Esther L. George is first vice president and chief operating officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. In this capacity, she directs the Bank's operations throughout the Tenth Federal Reserve District. From 2001 through the appointment to her current position in 2009, Ms. George was senior vice president in charge of the Division of Supervision and Risk Management. In that position, she was responsible for the supervision and regulation of the District's 170 state-chartered member banks, and nearly 1,000 bank and financial holding companies, as well as the Bank's discount window and risk management functions. During her tenure in banking supervision, she was directly involved in the Tenth District's banking supervision and discount window lending activities during the banking crisis of the 1980s and post-9/11. She is a former chair of the Federal Reserve System's Community Banking Organizations Management Group. She is also a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's Management Committee, which is responsible for strategic planning and policy direction.

Ms. George joined the Bank in 1982 and was appointed to the official staff in 1995. She has held various leadership positions with the Bank, including in the Bank's research support functions, Public Affairs and Human Resources. She holds a BSBA degree in Business Administration from Missouri Western State University, St. Joseph, Mo., and an MBA degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She also is a graduate of the American Bankers Association Stonier Graduate School of Banking and the Stanford University Executive Program.