October 27, 2016 •Anthony Curcio
This week, I attended the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) annual conference in Atlanta, Georgia. One of the goals of this four-day conference is to rethink long-term, low-cost capital to community development financial institutions (CDFIs).
I was really inspired by a presentation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on the Community Facilities Relending program. The folks at USDA have committed $400 million in direct lending to rural CDFIs and mated it with Uplift America grants. It's great to see that USDA is moving the needle on long-term capital for CDFIs.I also had the chance to catch up with Susan Newton-Rhodes, Director at Summit, and Jeannine Jacokes, Chief Executive Officer at Partners for the Common Good.
Thanks to OFN for hosting such an inspiring conference.
