January/February 2008

Sally Green, SM '78

Federal Reserve role shapes everyday economics.

By Eileen McCluskey

Sally Green affects people's lives through economics every day. As chief operating officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Green helps keep the nation's monetary and financial system strong. "I feel privileged to be responsible for the health of this region's many financial institutions," she says. "We influence the lives not only of the several thousand people employed by our bank, but also the public at large."

Under Green, the Richmond Fed handles more than $4 trillion dollars a day in securities transfers, check clearing, and other transactions. "We also provide cash to the financial institutions so they can provide it to their consumer and corporate customers," Green says. "We make sure that the payment system is safe, efficient, and accessible to everyone in the U.S."

Green also supports economic-education and financial-literacy programs. "Often we partner with nonprofit and educational institutions in these efforts," she explains. "The programs are designed to help ensure that everyone in the United States has the skills and the access to be productive members of our society."

Green earned a BA in economics at Mount Holyoke College in 1969, worked in city planning in Duluth, MN, and then moved to Cambridge, MA-based Abt Associates, where she served as a contract manager and senior analyst until 1977. After earning her MIT management degree, Green started working with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston as assistant vice president in research and community affairs. She rose to executive vice president for payments, technology, and resource planning and management, and in 2006, transferred to the Richmond, VA, office as COO.

Green remains connected with her MIT classmates. She was part of an accelerated, one-year management program, which covered the first year's coursework in one summer. "We grew very close, essentially living with each other that summer," she says. "I find those friendships to be very important to this day."

Green also treasures time spent skiing, kayaking, and biking with her husband, Bill, who recently retired from Hewlett-Packard. "We love to be outdoors, whatever the season," she says. Their daughter Amanda Helming works with ESPN Disney in Manhattan. Their daughter Devin lives in Boulder, CO, where she works for Action Marketing Group. Green says, "They are my great supporters, my great joy."