Speakers and Facilitators

Biographies and Contact Information

Alan Berube
The Brookings Institution
1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW,
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-797-6105
www.brookings.edu/experts/berubea.aspx

Alan Berube is research director and fellow at The Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program. His areas of expertise include metropolitan demographics and social policies affecting urban low-income families and communities. Berube’s most recent work includes research on the role of U.S. metropolitan areas in a globalizing economy, the causes and consequences of concentrated urban poverty in the United States, and the use of low-income tax subsidies, including the Earned Income Tax Credit. He has authored numerous Brookings publications. Prior to joining Brookings, he was with the Office of Community Development Policy at the U.S. Treasury Department and a researcher at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Ray Boshara
New America Foundation
1630 Connecticut Ave., N.W. 7th Floor
Washington, DC 20009
Phone: 202-986-2700
boshara@newamerica.net
www.newamerica.net

Ray Boshara is vice president of the New America Foundation. He has advised presidents, testified before Congress and given speeches all over the world on strategies to build savings, on financial education and on wealth for low- and moderate-income persons. He has written for The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, New York Daily News and the Brookings Institution and has been interviewed on television and radio programs. His book, The Next Progressive Era, co-authored with Phillip Longman, will be published in April 2009. Boshara serves on many national commissions and advisory boards, including the Commission on Thrift. Prior to joining New America, he worked for the Select Committee on Hunger in Congress, the United Nations in Rome, CFED, the Aspen Institute and Ernst & Young.

Tk Buchanan
Center for Community Building and Neighborhood Action
University of Memphis
600 Jefferson Ave., Suite 453
Memphis, TN 38111
Phone: 901-678-1188

tbuchanan@memphis.edu
http://cbana.memphis.edu

Tk Buchanan has a master’s degree in urban sociology and has specialized in housing and neighborhood indicators. She is co-founder of the Center for Community Building and Neighborhood Action and has worked for the University of Memphis on engaged scholarship projects for 14 years.

James Bullard
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
P. O. Box 442
St. Louis, MO 63166
Phone: 314-444-8300
www.stlouisfed.org

James Bullard is president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. He directs the activities of the Bank’s head office in St. Louis as well as its three branches in Little Rock, Ark.; Louisville, Ky.; and Memphis, Tenn. In addition, he represents the Bank on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the Federal Reserve’s chief monetary policymaking body. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis is one of 12 regional Reserve banks, along with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., that constitute the Federal Reserve System. Bullard joined the Bank’s Research division in 1990. Prior to being appointed president, he was deputy director of research for monetary analysis.

Brian Dabson
Rural Policy Research Institute
216 Middlebush
Columbia, MO 65211
Phone: 573-882-5060
www.rupri.org

Brian Dabson is president and chief executive officer of the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) and research professor at the Harry S. Truman School of Public Affairs at the University of Missouri. He is a member of the Community Development Advisory Council for the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank and was formerly the president of the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) in Washington, D.C.

Matt Dozier
EAST Initiative
8210 Ranch Blvd., Suite B-1
Little Rock, AR 72223
Phone: 501-371-5016
matt@eastproject.org
www.eastinitiative.org

Matt Dozier is president and chief executive officer of the EAST (Environmental and Spatial Technology) Initiative, an educational reform effort that has been recognized by the Federal Department of Education and other groups as an innovative and successful approach to education. Students are exposed to strategies that help them move from the traditional self-centered approaches of learning to an environment that stresses team approaches to problem resolution. Dozier became affiliated with EAST in 1998 while teaching at North Pulaski High School in Jacksonville, Ark. He soon became a member of the first EAST Professional Development training team, developing curriculum and training hundreds of teachers as the EAST program spread to more than 180 schools in eight states. In 2001, Dozier joined EAST full time and was named CEO in 2007.

Steve Dubb
Democracy Collaborative
1140-F Tydings Building
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
Phone: 301-237-2135
sgdubb@yahoo.com
www.community-wealth.org

Steve Dubb became involved in community development through his work with cooperatives. He was executive director of the North American Students of Cooperation, a bi-national association (United States and Canada) of housing cooperatives with a focus on university communities, from 2000 to 2003. Dubb has been a senior research associate with The Democracy Collaborative of the University of Maryland, College Park, since 2004, where he maintains the content of the Community-Wealth.org web site. He has been lead researcher and is the author of two books.

