Banner image for the Financial Innovations Roundtable: Aligning Capital, Training, and Economic Mobility

Agenda

Wednesday, April 24, 2019
1:00 p.m.
Arrival and check-in
2:00 Welcome and overview

Karen Leone de Nie, Vice President and Community Affairs Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Michael Swack, Professor and Director, Center for Impact Finance, University of New Hampshire Carsey School of Public Policy
2:20 Opening remarks
Raphael Bostic, President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
 
3:00 Laying the Foundation: Introduction to the Community Development Finance and Workforce Development Systems

Themes
  • What institutions and organizations currently provide training, and what are their current funding sources?
  • What impediments do low- and moderate-income (LMI) workers face when trying to access quality jobs or career ladders?
  • How could community development finance (CDF) tools be applied to workforce development and training (WFD) systems?
  • What are some of the early successes where WFD and CDF have aligned effectively? How might those efforts grow?

Panelists
Tim Cerebe, Freedom First Federal Credit Union
Maurice Jones, Local Initiatives Support Corporation
Mary Alice McCarthy, New America Foundation
Jason Tyszko, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
 
4:30 Networking reception  
7:00 Adjournment  


 
Thursday, April 25, 2019
 
8:00 a.m. Networking breakfast  
9:00 Financial Barriers to Scaling Successful Training and Workforce Programs

Themes
  • What are the top financial barriers to developing successful WFD programs and scaling them?
  • What financial supports do workers need in order to move up career ladders successfully?
  • Where are the biggest gaps in public funding related to WFD? Where could philanthropy or the private sector be investing to improve outcomes for LMI workers?
  • How do financial barriers vary by region and target populations?

Panelists
Sara Dunnigan, Virginia Community College System
Melinda Mack, New York Association of Training and Employment Professionals
Amy Nishman, Jewish Vocational Service
Dave Shaffer, First Step Staffing
 
10:30 Break  
10:45 Attracting Capital to Reach Scale

Themes
  • What are the classes of investors who might consider investing in improving training systems and career pathways, and what financial and social returns are they focused on?
  • What role can community development financial institutions and philanthropy play in attracting new investors or creating new financial products to support the scaling of high-impact training or career pathway programs?
  • Which parts of this work may continue to require deep subsidy or pure grant funding to support the economic advancement of LMI workers?

Panelists
Antony Bugg-Levine, Nonprofit Finance Fund
John Hamilton, New Hampshire Community Loan Fund
Chauncy Lennon, Lumina Foundation
Carrie McKellogg, Roberts Enterprise Development Fund
 
12:15 p.m. Lunch
Remarks: Eric Belsky, Director of Consumer and Community Affairs, Federal Reserve Board of Governors
 
1:30 From Theory to Practice: New Financial Models for Training and Advancement

Themes

In this interactive session, participants will have the opportunity to share ideas and establish ways to collaborate with one another after the conference on projects related to financial innovations, training, and career advancement for LMI communities.

Facilitators
Sameera Fazili, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Michael Swack
 
3:00 Adjournment