Opportunity Finance Network

Conference Brochure Update

August 2nd. We are looking at Wednesday, August 2nd for the weblication (that's "web" + "publication") of the 2006 Opportunity Finance Conference. Please keep checking back.

The 2006 Conference Brochure

Mail too Slow? The 2006 Opportunity Finance Network Conference Brochure is at the printer, but you can see the cover here:

And if you check here, you can download it any day now.

It's Been a Long Time Coming...

Since 1984. I bought my first home computer--a "FatMac" ("Fat" because it held a then-unheard of 512k of RAM and a 20MB hard drive)--in 1984 after convincing my wife that it would make it easier for her to complete graduate school papers. I owned a series of Apple computers through 1995, until I went to work at Opportunity Finance Network, which ran a Windows-based system.

Today Chris Ferguson, our IT expert, loaded Windows 2000 onto my Apple MacBook Pro, linking the two worlds (PC & Mac). I have been looking forward to this day (really!) for more than 20 years. Two worlds that seemed destined to remain separate are now linked.

Who would have believed it?

New Honor for Eric Weaver

Leadership Award. The James Irvine Foundation has honored Eric Weaver, Executive Director of Lenders for Community Development, with its first-ever James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award.

The Winner Is...

Debra Houghtaling. ...who identified the songwriter (see Debra's comment to "Have You Heard This Song?" below). Debra runs the Grow Iowa Foundation in Greenfield, Iowa.

Good News from Washington?

Senate Action on the CDFI Fund. The word out of Washington, DC, tonight is encouraging. We expect the Senate Appropriations subcommittee responsible for the CDFI Fund to approve level funding (the same as the current year) for fiscal 2007. Stay tuned for confirmation and updates.

Conference Brochure

At the Printer. Terry Clark, who is putting together the Opportunity Finance Network Conference, has done a terrific job with the help of a planning network comprising Members, investors, funders, staff, and partners. The conference brochure is off at the printer and will reach you in early August.

You'll see a lot of new Conference content based on your feedback over the past couple of years. In addition, you will see that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is our confirmed keynote speaker on Wednesday, November 1st.

There is a lot new at the conference this year, starting with the schedule. After more than 20 years of running the conference Wednesday through Saturday, this year we will start on Monday, October 30th and conclude on Thursday, November 2nd.

To stay up to date, visit the Conference web site.

Here's a Hint...

The Song Below. He's a country star best known for singing bar songs in big arenas. His inspiration was his view of Los Angeles during the Rodney King rioting.

Have You Heard This Song?

Unexpected Voices. I am always listening for the message and meaning in songs, and for many years a song called "We Shall be Free" has been among my favorites. One thing I like about it is the fact that it comes from an unlikely source.

Have you heard it? Do you know who wrote it? Do you know what inspired it?

Here are the lyrics. Any guesses?

We Shall Be Free

This ain’t coming from no prophet
Just an ordinary man
When I close my eyes I see, the the way this world shall be
When we all walk hand in hand

When the last child cries for a crust of bread
When the last man dies for just words that he said
When there’s shelter over the poorest head
We shall be free

When the last thing we notice is the color of skin
And the first thing we look for is the beauty within
When the skies and the oceans are clean again
Than we shall be free

We shall be free, we shall be free
Stand straight, Walk proud
Cause we shall be free

When we’re free to love anyone we choose
When this world’s biggest enough for all different views
When we all can worship from our own kind of pews
Then we shall be free

We shall be free, We shall be free
Have a little faith, Hold Out
Cause we shall be free

And when money talks for the very last time
And nobody walks a step behind
When there’s only one race and that’s mankind
Then we shall be free.

We shall be free , We shall be free
Stand Straight, Have a little faith
We shall be free

We shall be free, We shall be free
Stand straight, Walk Proud
We shall be free.

California Regional Meeting

Great Discussion. More than 60 people from about a dozen organizations (mainly California but also Colorado) joined us for the Regional Membership Meeting on Tuesday in San Francisco. With the help of a Planning Committee from the membership, we organized a flexible agenda that encouraged networking--so flexible, in fact, that several times I had to stop informal networking so that we could get on with the planned networking.

We discussed a wide range of topics and zeroed in, for our afternoon discussions, on capitalization & pricing challenges as well as impact. We did not settle much, however. We had expected to concentrate on policy, but the topic slipped down the list of priorities.

Thanks to everyone who participated and helped plan the event. We agreed to hold a California meeting again next year.

We are scheduled to have an Opportunity Finance Network Membership Regional Meeting in New Jersey in September. To learn more--or to discuss the possibility of holding a Regional Membership Meeting in your area--contact Blake Myers at bmyers@opportunityfinance.net.