The 2018 OFN Conference brought 1,450 CDFI practitioners, funders, investors, students, and more to Chicago for two and a half days of intensive learning and networking.  Together, across more than 90 sessions, we learned what it takes to be an Agent of Change. We examined our past and looked forward for new ways to address the challenges facing our communities and transform them into opportunities.

• The Conference opened with Chicago’s own Grammy-nominated Ricky Dillard and the New G, who spread goodwill with their uplifting contemporary R&B Gospel tunes.
• We were warmly welcomed by Senator Dick Durbin (IL), Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans, and President of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Julia Stasch.
• Our opening plenary, Change Agents, featured three dynamic speakers—all together, they shared experiences spanning six decades. Jim Capraro of Capraro Consulting, Sister Corinne Florek of Religious Communities Investment Fund, and Craig Nash of Chicago CRED inspired the audience with real-life stories of confronting some of America’s greatest challenges head-on.
• In her annual keynote speech, This is Our Time, OFN President and CEO Lisa Mensah encouraged us to use our decades of accumulated experience to ensure that America lives up to its claim as the land of opportunity. Read the transcript here.
• CDFI Fund Director Annie Donovan reminded us all of our commitment to our communities with her uplifting words and also addressed upcoming changes to CDFI certification designed to grow the industry.
• The CDFI industry honored its own with the Ned Gramlich Lifetime Achievement Award for Responsible Finance to community development pioneer Nancy O. Andrews, a lifelong industry champion who recently retired as CEO of LIIF.
• At the 13th Annual Native Awards ceremony, Mazaska Owecaso Otipi Financial Inc. was honored with the 2018 Circle of Honor Award, and Tawney Brunsch, Executive Director of the Lakota Funds, was recognized with the Visionary Leader Award.
• The Justice Grant Awardee, LUCHA, was honored for their work in affordable housing.
• Lisa Mensah took to the stage a second time for A Full Court Press for Diversity: Broadening our Strategies, an intriguing conversation with Ariel Investment Chairman, CEO, and Chief Investment Officer, John W. Rogers, Jr., where they discussed how CDFIs can broaden strategies in minority communities.
• Finally, OFN honored those of our colleagues who have passed in the past year, with a new, annual In Memoriam segment. You can view the slides here.