Bill Emmons
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
One Federal Reserve Bank Plaza
St. Louis, MO 63102
Phone: 314-444-8844
william.r.emmons@stls.frb.org
www.stlouisfed.org

Bill Emmons is an assistant vice president and economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. He carries out research and policy analysis in the areas of banking, financial markets and financial regulation. Emmons also is an adjunct professor of finance in the John M. Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis and a lecturer in the St. Louis University School of Law. Prior to joining the St. Louis Fed, he was on the faculty of the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H.

Wayne Fawbush
Ford Foundation
320 E. 43rd St.
New York, NY 10017
Phone: 212-573-4918
w.fawbush@fordfound.org
www.fordfound.org

Wayne Fawbush is a program officer with the Asset Building and Community Development Section of the Ford Foundation, focusing on domestic rural economic development in high-poverty regions. He previously was the first executive director of the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund. While there, he helped businesses develop networks that enabled them to produce and move value-added products into profitable markets. Prior to that, he was deputy for program operations of the Farmers Home Administration. Fawbush also served for 16 years in the Oregon State Legislature, owned and operated a pear and blueberry farm in Hood River, Ore., and was an officer in the U.S. Air Force for four years.

John J. Gruidl
Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs
Western Illinois University
1 University Circle
Macomb, IL 61455
Phone: 309-298-2984
JJ-Gruidl@wiu.edu
www.iira.org
www.midwestcdi.org

John Gruidl is a professor in the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs at Western Illinois University where he teaches, conducts research and creates new outreach programs in community and economic development. From 1994-2005, he started and directed the award-winning Peace Corps Fellows Program, a community-based internship program for returned Peace Corps volunteers. Gruidl also helped create the MAPPING the Future of Your Community, a strategic visioning program for Illinois communities. He also is director of the Midwest Community Development Institute, a training program for community leaders. He is widely published in the field of community and economic development. In 2007, Gruidl received the Community Development Achievement Award from the Community Development Society.

Mark S. Lange
Edward Lowe Foundation
58220 Decatur Road
P. O. Box 8
Cassopolis, MI 49031
Phone: 269-445-4221
mark@lowe.org
www.edwardlowe.org

Mark Lange is executive director of the Edward Lowe Foundation, a nonprofit organization that seeks to accelerate entrepreneurship and its impact on community and economic development. Since joining the foundation in 1998, Lange has increased its national recognition and focused its efforts on second-stage entrepreneurs. Previously, Lange was director of the Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Oregon. Lange also co-founded CVT Productions, a video production and software distribution company. Lange began his career in commercial banking. In addition, he has been an adjunct faculty member in entrepreneurship at the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame.

Jill Levine
IFF
1 N. LaSalle, Suite 700
Chicago, IL 60602
Phone: 312-596-5108
jlevine@iff.org
www.iff.org

As the IFF’s director of school services, Levine is responsible for its Charter School Capital Program, providing lending, bond financing and real estate services to charter schools throughout the Midwest. She also leads the IFF’s consulting work for the Chicago Public Schools new school selection and evaluation. In this capacity, Levine designs financial and facility planning workshop trainings and individual technical assistance to new school applicants. She has been sought out as a local and national resource to charter support organizations, associations and funders. She serves on the member services committee of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools and has participated in the National Association of Charter School Authorizers’ charter evaluation process for the New Orleans Recovery School District.

John Logue
Ohio Employee Ownership Center
113 McGilvrey Hall
Kent State University
Kent, OH 44242
Phone: 330-672-3028
jlogue@kent.edu
http://dept.kent.edu/oeoc/index/htm

Shortly after joining the Kent State faculty in 1977, John Logue became involved in the effort to avert the Youngstown steel mill shutdowns. In 1984, he began research on employee ownership as a strategy for job creation and retention in Ohio. He founded the OEOC in 1987 with grants from the Cleveland and Gund Foundations and the Ohio Department of Development to provide technical assistance to Ohioans exploring employee ownership. Logue has written widely on employee ownership and workplace democracy. He was the Ohio Council of Cooperatives' "Ohio Cooperative Educator of the Year" in 2003; won the Ford Foundation's "Leadership for a Changing World" award in 2003; and received a doctor of humane letters, honoris causa, from Alvernia College in 2005 for his work with employee ownership.

Kelly Hunt Lyon
University of Central Arkansas
201 Donaghey Ave.
Conway, AR 72035
Phone: 501-450-3429
klyon@uca.edu

In the early 1990s, Kelly Hunt Lyon was an economic development liaison for the governor of Arkansas, leading initiatives to create the state’s School-to-Work pilot program and its manufacturing extension partnership. She later joined the partnership program at the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority. In 1999, Lyon earned a full graduate assistantship in the Professional and Technical Writing program at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock (UALR). While earning her master’s degree, she started a communications consulting business. She taught writing at UALR and Pulaski Technical College before joining the faculty at the University of Central Arkansas in 2003. Lyon specializes in developing collaborative partnerships and recently assumed a leadership position with the Community Development Institute.

