IN-PERSON | Monetary Policy and Economic Outlook with Kansas City Federal Reserve's Kim Robbins & Joseph Gruber

Kim Robbins has served as the First Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City since 2024. She will provide remarks on the importance of the Federal Reserve and the work it does based on her two decades of experience with the Federal Reserve Systemand its operations. Joe Gruber serves as Executive Vice President and the Director of Research for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. As the chief economist for the Tenth Federal Reserve District since 2020, he will provide an overview of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy work and an economic outlook.  As the regional headquarters of the nation’s central bank, the Kansas City Fed and its branches in Denver, Oklahoma City and Omaha serve the seven states of the Tenth Federal Reserve District: Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming, northern New Mexico and western Missouri.


Parking Information:

The Bank's visitor lot is located just west of the Bank building and can be accessed by turning left on Wyandotte from Memorial Drive. The visitor lot will be on your left. To access the overflow parking area, continue on Memorial Drive past Wyandotte, turning left into the parking lot. As a courtesy to our neighbors at the Liberty Memorial, please refrain from parking in their circle-drive.

When you enter the Bank building, please present your photo identification to the Law Enforcement Officers stationed in the vestibule and proceed through screening.

Please plan to arrive early for this program to find parking and pass through security. All attendees must bring a valid photo ID.

We look forward to your visit to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City!

A veteran in economic research, Joseph Gruber leads the Kansas City Fed’s Research division as well as Regional Affairs and Community Development staff as the executive vice president and director of research.   

Joseph took the helm of the Research division when he joined the Kansas City Fed in May 2020. No stranger to the Federal Reserve System, he brought with him more than 19 years of experience with the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, including various roles as a special advisor to the Vice Chairman of the Board and the deputy director of the International Finance Division.

Joseph holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in International Studies and Economics from the University of Washington, and a Ph.D. in Economics from Johns Hopkins University.

He has established himself as an adept and analytical researcher, with works published in a number of academic journals including the Journal of Monetary Economics, Journal of International Money and Finance, Review of International Economics, and the Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking.


Kim Robbins currently serves as first vice president and chief operating officer for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. She has responsibility for operations, risk, finance, human resources, information technology and Treasury Services. She is a member of the Kansas City Fed's Executive Leadership Council, which is responsible for strategic planning and policy direction. She also serves on several System committees and Treasury executive oversight roles. She assumed her current role in March of 2024.

Ms. Robbins began her career at the Omaha Branch in 1996 where she held analyst positions in Cash Services and Human Resources. She transferred to the Kansas City Office in 1998 and was promoted to a supervisory position in the Savings Bonds Department in 1999. She left the Bank in 2000 and held various financial and merchandising positions with GAP, Inc. and Payless ShoeSource prior to rejoining the Bank in 2007 as a manager in the Customer Relations and Support Office (CRSO).

Ms. Robbins was promoted to assistant vice president in the National Service Desk in 2010 and vice president in 2012 and assumed senior leadership responsibilities for the National Service Desk operations. She was named vice president of the Financial Services Policy Committee in 2016 and senior vice president in 2017. She assumed responsibilities as Chief Administrative Officer of FedNow in 2020 and in 2021, she joined Federal Reserve Financial Services as Chief of Enterprise Services.

Ms. Robbins holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.