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Speaker Biographies

Eric Belsky has served as director of the Division of Consumer and Community Affairs at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors since 2014. He oversees the Federal Reserve's work in consumer- and community reinvestment-focused supervision, research, outreach, and policy analysis, with the aim of promoting a fair and transparent consumer financial services marketplace and effective community development. The division also conducts research on the financial and economic conditions of low- and moderate-income individuals, households, and communities. A specialist in housing finance, economics, and policy, Belsky brings more than 25 years of experience to the division. Before joining the Federal Reserve Board, he served as managing director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. Belsky also held the positions of director of Housing Finance Research at Fannie Mae, senior economist at the National Association of Home Builders, and taught at both Harvard University and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. In addition, in 2001 and 2002, Belsky served as research director for the bipartisan Millennial Housing Commission established by Congress. Belsky has coedited five books and written numerous articles and book chapters, and has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Housing Research and Housing Policy Debate.

Raphael Bostic is the president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He is the former Bedrosian Chair in Governance and the Public Enterprise at the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California (USC). From 2009 to 2012, he served as assistant secretary for policy development and research at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Previously, Bostic served as a professor in the School of Policy, Planning, and Development at USC. He worked at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors from 1995 to 2001, serving as an economist and then a senior economist in the monetary and financial studies section, where his work on the Community Reinvestment Act earned him a special achievement award. Bostic graduated from Harvard University in 1987 with a combined major in economics and psychology—disciplines he believes are intimately interrelated. After a brief stint in the private sector, Bostic earned his doctorate in economics from Stanford University in 1995. He has previously served on many boards and advisory committees, including the California Community Reinvestment Corporation, Abode Communities, NeighborWorks, the National Community Stabilization Trust, the Urban Land Institute, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, the National Economic Association, and Freddie Mac.

Antony Bugg-Levine oversees more than $315 million of investment capital and a national consulting practice, Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF). He works with a range of philanthropic, private sector, and government partners to develop and implement innovative approaches to financing social change. A frequent speaker and commentator on the evolution of the social sector and global impact investing, he is the coauthor of Impact Investing and coeditor with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco of What Matters: Investing in Results to Build Strong, Vibrant Communities. Prior to joining NFF, Bugg-Levine designed and led the Rockefeller Foundation's impact investing initiative and oversaw its program related investments portfolio. He is the founding board chair of the Global Impact Investing Network and convened the 2007 meeting that coined the phrase "impact investing." Previously, he was the country director for Kenya and Uganda for TechnoServe, a nongovernmental organization that develops and implements business solutions to rural poverty. As a consultant with McKinsey, he advised Fortune 100 financial services and health care clients and helped develop frameworks for incorporating social dynamics into corporate strategy. He earlier served as the acting communications director of the South African Human Rights Commission and speechwriter for the African National Congress. He was named by Nonprofit Times in 2018 as one of the most powerful and influential people in the U.S. nonprofit sector.

Tim Cerebe is vice president of community development programs with Freedom First Federal Credit Union and manages its award-winning financial education and impact banking programs. These programs include Responsible Rides, an auto loan program for working families that includes financial education and vehicle maintenance training; the Workforce Development program, which gives people the opportunity to acquire the skills necessary for living-wage jobs; and the Payday Relief Loan program, which gives members an option other than predatory payday lenders. Cerebe also oversees the financial education program and supervises two in-house Credit Union National Association certified financial counselors. His passion to address affordable housing, household finances, and transportation issues as it relates to underserved communities is the basis for his work at Freedom First, bringing stability to those who are most vulnerable.

Sara Dunnigan serves as the director of labor market research and strategic partnerships at the Virginia Community College System. Her career spans 20-plus years and includes public and private sector experience in the areas of workforce development, economic development, and community development. Based in Richmond, Virginia, Dunnigan is determined to uncover the secrets of how communities, businesses, and people can succeed in a rapidly changing global economy.

Sameera Fazili is the director of engagement in the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's Community and Economic Development (CED) group. She has spent her career working in domestic and international economic development, with a focus on inclusive economic growth, access to finance, and social enterprise. Prior to joining the Atlanta Fed, she served as a senior policy adviser at the White House's National Economic Council where she covered retirement, consumer finance, and community and urban development. Previously, she worked at the Treasury Department, first on issues of domestic policy ranging from community development financial institutions (CDFIs) to housing finance to small business finance, and then as a senior adviser to the undersecretary for international affairs where she served as chief of staff. Before her time in government, she was a clinical lecturer at Yale Law School, where she helped lead the community and economic development clinical program. She also worked at ShoreBank, the nation's first CDFI bank. Her work in finance has spanned consumer, small business, housing, and microfinance. She received her law degree from Yale Law School and her bachelor of arts in social studies from Harvard College.