Langdon Morris
InnovationLabs LLC
257 Castle Glen Road
Walnut Creek, CA 94595
Phone: 925 934 1786
lmorris@innovationlabs.com
www.innovationlabs.com or www.permanentinnovation.com

Langdon Morris is a partner of InnovationLabs, which provides consulting services on innovation. His work focuses on innovation, strategy and collaboration methodologies to solve complex problems with high levels of creativity and innovation. Morris has conducted workshops throughout the United States and Europe, as well as in Asia, Africa, South America and the Middle East. He is Senior Practice Scholar at the Ackoff Center at the University of Pennsylvania; a Senior Fellow of the Economic Opportunities Program of the Aspen Institute; and a member of the Scientific Committee of Business Digest, Paris. He has taught graduate courses in Paris and Buenos Aires and has written numerous white papers and seven books, with editions in Japanese, Chinese, Korean and French.

Ed Morrison
Purdue Center for Regional Development
1201 W. State St.
W. Lafayette, IN 47907
Phone: 216-650-7267
http://pcrd/purdue.edu

Ed Morrison focuses on the integration of workforce development and economic development. To facilitate this integration, he has developed new approaches to economic development that emphasize the importance of developing talent, open networks of collaboration and new disciplines of "strategic doing." Morrison is economic policy advisor to the Purdue Center for Regional Development and the founder of I-Open, a nonprofit organization that promotes the practices of open innovation in economic development and workforce development. He teaches strategic planning at the Economic Development Institute and is a member of the Regional Experts Committee for the Council on Competitiveness.

Joseph Neri
IFF
1 N. LaSalle, Suite 700
Chicago, IL 60602
Phone: 312-596-5104
jneri@iff.org
www.iff.org

Joe Neri, executive vice president of IFF, is responsible for overseeing all of IFF’s programs, including lending, real estate services, new school services and affordable housing. Neri previously was vice president of lending and managed a $115 million portfolio of loans to nonprofit agencies serving low-income and special needs communities. Neri joined IFF in 1997 to create and implement its Real Estate Services Division, which provides real estate consulting and project management to nonprofits. He helped design IFF’s Charter School Capital Program and assisted with the startup of the first seven Chicago charter schools. Neri has held adjunct instructor positions at the graduate planning schools of the University of Iowa and the University of Illinois, Chicago.

Lisa Nitze
Ashoka: Innovators for the Public
1700 N. Moore St., Suite 2000
Arlington, VA 22209
Phone: 703-527-8300
lnitze@ashoka.org
www.ashoka.org

Lisa Nitze is vice president of global engagement at Ashoka, where she facilitates connections between social and business entrepreneurs around the world. Nitze spent more than a dozen years as a consultant, often developing public-private partnerships. As executive director of the New Jersey Governor’s Commission on the Preservation and Use of Ellis Island, she developed a restoration and reuse plan for the island. Nitze also created Prosperity New Jersey, a statewide economic development initiative. As executive director of the World Trade Center Baltimore and World Trade Center Institute in Maryland, she attracted foreign investments to the state. She also was a teacher in Lebanon and wrote for a business magazine while living in Thailand.

Kimberly Pate
CFED
1200 G St., N.W., Suite 400
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-207-0134
kpate@CFED.org
www.CFED.org

Kimberly Pate is vice president for strategic partnerships for CFED. She is a strategist and experienced public speaker and trainer on issues affecting economic opportunity, including asset building, enterprise development and workforce development. Pate is responsible for developing and managing strategic partnerships for CFED across all its work. She directs CFED’s business development activities, ranging from foundation-funded initiatives, fee-for-service contracts, earned income opportunities and business partnerships. She leads CFED’s work in the nationwide field of individual development account programs and local and regional entrepreneurship development and capital access systems. Prior to joining CFED in 2000, Pate was deputy director, National Projects for Wider Opportunities for Women in Washington, D.C.

