CFED (Corporation for Enterprise Development), a long-time partner of NeighborWorks America, celebrated its 30th anniversary with a Innovation Summit and a Gala in Washington, DC, with hundreds in attendance. CFED has led the growth in individual development accounts for low-income American families to save, build assets, and enter the financial mainstream.
At least a dozen local NeighborWorks organizations offer IDA programs.

Building on what the organization has learned over 30 years, CFED is seeking to jump start innovations to create more economic opportunities for lower-income Americans. Andrea Levere, CFED's president, said the Innovation Summit was part of CFED's "innovation@cfed" platform "to identify at least two innovative approaches that will expand economic opportunity for millions of Americans. "

Stacey Epperson, CEO of NeighborWorks member Frontier Housing in Morehead, Kentucky, is the I'M HOME Innovator-in-Residence, one of four innovators-in-residence at CFED. Her innovation is Manufactured Housing Done Right!, Frontier’s new social enterprise that will serve as an aggregator between local nonprofits and the manufacturer to secure volume discounts and ensure product quality.

More than 20 innovations were featured at the summit, and participants were encouraged to not only pose questions to the innovators but to offer suggestions as well. Eileen Fitzgerald, chief operating officer, Marietta Rodriguez, deputy director for National Homeownership Programs and Lending, and David Dangler, director NeighborWorks Rural Initiative, were among the summit participants from NeighborWorks America.

Fitzgerald participated in a “Brain Trust” session on manufactured housing innovations led by Stacey Epperson. Rodriguez led a discussion on "designing a Community Reinvestment Act" for the next decade.

The Gala, held at the National Building Museum, was hosted by Gloria Steinem and included remarks by Levere and CFED Founder Robert Friedman, a performance by the Ifetayo Cultural Arts Program of Brooklyn, NY, and the reading of a poem by Friedman, “The Threshold of Opportunity.”

Links:

CFED's 30th Anniversary Video on YouTube

CFED's Innovation Web Site

NeighborWorks Case Study on Manufactured Housing Done Right!™