Join us for our next virtual Racial Equity and Social Justice Conversation event with Fels Distinguished Fellow Matt Stitt '12 and guest David Byerman '95, lead consultant for the Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation (CLEAR) and president of the Byerman Solutions Group. The conversation will surround the issue of racial bias in home appraisals and the consequences of inequitable treatment of borrowers.
About David Byerman:
David Byerman ‘95 is a nationally acclaimed governmental administrator and an authority on legislative process, public management, and parliamentary procedure. His unique career path has spanned executive roles in both the private and public sectors. He has a strong track record for innovation and outside-the-box thinking and an outstanding reputation with business, nonprofit, and government constituencies.
A well-known advocate of participatory democracy and an award-winning governmental administrator, Byerman served previously as the 12th director of Kentucky’s Legislative Research Commission (LRC) and as the 40th secretary of the senate for Nevada. In both roles, he served as chief executive of large and multi-faceted legislative staffs.
As director of the LRC, Byerman oversaw an agency of nearly 400 permanent employees with an annual budget of $70.4 million. As secretary of the senate for Nevada, he oversaw an agency of nearly 100 session employees, with an annual budget of $21.5 million. In these roles, he developed a variety of innovations and became nationally known as an advocate for citizen involvement and participatory democracy. He was the recipient of the Kevin B. Harrington Award for Excellence in Democracy Education by the National Conference of State Legislatures in 2014. Secretary Byerman was also honored with the Jean Ford Democracy Award from Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller and the Liberty Bell Award from the Clark County Law Foundation.
As a consultant most recently, Byerman has managed a cooperative agreement between CLEAR (a large international association of regulators) and the Appraisal Subcommittee of the Federal Financial Institutions Examinations Council (FFIEC). The purpose of this partnership is to provide key research, data development, and training services to the appraisal regulatory system. The partnership also plays a key role in supporting the federal response to the issue of alleged bias in residential home appraisals, an urgent and timely public policy issue that prompted the White House creation of a Presidential Commission.
In the private sector, Byerman has served in executive roles for several organizations, most notably for MGM Resorts International, a Fortune 300 company, where he served as a director of communications. In the public sector, Byerman has served on the senior staff for Nevada Governor Bob Miller, as chief of the program development division for the Nevada Department of Transportation, and as chief government liaison for Nevada for the US Census Bureau, where he led the statewide census effort in 2000 and 2010.
Byerman previously served on the board of directors for Leadership Kentucky and currently serves on the board of directors for the Kentucky YMCA Youth Association, an organization that focuses on civic education programs for youth. He has also served on the board of advisors for Polco, a private-sector company that supports civic engagement through technology for city and county governments.
Byerman earned his BA, magna cum laude, from the University of Redlands, with a double major in political science and history and graduated with interdisciplinary honors. He earned his MGA (Master of Governmental Administration) at the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania.
About the series:
The Fels Racial Equity and Social Justice Series, led by Fels Distinguished Fellow Matt Stitt ‘12, is designed to provide students with a variety of perspectives on how public policy impacts racial equity and social justice. The series includes conversations with elected officials, policymakers, and public sector leaders to examine how policy, legislation, and practice can further racial equity and social justice goals. Fels is proud to offer these important conversations to Fels students and alumni, the entire Penn community, and members of the public.
Virtual information session: A link to the session website will be sent to you via email on the day of the event.