Mark Pinsky
Opportunity Finance Network
620 Chestnut Street, Ste. 572
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Phone: 215-230-4304
mpinsky@opportunityfinance.net
www.opportunityfinance.net

Mark Pinsky is president and chief executive officer of Opportunity Finance Network. The organization’s goal is to become a high-volume financing system providing tens of billions of dollars annually that benefit millions of low-wealth people. Under Pinsky’s leadership, Opportunity Finance Network has introduced several innovative products and has expanded its membership by 300 percent and its assets by more than 700 percent. Pinsky is primarily responsible for the organization’s vision and strategy. He speaks often about the opportunity finance field and has published five books and many articles. He has served on a range of national and local boards, including the CDFI Fund Advisory Board in the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Robert Pittman
Strategic Growth Institute
University of Central Arkansas
201 Donaghey Ave.
Conway, AR 72035
Phone: 501-339-4382
rpittman@strategicgrowthinstitute.org
www.uca.edu

Robert Pittman is an associate professor of community and economic development and executive director of the Strategic Growth Institute at the University of Central Arkansas. The institute helps communities create community and economic development strategies. Pittman has more than 40 years of experience in business location and economic development consulting for major corporations, governments and economic development agencies in the United States and abroad. He is also executive director of the Community Development Institute (CDI) Central. Founded in 1987, CDI Central offers training in community and economic development to elected officials, staff professionals and community volunteers. A former deputy director of the International Development Research Council (now CoreNet), Pittman is a widely published author and frequent speaker on business location and economic development.

Shanna Ratner
Yellow Wood Associates Inc.
228 N. Main St.
St. Albans, VT 05478
Phone: 802-524-6141
www.yellowwood.org

Shanna Ratner is the principal of Yellow Wood Associates Inc., a consulting firm in St. Albans, Vt., specializing in rural community economic development. She has worked closely with federal, state and local governments, citizen groups and nonprofit organizations to implement solutions to a range of natural resource-based economic development challenges. Ratner has worked with the National Network of Forest Practitioners in implementing the National Community Forestry Center, Northern Forest Region. Under her leadership, Yellow Wood Associates has received four awards from USDA’s Small Business Innovation in Rural Development program and has produced three trademarked services. Ratner was a member of the Aspen Institute’s Learning Cluster on Rural Community Capacity Building and a member of the first class of Donella Meadows Fellows in Systems Thinking.

Craig C. Reigel
Nonprofit Finance Fund Capital Partners
760 Market St., Suite 333
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: 415-255-4849
www.nonprofitfinancefund.org

Craig Reigel is a partner in Nonprofit Finance Fund Capital Partners, serving clients on the West Coast. The core of his work is attracting essential patient capital to high-potential nonprofits. Reigel has a long history of solving the dilemmas of growth in diverse environments. He has been a consultant to for-profit industry leaders, advising on a variety of strategic, operational and organizational issues. In seven years as a principal in Datagraph Systems Inc., he has taken a small business delivering performance management tools literally from the basement to international success. In his spare time, Reigel is a partner in a small wine business in San Francisco.

Bethany Spaulding
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
P. O. Box 442
St. Louis, MO 63166
Phone: 314-444-4681
Bethany.spaulding@stls.frb.org
www.stlouidfed.org

Bethany Spaulding has 16 years of experience in the banking industry as a commissioned bank examiner, trainer/facilitator and now as project manager for risk management and consulting. Her facilitation experience includes risk assessment, control self-assessment, focus groups, strategic planning, lessons learned and process improvement. She also is an adjunct faculty member at Maryville University.

Margery Spinney
Cornerstone Corporation for Shared Equity
1641 Republic St.
Cincinnati, OH 45202
Phone: 513-36-0114
spinneym@cornerstoneloanfund.org
www.cornerstoneloanfund.org

In 1996, Margery Spinney began developing an alternative to home ownership for low-wage earners. The product, known as Renter Equity, creates economic options that are scaled to the ability of very-low-income households to participate. As executive director of the Cornerstone Corporation for Shared Equity, Spinney implemented the first Renter Equity project for 22 households in 2002. Participating households have earned more than $40,000 in financial assets. Despite its location in a downtown neighborhood characterized by high crime and vacant buildings, the housing remains 100 percent occupied and has been called an “oasis” because of its beautiful grounds. Cornerstone is now developing its third Renter Equity community. Previously, Spinney provided training and technical assistance in housing for the Maryland Department of Economic and Community Development and managed the Appalachian Housing Program.

