OFN Northeast Regional Meeting Recap

Sarah Weintraub, OFN Senior Associate, Peer Learning

May 13, 2026 – 

Read time: 6 minutes

OFN’s regional meetings are one-day gatherings that bring together OFN members, other mission-driven lenders, partners, and industry stakeholders concentrated in one region of the country. This year, the 2026 Northeast Regional Meeting was held on the 64th floor of New York City’s One World Trade Center in the heart of lower Manhattan, a global center reflecting the city’s long history of finance, commerce, innovation, and resilience.

The day started off with breakfast while attendees enjoyed the views of the city skyline and the Hudson River below. Blair Duncan, President & CEO of Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation (UMEZ), opened the meeting with opportunities for the CDFI industry in New York City, especially relating to housing and small business development. New York continues to face complex community development challenges, including an affordable housing crisis, aging infrastructure, and widening economic inequality. The day’s agenda that followed highlighted how CDFIs and other mission-driven partners are responding to these challenges across New York and the broader Northeast.

More than 115 attendees traveled to the meeting from across the Northeast, representing more than a dozen OFN member CDFIs, as well as other mission-driven lenders, funders, consultants, and other industry partners. Following the welcome remarks, OFN’s Chief Network Officer Seth Julyan provided the group with updates from OFN on new programming, products, and resources, such as upgrades to CDFI Connect and OFN’s Interest Rate Buydown Pilot Program, which is now accepting applications. The pilot program aims to support a limited group of OFN members who have received term sheets from debt investors for new loan opportunities but at higher rates than what has been available in prior years. Adrienne Smith, OFN’s Senior Vice President of Research, walked the group through data from the research team on OFN’s membership in the Northeast. She covered OFN membership changes in the Northeast overtime, as well as summaries of balance sheets, lending activity, capital stacks, and portfolio performance of OFN members.

Dafina Williams, EVP, Chief Public Policy Officer and Head of Government Affairs, added to the conversation with policy updates on congressional appropriations and the President’s budget request hearings. She also encouraged CDFIs to complete OFN’s CDFI Certification survey so OFN’s policy team can track how CDFIs are using “Other Targeted Population” as their Target Market for certification. OFN members were given the opportunity to reflect on the state of their organizations and the larger CDFI industry, sharing their feelings and opinions in a closed session. Members talked about their organization’s ability to access capital, their current technology setup, and what was bringing them joy in their current work. The “Ideas in Action” segment of the afternoon allowed member organizations to share innovations from the past year, and new ideas they were hoping to implement or test out in the coming year. These ideas included:

• Vermont Community Loan Fund discussed the launch of the Career Technical Education (CTE) Construction & Rehabilitation Revolving Loan Fund, to offer zero-fee, zero-interest, partially forgivable loans to any of Vermont’s 17 career technical education centers or their partners.
• Primary Care Development Corporation discussed their organization-wide investment in a new database.
• New Hampshire Community Loan Fund noted their continued work around climate lending for community solar, weatherization, and other projects.

In the roundtable discussions that followed, participants discussed specific topics of interest with peers and OFN staff to gain additional insight and problem solve together. The groups focused on capitalization and funding strategies, financing products, people and talent, policy and advocacy, and technology and data solutions.

In closing remarks, Seth Julyan highlighted several emerging dynamics CDFIs should continue paying close attention to, including the growing role of artificial intelligence and other technological tools, as well as the potential for increased collaboration and mergers across the industry. He encouraged attendees to remain resilient, adaptable, and committed to learning from and supporting one another as the industry continues to evolve.

OFN offered three different trainings adjacent to the Regional Meeting: CDFI 101: Orientation to the Industry, the Impact Measurement and Management Workshop, and the Financial Management Workshop. These three trainings helped equip dozens of CDFI practitioners with new skills and knowledge about the industry that they will bring home to their organizations.

Thank you to our partner Flagstar for their sponsorship of the Northeast Regional Meeting. Because of their support, the day was an opportunity for peer learning, camaraderie, collaboration, and growth in a year where CDFIs have faced numerous challenges. The CDFI industry is strongest when it is working together and when groups across the nation feel that they are in partnership with others working toward the same goals.

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Tags: CDFI Leadership, CDFIs, Community Development, OFN Membership, OFN Regional Meeting