Lina Velcheva ’19

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Washington, DC

In front of the BCFP lobby sign with Sam Broeksmit '85, Team Lead of Ops PMO and Operations Communications at the BCFP.
In front of the BCFP lobby sign with Sam Broeksmit ’85, Team Lead of Ops PMO and Operations Communications at the BCFP.

Having had exposure to the start-up environment and a Fortune 500 company, I approached this summer with aspirations to take on a new challenge. As a volunteer at the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP), I turned my attention to exploring and contributing to the public service space. Prior to starting my summer at the Bureau, I knew I was a supporter of the Bureau’s initiatives of protecting the rights of financial consumers and making sure they are armed with information. I entered the Bureau during a time of uncertainty where the extent of the role the Bureau was to play in carrying out the vision of a “consumer finance marketplace that works for American consumers, responsible providers, and the economy as a whole” was called into question. While the Bureau prepared for a change in leadership, they managed current and upcoming changes in technology, a demanding task for a government agency.

As part of the Operations Communications team, I learned how to relay important information and change to employees of the Bureau. I learned how to use plain language; language which makes it easier for the public to read and understand; interpret government communications, and incorporate the Bureau voice and style editorial guidelines. I composed short blurbs of information which were relayed through different channels, whether that be through announcements posted on the internal intranet, weekly newsletter emails, or slideshows presented in the lobbies of the office.

I took on two short-term communications projects. The first dealt with the new Dell laptops Bureau employees received throughout the summer. Although a seemingly minor change, such transitions in technology take a lot of effort and time to get approved and implemented in a government agency. Most employees were used to working on their seven-year-old bulky laptops and thus a group of representing divisions across the Bureau recognized a need to prepare employees for the transition and aid them along the way, so they could seamlessly continue to collaborate and be productive with their new laptops. To aid the Technology and Innovation (T&I) office with the deployment process and effectively introduce employees to their new laptops, my team communicated deployment instructions as well as laptop information. We provided information about the new hardware and accessories, and identified the biggest changes and newest features in Window 10 and Microsoft Office 2016.

The second project was focused on updating the internal intranet Wiki Pages which employees use as a resource for contacts, policies, procedures, documents, and other information. In hopes of achieving a high quality and consistent experience for all users of the Wiki, my team finalized a new content governance model for all Wiki Pages and helped teams to organize/refresh their content using a basic template. In more simple terms, we guided teams in creating more user-friendly, trustworthy Wiki Pages that provide clear, current, complete, and concise. My efforts included creating living examples of the basic templates. Teams updating their pages could just copy and paste the code from the template and fill in the blanks with their content. This saved time and aided those that were less confident with their coding abilities.

In addition to my communications efforts, I contributed to the External Affairs division by collecting responses to the nomination of Kathy Kraninger for the Director of the BCFP. On a daily basis, I browsed through major news channels, Twitter, press releases, etc. to collect any responses and recorded my findings. I learned about the background of the nominee, views on the Bureau by Senators, businesses, and organizations, current and public controversial topics involving the Bureau, and what the potential future of the Bureau may look like. Attending the confirmation hearing of Kathy Kraninger was a highlight of my summer. Senators from the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs met to question Kraninger on her involvement at OMB, her financial regulation experience, and her views for what direction the Bureau should continue towards under her leadership.

Lina showing off a slideshow presentation created by the Ops Comms team and displayed in the lobby of the office.
Lina showing off a slideshow presentation created by the Ops Comms team and displayed in the lobby of the office.

One of the most important aspects of this experience was the ability to tap into the knowledge of those around me. My supervisor and team were friendly and offered professional advice which I valued highly. They valued my opinions and proactively checked in to make sure I would have a productive summer. In terms of my personal growth and feelings, it was a rather frustrating summer. I walked into a government agency having worked in a corporate environment the summer before. It was truly different, and it took some getting used to the culture. I was used to speaking up during meetings, but I certainly shied away from doing so in this environment, understanding that my knowledge on specific content was limited and government mandate played a strong hand in many decisions. Creativity and innovation often felt ignored or weighed down by “this is how we have done it for years.” The vastly different culture taught me that I value brainstorming, trusting the work of employees at any level, and established project management plans.

My experience at the Bureau heavily piqued my interest in the “Financial History” senior seminar at Williams which I will be taking in the fall of my senior year. With the nomination of a new director, it was a controversial summer for the Bureau. I listened to senators on the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, discuss the Fair Lending Act, the question of imposing civil penalties on credit rating agencies (CRAs) and improving cyber security measures following the Equifax data breach, and recognizing a need to expand credit histories for the 26 million Americans who are credit invisible, all areas critical to protecting and enabling financial consumers. As mentioned above, I also witnessed the same committee question Kraninger during her confirmation hearing. The fear of decreased transparency and accountability, a budget cut, and further limiting regulatory powers, came through from the unanswered questions asked by the senators. Through the course, I hope to gain an understanding of how crucial the BCFP has been to the U.S. financial system following its creation and what essential role it can play presently and in the future.

On the other hand, with an acting director and an uncertain future leader, it was a tense period. As a firm supporter of the Bureau’s mission, it was disappointing to know that the Bureau was facing potential budget cuts, and that its future might be characterized by decreased oversight and weakening/disassembling of legislation devised to protect financial consumers. It’s discouraging to hear employees that came in with a purpose of serving the country and with a belief in a mission question whether that mission still exists. While I’m still considering various post-graduate opportunities whether that be work or further study, I think individual purpose and the mission of the company or academic program is essential in influencing my decisions. Whatever path I decide to follow, it must be one which has a clear goal within sight.

I would like to express gratitude to the ’68 Center for Career Exploration for actively communicating this unique opportunity to all students. Furthermore, finishing late into the summer due to the timeline of the WEPO Program was stressful and impeding on my summer prospects. Without the help from Dawn Dellea, who processed my application and worked to secure my internship despite the late submission, I may not have had this experience.