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.
Seventh Annual Nowak Memorial Lecture
Founding Visions: A Journey of Collaboration and Impact
How can mission driven finance drive social change? Reinvestment Fund and the Penn Institute for Urban Research invite you to the Seventh Annual Jeremy Nowak Memorial Lecture. On this, the 40th anniversary of the origination of Reinvestment Fund and the 20th anniversary year of Penn IUR, we will reflect on the mission and impact of community development financial institutions and the leadership role played by Reinvestment Fund in these efforts. Speakers will examine how visionary leadership and partnerships can reshape communities for the better.
This discussion brings together three community development leaders and founding members of Reinvestment Fund—Pat Smith, Joyce Wilkerson, and Eva Gladstein—who will share their experiences in launching what was originally the Delaware Valley Community Reinvestment Fund. They will explore the economic and social conditions that motivated their work, the challenges of building an institution dedicated to advancing equity through investment, and the decision to bring on Jeremy Nowak, a community organizer, as the organization’s first President and CEO. Jeremy would later become a member of the Penn IUR Advisory Board.
Moderated by Dr. Katherine O’Regan, Professor of Public Policy and Planning at the NYU Wagner School and Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, former HUD Assistant Secretary for Policy, Development and Research, Reinvestment Fund Board Member, and Penn IUR Fellow, this conversation will offer a rare, first-hand perspective of the origin of this Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) by its founding members, and a discussion of the values that continue to guide its work—collaboration, data-driven decision-making, and a steadfast commitment to expanding opportunity in disinvested communities.
Speakers (from left to right) Pat Smith, Eva Gladstein, Joyce Wilkerson, and Dr. Katherine O’Regan
April 11, 2025 | 12:00 pm — 1:30 pm
Penn Carey Law | 3501 Sansom Street Philadelphia, PA 19104
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Sixth Annual Nowak Memorial Lecture
Economic Opportunity for Everyone: The Role of CDFIs in Advancing and Building Opportunity
The sixth annual memorial lecture was held on April 12,2024 and 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. Panelists included Della Clark, President & CEO of The Enterprise Center; Jodie Harris, President of Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation; Donald Hinkle-Brown, President and CEO of Reinvestment Fund; Mihailo Temali, Founder and Senior Advisor of Neighborhood Development Center-MN & Founder of the Build from Within Alliance and moderated by Mark Pinsky, Founding Partner of CDFI Friendly America and former CEO of OFN.
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.
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.
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.
View RecordingSecond 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.
View RecordingFirst 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.