Neighborhood
Economics

A National Conversation With a Local Impact

San Antonio // February 26-28, 2024

Our events convene, recruit, and connect people repairing local economies

Whether you're an investor, entrepreneur, community leader, or simply passionate about equitable economic growth, this is your opportunity to be part of vital conversations that shape the future. Don't miss out on the chance to connect, learn, and collaborate with trailblazers across various sectors. Secure your spot now and be a part of crafting a more inclusive, empowered, and prosperous world!

Investors

who understand the cost of doing good

Entrepreneurs

like local businesses, and minority entrepreneurs whose work needs catalytic capital

Philanthropists

like catalytic foundations and other mission-focused funders

People of Faith

who want to build a more just economy

Local Leaders

who are working on community economic development to create thriving, inclusive neighborhoods

Topics Covered

Catalytic Capital

Delve into the growing world of Catalytic Capital, crucial for projects addressing systemic injustice, where traditional market rates don’t suffice.

Shared Ownership

Discover new models of shared business ownership that offer pathways to wealth creation, particularly for those traditionally without means.

Red Lining

Explore innovative strategies to overturn the legacy of redlining, ensuring fair property taxes and equitable rules for both rich and poor neighborhoods.

Entrepreneurship

Delve into how entrepreneurship can be a key to wealth creation in black and brown communities, addressing the critical gap in funding support compared to their white counterparts.

Asset Creation

Explore innovative strategies in housing and commercial real estate that empower communities, offering new pathways to homeownership and enabling local ownership against predatory investments.

Faith & Finance

Uncover how people of faith can effectively discuss finance, driven by their moral urge to address social justice in their communities.

Speakers

These experts, hailing from diverse fields, will be sharing their invaluable insights, experiences, and strategies to drive impactful change. Keep an eye on this space to discover the voices that will inspire, challenge, and lead the conversations at our event!

Elizabeth Coffee

Director of Storytelling | H. E. Butt Foundation

Elizabeth Le’anani Coffee has lived in San Antonio her whole life and loves it like a sibling. She often says: “my story is wrapped up in its story.” While her formal training is in advertising and public relations, her work experience reflects a decade working alongside religious non-profits and leaders through community engagement predominately in San Antonio and South Texas.

Jay Nwavhu

President and CEO | Innovation Works & Ignite Capital

Jay is a nationally recognized leader in social entrepreneurship and impact investing. He is passionate about implementing innovative solutions to address economic disparity in underserved communities. As the President and C.E.O. of Innovation Works and Ignite Capital, a nonprofit social enterprise in Baltimore City, Jay demonstrates his commitment to reducing the city's racial wealth divide by supporting the launch and growth of sustainable social enterprises in economically distressed neighborhoods.

Patrick Duggan

Executive Director | UCC Church Building & Loan Fund

The Reverend Doctor Patrick Garnet Duggan has served as Executive Director of the UCC Church Building and Loan Fund (CB&LF) since 2012. Founded in 1853, CB&LF is the first national church building society in the United States. The Fund helps UCC and other Christian churches in the US to finance and redevelop their real estate for greater missional impact.

Levar Martin

Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer | NALCAB - National Association For Latino Community Asset Builders

As a member of NALCAB’s executive leadership team, Levar Martin serves as Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, responsible for overseeing and integrating NALCAB’s national grantmaking, technical assistance and capacity-building work in the program areas of Equitable Neighborhood Development, Small Business Investment, Family Financial Capability and CDFI/Lending. He also leads NALCAB’s national Rural Capacity Building (RCB) program and rural Revolving Loan Fund, as well as the annual National Training Institute and Leadership Development initiatives, including the Pete Garcia Fellowship program.

Stephanie McHenry

CEO | The Democracy Collaborative

Stephanie McHenry is the CEO of The Democracy Collaborative, a think/do tank focused on democratic and equitable forms of the economy (https://democracycollaborative.org). Ms. McHenry formerly held leadership positions at ShoreBank, the nation's first Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), and at Cleveland State University, an anchor institution in downtown Cleveland, OH. She holds a BA in Economics from Dartmouth College.

