The Power of Quiet Influence
Introverts have the power to inspire and influence leaders and organizations
alike. Amber Franssen is one of those people at the San Francisco Fed. She’s
flexible yet organized, quietly strong and confident. Her role as executive
assistant to First Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Gould fits
her to a tee.
Moving around and going with the flow
Growing up, Amber and her sister frequently moved, living with various
relatives and living in several locations. She took the experiences in stride.
“I lived with my parents off and on and mostly with my grandparents from
middle school through high school,” Amber shares.
She loved getting to know them and feels lucky to have had a close
relationship with each.
“My grandma on my mom’s side was a teacher at Ellsworth Air Force Base in
South Dakota before having children. My grandfather graduated from the South
Dakota School of Mines & Technology in Rapid City as an electrical engineer.
He worked for General Electric and Honeywell’s computer divisions. His
experience-training people led to a career in sales. He worked with the
original ‘room-sized’ computers. My grandmother on my dad’s side was a real
estate agent and she also owned multiple restaurants,” she says.
When they lived with their paternal grandmother, Amber and her sister would
tag along, learning about business and the value of hard work.
“At a young age, even in elementary school, I helped at her restaurants. I
used to help seat people as the hostess,” she says.
Fitting in anywhere
A dynamic home life meant geographical and experiential changes. Amber went to
nine different schools from elementary school through high school. For example, moving from a large East Bay high school in the San Francisco Bay Area to a tiny, rural high school in Northern California’s Calaveras County.
But she adjusted
quickly.
“I really enjoyed living in Calaveras County. The pace of life is slower,
people are down to earth, and I have some really good friends I met there,”
she says. “A lot of people comment that the changes must have been hard, but
it didn’t faze me much. I just kept moving on.”
Whether in a rural or urban environment, Amber’s guiding North Star was to
obtain a higher education.
“My main goal was making sure I did well and went to college. My parents did
not finish college, but my grandparents showed me the importance of an
education.”
An ironic switch of majors
Amber went to the University of California at Santa Barbara, arriving with
wisdom beyond her years.
“I remember my roommate laughing because I was balancing my bank account. I
was paying my bills, making sure I could get by each quarter. My friends
didn’t have to do that,” Amber recalls. “It was a different experience, but it
teaches you responsibility early on.”
She briefly studied business economics before deciding that economics was not
for her. It’s an ironic twist, considering she would someday work at the San
Francisco Fed among top economists, including President and CEO Mary Daly.
Amber switched majors to communication, which suited her better. She also
worked as a purchasing assistant in a research office on campus to offset
costs. As much as her classes were educating her, it was working and putting
herself through school that really prepared Amber for the future.
“It gave me a good insight into what working in an office is like. I processed
invoices and conducted the annual inventory for all their research devices,”
she recalls.
Calmly workin’ it
Following an early career in marketing and advertising sales, Amber switched
gears. At the San Francisco Fed, she landed a position complementing her
strengths in organization and communication, and playing to her interest in
economics.
After nine years on the job, she’s met former SF Fed presidents Janet Yellen
(later Chair of the Federal Reserve) and John Williams (now President and CEO
of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York). She’s rubbed shoulders with highly
regarded and nationally recognized leaders. Embedded in the deep-thought
environment of the San Francisco Fed’s executive floor, she takes it all in
stride.
What are Fed leaders really like? “Easy to approach,” Amber sums up. “It’s fun
working with these amazing people who are really well known in economics,
cash, and the banking industries. I feel privileged to know them on a personal
and work basis.”
The answer surprises many people outside of the Fed who often think of the
organization as austere and intimidating. The reality of an open office where
employees can come chat seems strange.
“I know some people hesitate to come up to the floor, but I talk with our
executives every day. I really do feel you can ask any question, and they’re
happy to explain in a way that is easy for all people to understand,” Amber
says.
As an executive assistant, Amber relies on her communications background and
ability to influence at all levels of the organization. Her daily duties
include heavy calendar management, tracking action items, and coordinating
travel arrangements for First Vice President Gould. Day-to-day, she also
collaborates with various departments and business areas throughout the
organization to get things done. She’s known as the go-to expert for systems
used to coordinate physical and logistical access to documents, event
management tools, and those used to coordinate with security and police
services.
Managing numerous business-critical updates and reviews would make others’
heads spin. Impressed by Amber’s ability to navigate the systems with ease,
her peers nominated her for the San Francisco Fed’s
e3 Award in 2019, recognizing employees who engage others, enable growth, and excel in their
work.
Amber received the honor for her department in the fall of 2019.
Her colleague tagged her for the award because of the generous and skillful
way she shares her expertise on the many processes in place in the offices of
the SF Fed’s top leadership. Mr. Gould enthusiastically agreed in a video made
for the award ceremony: “A lot of times you exhibit this quiet influence
behind the scenes. Always with a smile. Helping people to get their work done.
Exhibiting influence and collaboration and this spirit of helping people
understand these systems.”
Mr. Gould noted that with Amber on the job, “everything happens seamlessly,
efficiently, and effectively.”
Asked how she felt about the honor, Amber gives a small shrug and smile,
responding, “I’m not big on attention, but I appreciate the nice recognition.”