Opportunity Finance Network

Wow! What a Closing Plenary!

A Senate Expert, Too. Kirk Victor, a widely read journalist who covers the U.S. Senate has agreed to join Ned Gramlich and Rich Cohen on our closing plenary panel on the upcoming midterm elections. Like Cohen, Victor writes for National Journal.

This is going to be good.

Midterm Elections @ The Conference

Closing Plenary. The closing plenary session at this year's Opportunity Finance Conference will focus on the November 7th midterm elections. The hour-long conversation will run from 1 pm to 2 pm on Thursday, November 2nd, and it will wrap up the Conference with a cliffhanger--who will win?

The panel will be outstanding: confirmed so far are Ned Gramlich, a former Federal Reserve Board Governor and former professor at the University of Michigan (not to mention a brand new Opportunity Finance Network Board Member) and Richard E. Cohen. Cohen, senior congressional correspondent for National Journal, is co-author of the Almanac of American Politics, the bible for national politics and author of many books on Congress.

Speaking of Speaking

My Speech. And that other Speaker. I have just about finished my speech for the conference, and I can promise you some important news and an embarrassing revelation about my past. I hope you can make it.

Chairman Bernanke will be speaking at about 12:45 pm on November 1st, following. Our newest Board Member, Ned Gramlich, a former Fed Governor, will introduce the Chairman.

If technology serves us well, we will post video and texts of both speeches on our new website (www.opportunityfinance.net) hours after we speak.

Pre-Conference Jitters?

It's Getting Real. Every year this time, I get excited and nervous about our Conference. This year, we are rolling out a host of new and exciting things, ranging from our responsible mortgage platform to compete with predatory lenders to several announcements about CARS(TM), our ratings system.

We will unveil our new web site, a new marketing tool for Members, and our new Opportunity Finance Policy Agenda.

The new Opportunity Finance brand will be on full display--banners, our booth, materials.

I am looking forward to seeing more than 700 of my friends. Safe travels.

I Need a Fix!

My Name is Mark and I'm a Poll Junkie. Every two years at about this time I become addicted to polling data on the upcoming elections. It's unhealthy, I know, but I can not seem to stop myself.

My favorite sites for poll data and political news are:

• Congressional Quarterly's Political Site
• Charlie Cook's Site (Charlie Cook is my favorite political analyst. He's not affiliated with either party and his analysis and writing are both clear.)
• Polling Report.

Let me know if you have a site to recommend.

Compensation Survey Results

2006 Survey Complete. More than 80 CDFIs participated in our 2006 industry compensation survey, almost three times as many as 2005. In addition to a larger data set, this year's survey covers more jobs.

Thanks to everyone who participated!

 

At the Conference, you can obtain a copy at our booth. After the conference, you can get a copy at our online store.

Conference News

Annual Membership Meeting. We have changed the start time for the Annual Membership Meeting to 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, November 1st. This will give the hotel staff more time to set up for the Keynote Speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Registration. Registration continues strong for the Conference. I was out of the office today so I do not know the exact count, but we are preparing for the annual last-minute surge. If you have not registered yet but plan to attend, click here.

Wachovia Excellence Awards for Opportunity Finance. The results are in. Please join us for dinner on Wednesday, November 1st, to celebrate four of your colleagues (or you!) and the industry's achievements over the past year.

Congratulations, Dr. Yunus

Nobel Peace Prize Announcement. The entire development finance industry worldwide can be proud that Dr. Mohamed Yunus and Grameen Bank won the Noble Peace Prize yesterday. Dr. Yunus, well-known for turning a single idea into a transformational movement, has long been a leader in our field.

In 1990, Dr. Yunus delivered the keynote speech at our Conference in Washington, DC. I saw him last in 2001 in Geneva, Switzerland, at a global meeting of social entrepreneurs.

Like so many others, I was pleased to hear about his selection. It is a great thing for microenterprise and for development finance here and around the world.

Membership Meeting Time Change

Making Room for Chairman Bernanke. The Annual Membership Meeting for Opportunity Finance Network will start at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, November 1st, and end by 11:30 a.m. We moved the meeting up 30 minutes so that we can clear out in time for the hotel staff to put together the main conference room for the Keynote Address by Fed Chairman Bernanke. Because registration seems to be running so high, we will need all the space available, including the space we are using for the Membership Meeting.

I look forward to seeing you there.

New Policy Agenda for Opportunity Finance

Don't Miss the Meeting. At the Annual Membership Meeting at the Conference, we will introduce a new policy agenda for opportunity finance. Developed by our Policy Committee at a retreat over the summer, based on several years of work, and approved by the Board in September, the agenda sets a bold course for the industry, consistent with our strategic plan.

The Agenda will be the center of attention at a panel presentation during the Membership Meeting. We will lay out our policy vision and invite you to get involved. The discussion will focus on a "Call to Action"--what you can do over the next 12 months to make our vision real.