Working Solutions Shares Expertise on CDFI-Municipal Partnerships at Great Communities Collaborative Conference

Working Solutions recently participated in the Great Communities Collaborative Advocacy Training and Capacity Building Conference, a full-day event for nonprofit leaders, public sector partners, and funders across five Bay Area counties. The conference featured training sessions focused on strengthening advocacy, capacity, and multisector collaboration in areas such as housing, transportation, land use, and climate resilience.

Working Solutions CEO Sara Razavi and Chief Development Officer Laura Hoover led a workshop titled "Leveraging CDFI and Municipal Collaborations." The session explored best practices for fostering effective place-based partnerships between Community Development Financial Institutions and municipalities.

The workshop covered several key topics, including:

• The role of CDFIs in community development;

• Strategies for forming successful CDFI-municipal partnerships;

• Case studies and success stories from recent initiatives; and

• Possible partnership models for CDFIs and public agencies.

The session provided participants with practical insights and actionable strategies for implementing CDFI partnerships in their own communities and demonstrated how cities and municipalities can increasingly adopt CDFI collaborations to provide flexible capital to underserved communities and individuals.

Laura Hoover also participated in another session, "CRA 101: Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Essentials for Nonprofits," presented by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, as a panelist in a conversation about successful CRA partnerships.