Opportunity Finance Network

Conference Registration Total

711. That how many people registered for our Conference this year. Most ever. Great group, too.

If you were there and have not yet filled out a Conference evaluation, we want your feedback.

The Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial

Be Part of It. In Washington, DC, today, there is a groundbreaking for a permanent memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We have the honor of a direct connection to the effort to build the memorial through Arthur Fleming, Opportunity Finance Network's Executive Vice President for Financing, who is the Board of the foundation that is making the memorial happen.

Opportunity Finance Network has contributed to the foundation and I encourage you to do the same. Just click here for more information and the opportunity to contribute.

The Bernanke Factor

Credibility. Affirmation. Chairman Bernanke's keynote speech was important on many levels for the industry and for Opportunity Finance Network. As I look back over what he said, what still jumps out most at me were his concluding comments:

"These efforts demonstrate the ability of CDFIs to adapt their business strategies to evolving markets, as indeed they have done throughout their thirty-year history. I expect that the local knowledge and specialized financial expertise that CDFIs provide will continue to add significant economic value and complement market forces in the support of community economic development. Thus, CDFIs are likely to contribute to our share goal of expanding economic opportunity for many years to come."

I hope to hear and read everyone using that quote for years to come.

Election Impact on CDFI Fund Advocacy

We'll Make it Through. When your strategy is bi-partisan, as ours is, every election means you win some and you lose some.

Five Republican Senators who lost their seats in the midterm elections were supporters of our call for $80 million for the CDFI Fund: Allen (VA), Santorum (PA), Burns (MT), Chafee (RI), and Talent (MO). Only one of the five--Chafee--was among the 10 new Republican backers we gained in 2006.

In addition, we lost to retirement our sole Independent (Jeffords of VT), but we expect to pick up Senator-elect Sanders.

Senate Chairs. With the assumption that the Virginia results stand, the new chairs of key Senate Committees and Subcommittees are likely to be:

• Appropriations: Senator Kent Conrad (ND)
• Our Appropriations Subcommittee: Senator Patty Murray (WA)
• Agriculture: Senator Tom Harkins (IA)
• Banking: Senator Chris Dodd (CT)
• Environment and Public Works: Senator Barbara Boxer (CA)
• Finance: Senator Max Baucus (MT)
• Health, Education, Labor and Pensions: Senator Ted Kennedy (MA)
• Small Business: Senator John Kerry (MA)
• Indian Affairs: Senator Byron Dorgan (ND)

House Chairs

• Appropriations: Rep. David Obey (WI)
• Our Appropriations Subcommittee: Rep. John Olver (MA)
• Agriculture: Rep. Collin Peterson (MN)
• Education and the Workforce: Rep. George Miller (CA)
• Financial Services: Rep. Barney Frank (MA)
• Small Business: Rep. Nydia Velazquez (NY)
• Ways and Means: Rep. Charlie Rangel (NY)

Please keep a watch for more detailed information from Sandra Kerr, our Policy Director. And please note that some of the Committees might change in scope and jurisdiction, as well as name.

Memorable Comments

Elsie Meeks... said during her comments at the first Native CDFI Awards:

"So many tribes have existed by selling poverty. We've gotten our federal support and our grants and all that by being poor.... We're not selling poverty anymore. The message is about opportunity."

First Native CDFI Awards

Congratulations! On Tuesday, October 31, Oweesta and Opportunity Finance Network awarded the first-ever Native CDFI Awards to:

• Citizen Potawatomi Community Development Corporation in Shawnee, OK, received the "Circle of Honor" Award for Outstanding Leadership, and
• Susan Hammond, founding director of Four Directions Development Corporation of Orono, ME, received the "Visionary Leader" Award for Outstanding Achievement.

Oweesta Executive Director Elsie Meeks said at the ceremony that, "For many Native people and tribes, the idea of private assets and ownership is often viewed as diametrically opposed to their cultural ways and traditions. Therefore, we wanted to honor the efforts of those who are committed to making Native CDFIs a force for change in their communities."

It is an honor to be part of the rapidly expanding Native CDFI movement.

Congratulations to the awardees.

Congratulations, Kathy!

Social Investment Forum. Congratulations, Kathy Stearns, our Executive Vice President for CARS(TM), who won a seat on the board of the Social Investment Forum last week at the "SRI in the Rockies" Conference.

Be Careful What You Say

Rove's Critical Mistake. There are many reasons the Republicans stumbled so badly in yesterday's election. I believe the Republicans started to unravel just a few days after the 2004 elections, when Karl Rove told reporters that he planned to stay at the White House and did not plan to get involved in future presidential campaigns. That offhand comment weakened his hand at disciplining the Republican troops, since no Republicans had cause to fear him as much. Rove recognized the problem and, just days, later tried to recover, but the damage was done. The Republicans started to fray.

Pelosi's Comment. In politics, you don't make promises you can not keep. On NPR this morning, I heard Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi say that under her leadership the House of Representatives in the 110th Congress would be the most ethical, most principled, and most honorable House ever. It sounds good, but even the NPR newscaster noted that it was "an awful big promise to keep." As soon as something unethical, unprincipled, and/or dishonorable happens--and it will--Pelosi's comment will come back at her.

