Third Annual Jeremy Nowak Lecture: Equitable Recovery and CDFIs

On April 20, Penn IUR and the Reinvestment Fund hosted the third annual Jeremy Nowak Memorial Lecture. This event aims to highlight Jeremy Nowak's enduring work to integrate public, private, and non-profit expertise to achieve collective urban prosperity and gives students and professionals the opportunity to hear from experts on topics that manifest the connections between the academic and the applied aspects of urban development, a combination that Jeremy so uniquely exemplified.

This year’s discussion focused on the role of community development financial institutions (CDFIs) in promoting equitable economic recovery in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Speakers discussed the challenges and possibilities for CDFIs to increase access to loans and grant capital for small businesses, which have suffered disproportionately since the first state shutdown measures in March 2020.

Speakers included Dudley Benoit, Executive Vice President, Alliant Capital; Raquel Favela, Central Team Leader, National Development Council; Everett Sands, CEO, Lendistry; and Theresa Y. Singleton, Senior Vice President, Community Development and Regional Outreach Department, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Donald Hinkle-Brown, President and CEO, Reinvestment Fund, served as moderator.