Two experts in financial policy and market development will join the advisory board of the Georgetown University Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy, a nonpartisan finance and policy research group, the center announced Jan. 21.
The Psaros Center, which is housed in Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business, appointed Samara Cohen — the global head of market development at BlackRock, a leading investment firm — and Adrienne Harris (COL ’03), former superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services. The advisory board brings industry leaders in finance and policy to strategize for the future of the center and provide leadership for its research.
Reena Aggarwal, the Psaros Center’s director, said the advisory board is crucial in developing the center’s strategy and creating opportunities for student engagement.
“They help us think through strategic issues,” Aggarwal told The Hoya. “‘What are the issues that the Psaros Center should be focused on, and where should we be providing thought leadership?’ They help us reach out to people as speakers. For me, that is extremely helpful in brainstorming about things.”
The Psaros Center facilitates discussion forums, conducts research and engages students in modern-day solutions for finance and policy. Through research and conferences, it aims to provide advice to industry leaders and shape global finance.
Aggarwal said the board will be pivotal in determining the future of the Psaros Center, which received an $11 million donation in 2022 from Michael (GSB ’89) and Robin Psaros.
“At this point, we are starting to think about where we go from here,” Aggarwal said. “We’ve made tremendous progress in the last three, four years with the gift from Mike Psaros and his family, and now we’re ready to take the Psaros Center to a whole new level. The advisory board will play a critical role in helping us come up with a decision and strategy for the next couple of years.”
Cohen, who specializes in investment and financial innovations, said the Psaros Center needs to focus on digital assets and cryptocurrency.
“I think that’s the big global challenge ahead of us, and in my experience, it’s when technology and creativity create innovation, and academics and policymakers who help set the guardrails, and how those two things come together that create a system that really works, that people can trust,” Cohen said. “I think, at its core, that’s what I see the Psaros Center doing.”
Aggarwal said the Psaros Center’s advisory board also provides career opportunities to Georgetown students.
“I’m also interested in finding more and more possibilities for internships, both in the policy world and also in companies,” Aggarwal said. “Because we have these amazing people engaged with us, they’re willing to talk with our students and do a coffee chat with them. So the advisory board helps the center, but really helps Georgetown students in many different ways.”
Harris said she will bring her regulatory public sector experience to the advisory board.
“To have been a principal at a large and influential regulator, certainly in a place like New York, right in the financial capital, you learn a lot about how organizations should be run, about what works and what doesn’t work in regulation, about balancing consumer protection and market protection and market protection with economic development and thriving industry,” Harris told The Hoya. “And I don’t think you necessarily get that in all public policy or regulatory roles. So I hope I can leverage that experience to add value in this role with the center.”
Aggarwal said the advisory board aims to balance various approaches to financial markets and policy.
“Our advisory board is made up of very senior leaders from the private sector and also very senior leaders from the policy world,” Aggarwal said. “And Samara and Adrienne are perfect. Samara has held leadership roles and holds now at BlackRock, and Adrienne has been on the policy side, and both of them are sort of addressing cutting edge issues.”
Cohen said she is cautiously optimistic about the future of markets and policy.
“We are at a really pivotal moment in financial markets,” Cohen said. “There are real risks to how you onboard these technologies into connected, functioning systems. And this work that the Psaros Center does to bring together thinking and innovation with policymakers, like people who are advising the policy community, brings in a lot of sitting policymakers and academics who are doing the work and assessing the data.”
“Bringing those three things together in a way that instructs not just policy and rules, but also industry practices — to me, that’s what makes me optimistic that we will be able to successfully consume and deploy these new technologies in ways that create a better financial system,” Cohen added.