Politics is a tough business.

Overwhelming

Against the Odds. The Democratic House gains are particularly remarkable because of the structural obstacles the Republicans had built while in power--notably extreme gerrymandering, incumbency, the power of the White House (which seems to have backfired), and fundraising. When you hear commentators such as George Will say that the Democratic gains are average for the sixth year of a presidency, remember that the playing field this year tilted Republican. Apparently, the national mood tilted sharply Democratic.

Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House

History. One of the things we will always remember about this election is Nancy Pelosi's rise to the highest elected office any woman has attained in the history of the United States. It's been a long time coming.

It's Starting to Look Overwhelming

Watching from PA-08. This election is turning out just the way the polls suggested it would. Fascinating. Somehow, no matter what we sometimes want to believe, the law of large numbers seems to hold, election cycle after election cycle.

I am in Pennsylvania's 8th District, where incumbent Michael Fitzpatrick (R) is trailing challenger Patrick Murphy (D) by less than 1,000 votes. This district (I grew up here) has long leaned moderate Republican, and still does, though it has gradually become more Democratic. Fitzpatrick ran a much better campaign, but Murphy (an Iraqi war veteran) fought hard.

When this race showed up as "competitive" about a month ago, I started to believe that the election was going to trend Democratic. Democratic challengers have already pulled off a bunch of upsets in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, so Murphy just might hold on.

We'll see, but probably not until tomorrow morning.

CDFI Backers in the Loss Column

Santorum, Northup Lose. Two strong supporters of the CDFI Fund have lost, according to projections: Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Rep. Anne Northrup (R-KY).

Election Watching

Early Results. What's interesting early on is that the results seem to be tracking the prevailing poll results.

Don't Miss This!

Important News Amid Election Noise. Today's elections are important. So is  a speech delivered yesterday by Janet Yellen, President of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank. Discussing income inequality, not the usual fare of Fed Presidents, Yellen concluded:

"...there are signs that rising inequality is intensifying resistance to globalization, impairing social cohesion, and could, ultimately, undermine American democracy. Improvements in education are an imperative for reducing inequality and an easily justifiable investment, given its high social return. In contrast, improvements in the social safety net entails costs, even when policy interventions are well-designed from an efficiency standpoint. Even so, in my opinion, they deserve high policy priority. Inequality has risen to the point that it seems to me worthwhile for the U.S. to seriously consider taking the risk of making our economy more rewarding for more of the people."

I have uploaded the full speech here: Download yellen_11606_speech.pdf.

2006 Compensation Survey

New & Expanded. Thursday morning, Opportunity Finance Network released our 2006 CDFI Compensation Survey at our Conference. With more than 80 CDFIs participating, more jobs included, and more data points, this survey is a big step forward from the pilot survey we released in 2005 in Los Angeles.

For a copy of the survey, please e-mail Marie Wright at mwright@opportunityfinance.net or check our web site next week.

Chairman Bernnanke's Speech

Watch it! Chairman Bernanke's speech on November 1st at the Opportunity Finance Conference was an important statement about the role that CDFIs and opportunity finance play in addressing market failures. Though many in our industry have long believed this, most observers outside our industry have not.

 

The speech is titled, "Community Development Financial Institutions: Promoting Economic Growth and Opportunity." The title says it well.

We had asked the Chairman to offer his perspective on the role that our industry plays. I think he answered clearly, forcefully, and emphatically that, from a macroeconmic perspective, our work is critical.

To watch the speech, click here. To read it, click here.

The Power of Opportunity

My Speech. To read or watch my Conference speech, click here.

My goal in my speech was to convey the exciting innovations that are coming together to form a opportunity finance system. Please let me know what you think by posting a comment (below).

Big News from the CDFI Fund

Art Garcia to Leave. Art Garcia informed me at a meeting in his office this afternoon that he will leave the CDFI Fund on December 8th to move home to his native New Mexico. He will stay with the federal government, returning to the US Department of Agriculture's rural housing program, where he will be the New Mexico state director.

Art said that the Treasury Department will start a search for his replacement following the midterm elections.

Art has done an outstanding job and assembled a strong staff.

Congressional Quagmire?

Expert Analysis. Rich Cohen, chief House of Representative correspondent for National Journal, expects an inconclusive mess following next Tuesday's elections. Speaking at the closing plenary session at our Conference, Cohen said he expects to see a significant number of hotly contested House race results resulting in controversies that might well extend into January 2007!

Kirk Victor, Cohen's colleague covering the Senate at the National Journal, expects the Senate to be divided or nearly divided--a less surprising outlook.

Cohen and Victor both anticipate a deadlocked Congress but see some hope for pragmatic progress in the first six months of the new Congress.

Cohen said that he is not persuaded by polling data showing significant and growing Democratic trends. He said that structural barriers--incumbency and gerrymandered districts, in particular--are likely to protect the Republicans from a rout.

For Conference News...

WWW.OpportunityFinance.net. As our Conference enters its final day, I look forward to reflecting on the event. For news, videos of Fed Chairman Bernanke's speech yesterday and my comments on Tuesday, please visit our new web site.