John Hamilton is the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund's vice president of economic opportunity, and the founder and managing director of its Vested for Growth program, which has placed millions of dollars in business growth capital. Hamilton offers an eclectic mix of leadership experience, having worked in the areas of business investing, workforce development, affordable housing, and energy conservation.

Maurice A. Jones is the chief executive officer of Local Initiatives Support Corporation. Previously, he was the secretary of commerce for the commonwealth of Virginia, managing 13 state agencies focused on economic needs. He has also been second in command at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Jones served as commissioner of Virginia's Department of Social Services and deputy chief of staff to then-governor Mark Warner. He served at the Treasury Department during the Clinton administration, helping manage the CDFI fund. His experience includes top positions at the Virginian-Pilot, a Richmond law firm, and a private philanthropy investing in community-based efforts to benefit children.

Heidi Kaplan is a senior community development analyst at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Kaplan is the Community Development team's subject matter expert on human capital and workforce development. In this role, she conducts research, monitors emerging issues, and briefs the Board's leadership on labor market issues that pertain to low- and moderate-income persons and communities. Her responsibilities have included the Board's publication Experience and Perspectives of Young Workers based on the Survey of Young Workers. Prior to joining the Board, she was a research adviser at the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund where she was responsible for collecting data used for both compliance and research purposes. She holds a bachelor of arts in economics from the University of California, Berkeley and a master's of city and regional planning from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.

Karen Leone de Nie is vice president and community affairs officer in the Community and Economic Development (CED) group at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. She is responsible for building partnerships and leading research efforts related to community and economic development issues with the objective of improving the policy environment and facilitating sustainable community development practices. She works with colleagues in the Sixth District (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee) and throughout the Fed system to study a variety of community and economic development issues, including foreclosure, small business development, and unemployment. Prior to joining the Atlanta Fed, she was a researcher at Georgia Tech's Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development, which does applied research to help communities achieve sound and equitable development through planning and policy. Leone de Nie also worked for the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan planning organization, focusing on real estate development and environmental resource management. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a master's degree in city and regional planning from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Chauncy Lennon joined Lumina Foundation in the newly created role of vice president for the future of learning and work in 2018, helping build out new ideas to advance the foundation's attainment agenda. Lennon came to Lumina after nearly five years as a managing director and head of workforce strategy at JPMorgan Chase & Co., where he drove the firm's $350 million investment in philanthropic initiatives. He previously led grant portfolios at Ford Foundation related to economic advancement and workforce development. Since 2015, Lennon has served on the national advisory board of the College Promise Campaign and the New York City Workforce Development Board. Lennon is a graduate of Williams College. He was awarded a master's from the University of Chicago and a doctorate in anthropology from Columbia University.

Melinda Mack is the executive director of the New York Association of Training and Employment Professionals (NYATEP), a nationally recognized, leading nonprofit membership association in the field of workforce development. During her tenure at NYATEP, Mack has grown the organization by more than 50 percent. She is a colead of the Invest in Skills NY initiative that successfully engaged the state in 2018 to invest more than $175 million in job training and workforce development. Previously, Mack was the founding director for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation program Graduate NYC!, an ambitious initiative bringing together the City University of New York, the New York City public schools and mayor's office, and a range of external partners to effect system-wide changes aimed at improving college readiness and completion. Mack also served as the acting executive director for the New York City Workforce Board under the Bloomberg administration. Mack received a baccalaureate degree in urban and public policy, a master's degree in public administration, and a master's degree in regional planning with a specialization in housing. She also is a graduate of the Columbia Business School's Senior Leaders in Non-Profit Program, the New York City Workforce Leaders Academy, and Leadership Buffalo. Mack proudly serves on the National Skills Coalition Board.

Mary Alice McCarthy leads the Center on Education and Skills at New America Foundation, a policy research, technical assistance, and strategic communications program housed within the education policy program. The center is dedicated to expanding pathways to postsecondary education and high-quality jobs for the growing population of nontraditional and historically disadvantaged students. It reaches across the traditional silos of higher education, career and technical education, and workforce development to identify strategies for strengthening connections between learning, work, economic opportunity, and social mobility. McCarthy's writing has been featured in a diverse set of media outlets, including the Atlantic, Washington Monthly, and Inside Higher Ed. In addition to her research, she participates in a wide variety of public engagement and coalition-building efforts aimed at improving postsecondary education policy and practice. She also has extensive international experience and collaborated with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development directorate on education and skills on the Skills Beyond School initiative that examined postsecondary education and training systems around the world. Previously, McCarthy worked at both the U.S. Departments of Education and Labor. She led a variety of technical assistance initiatives in the areas of career pathways, credentialing, and competency-based education. She has a PhD in political science from the University of North Carolina.

