Shelley Pitterson, Corporate Communications Senior Analyst, Communications and Outreach

This past January, the New York Fed hosted its first Investment Connection pitch program in Puerto Rico. Community development financial institutions, investors, and philanthropists gathered in San Juan to hear funding proposals from 30 economic and community development organizations from both rural and urban regions of Puerto Rico.

Tony Davis, Officer and Director, and Edison Reyes, Associate Director, Communications and Outreach

In the year since the release of the book Investing in America’s Workforce: Improving Outcomes for Workers and Employers, the New York Fed has organized a number of events across the Second District that are part of the Federal Reserve’s Investing in America’s Workforce (IAW) initiative.

Marisa Casellas-Barnes, Associate Director, Communications and Outreach

The New York Fed held a third listening session on strategies for equitable growth and development on September 26 in Buffalo, New York. This series is part of our continued efforts to understand neighborhood change and trends related to displacement in the Second District.

Adrian Franco, Director of Community Development Finance, Communications and Outreach, and George Ashton III, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)

Opportunity Zones are a new part of the federal tax code that seeks to incentivize long-term investment in low-income urban and rural areas across the country. The policy, which was introduced as part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, aims to support the growth of inclusive, local economies that benefit the people who live and work in them, while also providing tax benefits to investors.

Marisa Casellas-Barnes, Associate Director, Communications and Outreach, and Kate Fish, Executive Director, Adirondack North Country Association

As part of its continued efforts to understand displacement pressure and regional change in the Second District, the New York Fed held a listening session on equitable growth in Lake Placid, New York, on July 23.

Chelsea Cruz, Directora Asociada de Financiamiento del Desarrollo Comunitario y Adrian Franco, Director de Financiamiento del Desarrollo Comunitario, Banco de la Reserva Federal de Nueva York

En las comunidades afectadas por desastres naturales, los bancos pueden desempeñar un papel crucial en su recuperación, gracias, en parte, a la Ley de Reinversión Comunitaria (CRA, en inglés), un marco regulatorio que exige que las instituciones financieras presten, inviertan y ofrezcan servicios a las comunidades de ingresos medios y bajos en las que operan. Los bancos pueden ayudar a estabilizar y revitalizar los vecindarios, promover el desarrollo de las pequeñas empresas y de la economía, reparar infraestructura deteriorada y crear oportunidades de empleo de largo plazo para todos.

Marisa Casellas-Barnes, Associate Director, Communications and Outreach

When New York Fed staff members meet with community-based organizations, advocates, and policymakers as part of our regular outreach efforts in the Second District, one recurring theme is the displacement pressures on low-income communities and long-term residents that typically result from neighborhood economic revitalization and/or change. In an effort to further understand this phenomenon, the New York Fed is convening listening sessions across the Second District and engaging experts in the field to understand neighborhood change, gentrification, and strategies for equitable growth.

Chelsea Cruz, Associate Director of Community Development Finance, and Adrian Franco, Director of Community Development Finance, Communications and Outreach

When communities are affected by natural disasters, banks can play a critical role in the recovery thanks in part to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), a regulatory framework that requires financial institutions to lend, invest, and offer services to low-and moderate-income communities in which they operate. Banks can help stabilize and revitalize neighborhoods, promote economic and small-business development, repair deteriorating infrastructure, and create long-term employment opportunities for all.

Adrian Franco, Director of Community Development Finance, Communications and Outreach

Adrian Franco, the New York Fed’s director of community development finance, delivered a keynote address at the annual conference of the New York State CDFI Coalition in Albany, New York, on May 7. In his remarks, which are published below, he emphasizes how the New York Fed’s community development initiatives can complement the work of community development financial institutions (CDFIs) in promoting equitable growth, and he calls on members of the industry to complete the Federal Reserve’s 2019 CDFI Survey. The survey, which closes on May 31, assesses the condition of CDFIs in the United States in terms of capitalization, financial products, development services, and demand and capacity; it is available here.

Felicity Barber, Executive Speech Writer, Communications and Outreach

On Thursday, April 11, New York Fed President John Williams spoke at the annual conference of the Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development. He discussed the challenges of inequitable growth and his vision for the New York Fed’s community development work.