Clara Rulegura Ford is a bank examiner at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, evaluating financial institutions with asset sizes below $10 billion to ensure their safety and soundness. Her responsibilities include assessing capital adequacy, asset quality, management performance, board oversight, liquidity, earnings and sensitivity to market rates. This commission, granted by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, represents the culmination of a four-year pursuit and stands among her most significant professional achievements. Her career reflects a longstanding dedication to banking, economic development and community empowerment, blending technical expertise with a deep commitment to public service.
Ms. Ford’s educational accomplishments have been central to her career success. She earned a Master of Arts in economics, sustainability and development from Southern Methodist University in Dallas after completing a Master of Arts in applied economics from the same institution. These graduate studies built on her undergraduate degree in accounting and were complemented by professional development courses such as Word Quick Tips through LinkedIn Learning.
Ms. Ford’s path to her current role was shaped by years of progressive experience in banking operations, commercial credit underwriting and regulatory oversight. Before assuming her position as a commissioned examiner, she was a senior associate examiner at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, where she transitioned from direct banking operations to regulatory responsibilities. In this capacity, she applied her knowledge of commercial credit and operational systems to ensure institutions adhered to established guidelines while maintaining sound risk management practices.
Earlier in her career, Ms. Ford was assistant vice president and commercial lending officer at Merrill Lynch, now Merrill under Bank of America Corporation. There, she managed commercial lending portfolios, crafted client acquisition strategies and strengthened retention efforts. During this period, she received an employment offer from Bank of America Corporation that included a post-tax signing bonus of $40,000. This opportunity enabled her to formally register her nonprofit organization in Tanzania and begin acquiring land in her father’s village for a planned community center.
From her tenure as a commercial credit underwriter at JPMorgan Chase & Co., Ms. Ford deepened her expertise in evaluating creditworthiness, mitigating risks and developing client-focused solutions. Her entry into banking followed her graduation from the University of Houston-Downtown, where she earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting while balancing the demands of work and family life. Her early professional years included service as a manufacturing specialist at Texas Instruments Incorporated, operating precision equipment for computer chip production, as well as experience in sales and customer service at Target.
As founder and president of Kijiji Innovative Sustainable Solutions (KISS), Ms. Ford leads initiatives to address poverty through sustainable, research-driven approaches rooted in village development. The organization partners with institutions such as the Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity, the University of Dar es Salaam and the University of Science and Technology to implement solutions like compressed earth blocks for eco-friendly construction. She regularly travels to Tanzania to conduct training on soil assessment, block production and workflow optimization, with participation in these programs steadily growing.
Ms. Ford’s memberships include Beta Gamma Sigma International Honor Society, the Bill Clinton Global Initiative University 2020 Cohort, the Diaspora Council of Tanzanians in America and the Tanzanian Cycling Club. Fluent in Swahili and English, she is also pursuing proficiency in Mandarin and Italian. She enjoys traveling, cycling, reading and studying historical topics, all, and the Tanzanian Cycling Club. Fluent in Swahili and English, she is also pursuing proficiency in Mandarin and Italian. She enjoys traveling, cycling, reading, and studying historical topics while balancing her responsibilities as a mother of three.
In the future, Ms. Ford envisions retiring from her regulatory position to devote herself fully to expanding the work of KISS, empowering communities in Tanzania through entrepreneurship, sustainable construction and long-term development initiatives.