“Being the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was actually not a dream come true for me — or anyone, because no one had ever conceived of an institution built solely for the protection of consumers.
Once there, we all felt deep pride in our mission, but also the weight of the great burden of restoring the faith of so many people who had been hurt by large financial institutions.
I learned that protecting consumers means so much more when you look into what consumers themselves care about. It means protecting families, which is the pillar for future opportunity. It means treating all people equally, and setting up circumstances in which they can thrive. It’s protecting people’s homes — we’ve seen how mismanagement of housing protections can affect the entire economy. Mismanagement caused a deep and lasting financial recession which will affect families for generations, especially families of color.
And most importantly, protecting the consumer means upholding our democracy. People need to trust that government will represent them, will work for them, and fight for them.
Fortunately, there are organizations like NCLC, and all the people who work in consumer law — a particularly hard working and dedicated community. They know how much of a difference it makes to people and families when they know someone is out there representing them, fighting for them. Against long odds and great opposition, people in this community go in day after day to do more for their clients and communities.
I have the deepest respect and admiration for the consumer law community and NCLC. There is always more work to be done, but I have the utmost confidence in the community and NCLC to fight on.”