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Jeremy Nowak Memorial Lecture

This lecture series aims to highlight Jeremy Nowak’s enduring work to integrate public, private, and non-profit expertise to achieve collective urban prosperity, giving students and professionals the opportunity to hear from experts on topics that manifest the connections between the academic and the applied aspects of urban development.

Sixth Annual Nowak Memorial Lecture

Economic Opportunity for Everyone: The Role of CDFIs in Advancing and Building Opportunity

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Reinvestment Fund and the Penn Institute for Urban Research hosted the Sixth Annual Jeremy Nowak Memorial Lecture on April 12,2024. This year’s lecture focused on the role Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) play in creating economic opportunity, aligning with the key priorities and vision of Philadelphia’s 100th mayor, Mayor Cherelle Parker. The Parker administration’s central focus is to make Philadelphia the safest, cleanest, and greenest big city in the nation with economic opportunity for everyone.  

CDFIs like Reinvestment Fund play an influential role in advancing wealth in underserved communities by providing capital, expertise, and technical assistance for a variety of community-led and impact driven projects. Panelists in this year’s 6th annual Nowak Lecture discussed the varying and holistic ways that their organizations approach community development with an equity lens to advance economic opportunity and build joyful and thriving communities. 

Panelists include:  

The panel will be moderated by Mark Pinsky, Founding Partner of CDFI Friendly America and former CEO of OFN.  

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Fifth Annual Nowak Memorial Lecture

Access to Capital: Promoting a More Equitable Future

The fifth annual memorial lecture centered on historic and contemporary issues impacting the flow of capital into and out of neighborhoods. The constructive roles CDFIs can play was featured.

Hosted by Penn IUR and Reinvestment Fund, the fifth memorial lecture was hosted on March 30, 2023 and included panelists George “Mac” McCarthy, President and CEO, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy; Wendell Pritchett, James S. Riepe Presidential Professor of Law and Education, University of Pennsylvania (serving as moderator); Kerry Smith, Senior Staff Attorney, Community Legal Services; and Jillian White, CEO & Founder, Appraisal Insights.

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Fourth Annual Nowak Memorial Lecture

Investing in Arts & Culture to Build Community

The fourth memorial lecture was held April 26, 2022 and featured Jamie Bennett: Former Executive Director, ArtPlace America; Marland Buckner: Co-Founder and Principal, MB2 Solutions, will serve as moderator; Don Hinkle-Brown: President and CEO, Reinvestment Fund; Judilee Reed: President/CEO, United States Artists and Mark J Stern: Professor of Social Policy, School of Social Policy & Practice, University of Pennsylvania. The discussion focused on the complementarity of arts, cultural activity, and community development.

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Third Nowak Memorial Lecture

Equitable Recovery and CDFIs

Reinvestment Fund and Penn IUR hosted the third memorial lecture on April 20, 2021. The discussion focused on the role of community development financial institutions (CDFIs) in promoting equitable economic recovery in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Speakers discussed the challenges and possibilities for CDFIs to increase access to loans and grant capital for small businesses, which have suffered disproportionately since the first state shutdown measures in March 2020. Speakers include Dudley Benoit, Executive Vice President, Alliant Capital; Raquel Favela, Central Team Leader, National Development Council; Everett Sands, CEO, Lendistry; and Theresa Y. Singleton, Senior Vice President, Community Development and Regional Outreach Department, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Don Hinkle-Brown, President and CEO, Reinvestment Fund, served as moderator.

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Second Nowak Memorial Lecture

Can the New Localism Advance Shared Prosperity?

The second memorial lecture was held January 31, 2020 and featured Anne Fadullon, Director, Department of Planning and Development, City of Philadelphia; Ira Goldstein, President of Policy Solutions, Reinvestment Fund; Bruce Katz, Co-Founder and Director, Nowak Metro Finance Lab; Brian Murray, Co-Founder and Principal, Shift Capital; and Rob Stephany, Director, Community and Economic Development, Heinz Endowments.

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First Nowak Memorial Lecture

The Citizen and the City: Creative Urban Solutions for All

On October 3, 2018 Reinvestment Fund and Penn IUR hosted the first memorial lecture for path-breaking social innovator Jeremy Nowak. The event was a reflection and conversation about Nowak’s enduring work and featured Patricia Smith, President and CEO, The Funders’ Network, Ira Goldstein, President of Policy Solutions, Reinvestment Fund, and Governor Edward Rendell.