Press

9th Annual CDFI Credit Union Update at GAC

February 24, 2020 | 11:30 am to 1:00 pm there's still time to register

Join Inclusiv and fellow industry experts for our 9th Annual CDFI Credit Union Update at the GAC this month to learn more about the benefits and growth opportunities presented by community development finance. The session will feature CDFI Fund Director Jodie Harris and CUNA Senior Policy Analyst, Samira Salem, as well as newly-announced speakers Samantha Beeler, Vice President of Advocacy at the Northwest Credit Union Association; and Bob Rapoza, Founder and President of Rapoza Associates.

The CDFI Fund continues to be a powerful resource for credit unions serving underserved markets, deploying more than $370 million in grants to credit unions since 1994. Learn how to take full advantage of this designation during our conversation on the 24th.

Newly Announced Speakers

Samantha Beeler is the Northwest Credit Union Association’s VP of Advocacy, a role that allows her to work closely with elected officials in the Northwest, as well as credit unions to tell their story. She focuses primarily on the Association’s Federal legislative and political priorities. She also brings extensive grassroots advocacy experience to the Association after handling international outreach efforts for the aid organization The World Race in more than a dozen countries around the globe. Most recently, she worked as a business development and marketing coordinator at BakerHostetler LLP in Washington, D.C. At the law firm, she worked primarily with the government contracts practice.

Beeler attended Wheaton College in Illinois, where she studied Political Science and International Relations, with an emphasis in Mandarin. Samantha is also passionate about leadership and listening and recently graduated from the Harvard Kennedy School’s Executive Education course on Moral Leadership.

Bob Rapoza, Founder and President of Rapoza Associates, has more than four decades of experience as a professional lobbyist. He is an expert on the federal budget and appropriations process, with special expertise in federal housing and community development policy. His knowledge and desire to ensure programs for disadvantaged communities and populations are not only sustained, but are able to reach their goals, has fueled his drive and success in securing and increasing funding for his clients’ work—even in a difficult budget environment.

Additional Speakers

CDFI Fund Director, Jodie Harris has worked in both the public and private sectors for over 25 years. She joined Treasury in 2007 as an Associate Program Manager with the CDFI Fund, and later served as Senior Advisor to the Director of the CDFI Fund. During her time with Treasury, Jodie has managed grant programs and developed legislative and policy proposals for a wide range of issues with a focus on access to capital, community development banking, and financial inclusion. Most recently, as the Director of Treasury’s Office of Small Business, Community Development and Affordable Housing Policy, Jodie led a team of policy analysts in the development of policies and programs that support community and economic development nationwide.

Inclusiv CEO and President, Cathie Mahon oversees all of the organization’s programmatic and investment activities. She is committed to continuing Inclusiv’s role of bridging the credit union movement to the community development field, promoting financial inclusion and identifying and connecting credit unions to unserved and untapped markets and communities.

Inclusiv/Network Senior Consultant, Terry Ratigan leads fundraising efforts for Inclusiv and plays an important role in program development, training, technical assistance and advocacy work. As a member of the Inclusiv/Network consulting services team, he provides expertise on CDFI certification, recertification, grant writing, and strategic planning for CDCUs around the country. In 2009 he developed a statistical random sampling methodology for target market analysis that has helped to double the number of CDFI certified credit unions.

CUNA Senior Policy Analyst, Samira Salem, Ph.D., has nearly 20 years of experience in international economic development, community development, policy research, and social finance. Samira joined the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) in 2018 as a Senior Policy Analyst in the Research and Policy Analysis division. Prior to joining CUNA, she worked for Forward Community Investments (FCI), a Madison-based community development financial institution (CDFI) that serves communities throughout Wisconsin.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Samantha Beeler, Vice President of Advocacy, Northwest Credit Union Association.

Robert Rapoza, Founder and President, Rapoza Associates.

Jodie Harris.

Cathie Mahon.

Terry Ratigan.

Samira Salem.


More News