Carrie McKellogg is responsible for Roberts Enterprise Development Fund's (REDF) strategic plan to significantly grow and support the social enterprise sector to employ 50,000 people nationwide by 2020. She works closely with staff and stakeholders to expand REDF's funding and business advisory services nationwide, design place-based strategies to grow and sustain social enterprises, and develop REDF's new impact lending practice. Prior to her role at REDF, McKellogg spent 15 years as an economist at the U.S. Treasury on international debt restructuring and debt policy, operations and policies of development finance institutions, and at the Inter-American Development Bank on the board of executive directors and as a manager at the Multilateral Investment Fund. A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, McKellogg has a master of arts from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Together with REDF CEO Carla Javits, she wrote an article for the Federal Reserve Bank's What Works series in 2017, "Toward the North Star: Reorienting Workforce Development to Improve Long-Term Outcomes."

Amy Nishman is the senior vice president at Jewish Vocational Service (JVS), Boston where she leads the $15 million Massachusetts Pathways to Economic Advancement Pay for Success project, the first focusing exclusively on workforce development. This three-year project supports 2,000 immigrants and refugees to increase their English and vocational skills and enter and advance in the labor market. In addition, she oversees the organization's career path programming and public policy initiatives as well as agency-wide data quality and continuous improvement. She develops service delivery models that respond to the changing economy, allowing JVS students to move into and up career ladders. She advances the agency's public policy platform through local and state-level workforce policy solutions, and works to improve JVS's overall data collection and analysis to best measure impact. Nishman holds a bachelor of arts in sociology and women's studies from the University of Michigan and master's degrees in both public health and social work from Boston University.

Alexander Ruder is a senior adviser in the Community and Economic Development (CED) group at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, specializing in workforce and economic development policy. Previously, Ruder was an assistant professor (tenure track) in public policy at the University of South Carolina. He has also held positions as a research project manager at the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University and as the Illinois workNet business services coordinator at the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Ruder's scholarly work has appeared in the Quarterly Journal of Political Science, Presidential Studies Quarterly, the Economics of Education Review, and Upjohn Press. He has served in an advisory capacity and has volunteered for several community, economic, and workforce development nonprofits. He holds a PhD from Princeton University, an MPP from the Harris School at the University of Chicago, and a BA from the University of Florida.

Dave Shaffer is the chief executive officer of First Step Staffing. Previously, he served at another social enterprise staffing company, DePaul Industries, first as a senior staffing manager, then as chief operating officer and chief financial officer, eventually becoming chief executive officer in 2007. DePaul Industries focused on providing employment opportunities to individuals with disabilities. Under Shaffer's leadership, DePaul Industries achieved significant growth, nearly doubling its annual revenue, increasing hours worked by persons with disabilities from 680,000 to over 1 million annually, and improving its operating results by nearly $2 million. Under his tenure, DePaul grew to eight staffing offices in five states and earned a number of awards. In 2012 Shaffer was named the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year for the Pacific Northwest. He then provided advisory services to First Step as it went through the acquisition process of LGS Staffing. He subsequently became CEO in 2015. Over the last four years, he has overseen First Step's business and mission-impact growth, helping to open two additional offices in Nashville and Philadelphia. First Step's annual revenue has grown from $2 million to a projected $50 million in 2019. In 2018 First Step paid wages of over $25 million to persons experiencing homelessness. First Step's success has attracted attention from other cities and currently the organization is discussing possible expansion opportunities and acquisitions in Los Angeles, Seattle, and Chicago.

Michael Swack is a professor at the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire where he directs the Center for Impact Finance. He also serves on the faculty of the Paul College of Business and Economics. Swack has published in the areas of economic development, development finance, community investment, and mission related investment. He was the founder and former dean of the School of Community Economic Development at Southern New Hampshire University. Swack has been involved in the design, implementation, and management of a number of community development lending and investment institutions both inside and outside the United States. He was the first chairman and served for 17 years as a board member of the New Hampshire Community Development Finance Authority, a state-chartered equity fund for community economic development ventures and projects. He is the founding president and a current board member of the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund. He was a founding board member of the Opportunity Finance Network. In 2000 he founded, and continues to direct, the Financial Innovations Roundtable, a program that promotes new approaches and policies designed to build the field of community development finance and increase access to capital for community development intermediaries. Internationally, he has been involved in development finance and microfinance work in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Swack received his doctorate from Columbia University, his master's degree from Harvard University, and his bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Jason A. Tyszko is vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation where he advances policies and programs that preserve America's competitiveness and enhance the career readiness of youth and adult learners. This includes the Talent Pipeline Management initiative, the foundation's signature workforce development strategy. Tyszko's prior experience focused on coordinating interagency education, workforce, and economic development initiatives. In 2009 he served as a policy adviser to Illinois governor Pat Quinn's administration. In addition, Tyszko was deputy chief of staff and senior policy adviser to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Tyszko received his master of arts from the University of Chicago and his bachelor of arts from DePaul University. He is a certified teacher in the state of Illinois.