Joseph Minicozzi

Principal | Urban3

Joe Minicozzi is an urban planner imagining new ways to think about and visualize land use, urban design and economics. Joe founded Urban3 to explain and visualize market dynamics created by tax and land use policies. Urban3's work establishes new conversations across multiple professional sectors, policy makers, and the public to creatively address the challenges of urbanization. Urban3’s extensive studies range geographically over 30 states, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Patricia Mejia

VP Inclusive Engagement | Spurs Sports & Entertainment

De’Amon Harges is a faculty member of the Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) Institute, Creator of The Learning Tree, and layperson at Broadway UMC, Indianapolis, IN. De’Amon's role is to listen and discover gifts, passions, and dreams in communities and find ways to utilize them to build community, economy, and mutual “delight.” DeAmon describes his role as a Social Banker, utilizing intangible currencies that are cultivated by human assets and relationships to build abundant community.

Janie Barrera

Founder | LiftFund

Ms. Janie Barrera is Founder of LiftFund. Ms. Barrera started LiftFund in 1994 with only three employees. To date, LiftFund has over one-hundred employees and has grown to become one of the largest micro and small business lender in the United States. Since its inception, it has disbursed more than 24,000 loans totaling more than $425 million – with an impressive 96 percent repayment rate.

Aaron Kuecker

President | Trinity Christian College

Aaron Kuecker serves as President at Trinity Christian College, a small liberal arts college on the southwest side of Chicago. Trinity has undertaken a series of unique, institution-wide initiatives that are engaging its Greater Chicago ecosystem in ways that are uncovering how neighborhood collaboration can solve systemic problems on a local level. Specifically, Trinity is developing upstream solutions to the problems of student loan debt and student well-being that are simultaneously providing mutual benefit to both entrepreneurs from underinvested neighborhoods and larger, more established companies.

Lodging

Our preferred hotels are The St. Anthony and The Gunter, both Marriott properties.

Book now to take advantage of our group rates while rooms are still available.

Who's Joining Us?

This event brings together a diverse group of local organizations and national players and unites change makers from across the U.S. to create a more inclusive and equitable economy. Check out this sampling of the 200+ organizations that will be in attendance:

Austin Presbyterian
Theological Seminary
Capitalize Good
Center for Community Wealth Building
Center for Transformative Neighborhoods
Cooperation Jackson
Crossing Capital Group
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Glean Network
Global Impact Investing Network
Grounded Solutions Network
Growing Together

H. E. Butt Foundation
Halloran Philanthropies
Impact Charitable
Impact Guild / Good Acres
ImpactAlpha
ImpactAssets
Innovation Works and Ignite Capital
Irvine Foundation
John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation
Johns Hopkins University
LiftFund
Living Cities
MacArthur Foundation

National Coalition for
Community Capital
Nonprofit Finance Fund
Nonprofit Quarterly
Ormond Center at Duke
Divinity School
Partners in Equity
Princeton Theological Seminary
Project Equity
Prosper West San Antonio
Purpose Built Communities
Realize Impact
Rio Texas Conference of the UMC
RootedGood

Rural Opportunity Institute
San Antonio Area Foundation
San Antonio Asian Community Affairs
San Antonio Board of REALTORS
SC Community Loan Fund
Spurs Sports & Entertainment
Texas Methodist Foundation
The Abell Foundation
The Center for Public Justice
The Democracy Collaborative
Transform Finance
Trinity Church Wall Street
Unlock Ownership

Schedule

Sunday, February 25

Registration will open Sunday evening
5:00pm Welcome Party

Mon, February 26

8:00 Registration continues
9:00 Conference opens w/Plenary Session
10:30 Breakout Sessions
TBD Lunch*
1:30 Breakout Sessions continue
6:00 Dinner and Dance Party

Tues, February 27

8:00 Continental Breakfast*
9:00 Plenary Session
10:30 Breakout Sessions
TBD Lunch*
1:30 Breakout Sessions continue
4:00 Concluding Plenary
6:00 Closing Party

Wed, February 28

9:00 – 2:00
Optional Deep Dive Conversations:
– Applying Best Practices of Corridor Models: In San Antonio & Beyond
– Leveraging Catalytic Capital for Neighborhood Transformation
– For Faith Communities: Taking It Back Home
– Seminaries: Equipping Faith-Leaders for a New Economy

Why San Antonio?

There are strong financial, community-organizing, and faith-based partners ready to make things happen.

It is one of the five poorest cities in the country and the divide between rich and poor is one of the largest.

The city has a rich culture with a deep commitment to community. It is a beacon of hope for the rest of the country and fertile ground for economic revival and innovation.

Our model can be deployed in the region to repair the damage caused by systemic racism and poverty.

There is an opportunity for a national conversation around these issues in a place where the local need and opportunity are great.