In a typical year, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation would pick an elected official to honor with its Profile in Courage Award.
But this has been anything but a typical year.
The 15-member, bipartisan selection committee is honoring Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell, for his efforts to keep politics out of the rate-setting process, and the people of Minnesota’s Twin Cities for defending human rights amid an escalation in immigration enforcement. Powell will be on hand to accept the award at a 650-person gala on May 31, as will Minnesota civic leaders Yusuf Abdulle, Natalie Ehret, Carolina Ortiz, and Zena Stenvik.
“They certainly looked at elected officials but also felt there was so much dysfunction in the political sphere that ... to protect our institutions and democracy, [we need] to have everyone stand up in any area of public life,” Rachel Flor, the foundation’s executive director, said of the selection committee. “They looked much harder than usual at possible nominations that were appointed.”
Committee members meet virtually twice a year, in January and February, to vet nominations for the award, meant to honor public servants for making courageous choices regardless of the personal consequences. The foundation staff sorts through thousands of nominations from the public, as well as other candidates, before presenting a list of around two-dozen finalists to the committee in January.
While Powell has been nominated before, committee members were particularly keen on honoring him, with their focus this time on the existing threats to democracy. President Trump has repeatedly said Powell should be fired, after Powell rebuffed his calls to lower interest rates. (Powell is a Republican, and a Trump appointee.)
Then Trump’s Department of Justice began a criminal investigation, ostensibly over how Powell responded to questions about cost overruns for the new Fed headquarters. (On Friday, the DOJ said it was dropping the probe, leaving the issue instead for the Fed’s Office of Inspector General to pursue.) Powell’s term as chair ends in May, while his term on the Fed board doesn’t end until 2028, though Trump has made no secret he wants Powell gone.
Committee members, Flor said, wanted to recognize Powell’s efforts to stand up for the Fed’s independence and its mission to serve the public good, and not partisan interests.
New foundation board chair Bob Rivers said he was happy to cast a vote for Powell. As executive chairman of Eastern Bank, Rivers knows Powell through his spot on the Federal Reserve’s federal advisory council. (Other business leaders on the bipartisan selection committee include former Staples chief executive Ron Sargent and Carlyle Group co-chairman David Rubenstein.)
“It’s a high-profile pick that we think is going to generate a lot of excitement from the business community,” Rivers said. “We’re already seeing it in terms of the reaction.”
Due to the demand, this will be only the third time that the Foundation holds the event outside in a tent for capacity reasons, instead of its normal home in the JFK Library. The previous times were in 2017, when President Barack Obama was honored, and 2019, for Nancy Pelosi.
Voting took place at the February meeting. There was an unusual consensus around Powell early on, in January. However, honoring the people of the Twin Cities came up at the February meeting, quite late in the process, after two ICE protesters were killed in Minneapolis.
“You want something that can stand the test of time, an act of courage that matters, not just chasing headlines,” Flor said. “That speaks to people in the situation that we’re in, particularly now. ... It’s very heartening to see there are a lot of people wiling to risk their jobs or risk their careers or reputations or otherwise for this country, for democracy.”
This is an installment of our weekly Bold Types column about the movers and shakers on Boston’s business scene.
Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com. Follow him @jonchesto.