VIDEO | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau CDO: Do a Lot of Listening

(US and Canada) Ren Essene, Chief Data Officer of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, speaks with Adita Karkera, Chief Data Officer, Government & Public Services at Deloitte, in a video interview about her responsibilities, the bureau's mission, and the need for stakeholder engagement for building a solid data strategy.

Essene’s CDO journey began on the business side of the agency when she led an effort to reform the nation's federal mortgage data collection and publication initiative. Before CFPB, she was with the housing policy department at the Federal Reserve Board and worked closely with the five sister agencies.

Additionally, she explains that the process enabled public access to data, improved data users' abilities, and ensured more timely analytics for data users.

In her current role, Essene oversees the agency's data strategy, facilitates compliance with the federal government's data and information statutes, and manages data throughout its lifecycle. She emphasizes that the CFPB was born in the digital age, so data is in the agency's DNA. Accordingly, the bureau established a centralized data function and enterprise-wide data governance.

According to Essene, the bureau's data program is a partnership effort that encompasses both the business and the CIO functions.

As for how the team got consensus on building a data strategy, she says it was essential to have the right people involved so that business needs could drive the strategy.

The key lesson, Essene shares, is to do a lot of listening and understand the business needs. Data strategy can then be developed based on this understanding. She concludes that stakeholder engagement was crucial to the development of a solid strategy.

CDO Magazine appreciates Ren Essene for sharing her insights and data success stories with our global community.