public Finance group was founded at a California Bond Buyer breakfast in 2003, according to the organization’s website, after members realized Asian-Americans were a growing force in the field.

The organization was established in recognition of the need for an organization to help its community network and advance, according to the website. It also created a directory of Asian Americans in public finance. It formally incorporated in 2007 as a California public benefit corporation and appointed its first board of directors.

In addition to events, the affinity group works “hard to bring Asian-Americans into the public finance industry through our scholarship and intern programs,” Kone said.

Affinity groups provide value to members because the groups enable participants to discuss workplace challenges, he said.

“We support members’ professional growth and provide a safe place to talk about sensitive issues,” he said. “The finance/banking industry has always been a predominantly white male-dominated industry.”

Speaking on the panel, Vargas said, the focus on DEI should not only incorporate mentorship, but even more important sponsorship. While allyship supports the goals of DEI, sponsors can actually help aid a person’s career growth, because they are in a position to choose who the lead banker will be on a bond deal, she said.

Tony Hughes, a Barclays managing director who heads public finance in the western region and Vargas’ mentor when she was an analyst and vice president at Citi in the late 1990s, approached her about moving over to her current position at Barclays from Samuel A. Ramirez & Co.

Hughes called Vargas his succession plan, adding he wants her to replace him when he’s ready to retire.