Ben Steinberg
Southern Financial Partners
502 Cherry St.
Helena-West Helena, AR 72342
Phone: 870-816-1148
bsteinberg@southernfp.org
www.southernfp.org

Ben Steinberg is president of Southern Financial Partners, a community development organization affiliated with Southern Bancorp. In this role, Steinberg directs all mission-related activities of Southern Bancorp and its three nonprofit affiliates. Under his leadership, Southern’s community development projects have generated more than $100 million in new investments in three Arkansas and Mississippi communities. He serves on the Mid South Delta LISC local advisory board and on the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Community Development Advisory Council. He is also a member of the Memphis Regional Economic Development Council and a Delta Cultural Center board member. Steinberg previously was with the Foundation for International Community Assistance in Tanzania, Armenia and Kazakhstan, with the final three years of this service as managing director of the microfinance organization.

Bill Strickland
Manchester Bidwell Corp.
1815 Metropolitan St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15233
Phone: 412-323-4000

Bill Strickland is president and CEO of Manchester Bidwell Corp. and its subsidiaries, Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild (MCG) and Bidwell Training Center (BTC). MCG is a multidisciplined arts and learning center on Pittsburgh’s North Shore. BTC provides career training for people in transition in southwestern Pennsylvania. Strickland was responsible for the development of a 40,000-square-foot greenhouse, created for agricultural training; a 70,000-square-foot medical technology complex; and a 62,000-square-foot facility that is a mortgage-free asset for both MCG and BTC. The facility includes a music/lecture hall, art studios and recording studios. Strickland has been honored with numerous awards. He has served on a variety of boards and was chairman of the Expansion Arts Panel of the National Endowment for the Arts. He has cultivated collaborative partnerships in several cities and developed successful relationships with prominent foundations, such as the ALCOA and Ford foundations.

John B. Talmage
Social Compact Inc.
6210 Rockhurst Road
Bethesda, MD 20817
Phone: 202-547-2581
jtalmage@socialcompact.org
www.socialcompact.org

John Talmage is president and CEO of Social Compact. Under his leadership, Social Compact is scaling its market analytic, the DrillDown, to document the market strengths of communities throughout the United States. Social Compact also conducts research projects around micro-market consumer behavior and is developing new tools and practices that contribute to innovation in the community development field. These projects are often undertaken in partnership with local leaders, community-based organizations and financial institutions in community development. Previously, Talmage was deputy director for economic development for the city of New Orleans. He also worked in New York City, primarily for the New York City Council, on economic development, housing and land-use matters.

Kathie Thomas
Fleishman-Hillard
200 N. Broadway
St. Louis, MO 63102
Phone: 314-982-1760
Kathie.thomas@fleishman.com
FHInnovation@fleishman.com

Kathie Thomas is director of the innovation practice group at Fleishman-Hillard, a public relations firm based in St. Louis. The group offers tools to help clients inject a new level of innovation and productivity into their strategic planning and program development. The group consists of 61 members speaking 11 languages from 22 cities in nine countries. Thomas’ 29-year career has spanned graphic design, branding, public relations and management. Her resume includes study with Innovation Networks’ Joyce Wycoff; certification in Edward de Bono’s Lateral Thinking and Six Thinking Hats, Kathryn Cramer’s Asset-Based Thinking, the Creative Problem Solving Institute’s Programming in Springboard and Leading Artfully, and Barry Johnson’s Polarity Management; and training with the Creative Education Foundation.

Michael Torrens
CFED
1200 G St., N.W., Suite 400
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-725-0758
mtorrens@CFED.org
www.CFED.org

Michael Torrens is director of applied research and innovation at CFED, a national nonprofit headquartered in Washington, D.C. He leads the team responsible for assets and opportunity research, including the Assets & Opportunity Scorecard, a highly acclaimed data and policy tool that evaluates state performance on asset building and creating economic opportunity. He also leads innovation@CFED, a strategic initiative launched in 2008 that builds upon CFED’s 30-year track record as a catalyst for expanding economic opportunity for Americans. Prior to joining CFED, Torrens was executive director of New Jersey Community Capital, New Jersey’s first statewide community development financial institution.

Nicol Turner-Lee
One Economy Corp.
247 S. State, Ste. 1320
Chicago, IL 60604
Phone: 312-987-9140
nturnerlee@one-economy.com
www.one-economy.com

As senior vice president of external affairs, Nicol Turner-Lee manages One Economy's Midwest programs, including the growth and development of Beehive Web properties. She has more than 10 years of experience in local asset mapping, resource mobilization, community organizing, community technology and organizational development. Prior to joining One Economy, Turner-Lee founded the Neighborhood Technology Resource Center (NTRC), a nonprofit organization that provides technology training and Internet access to low-income residents in two Chicago neighborhoods. NTRC has been recognized as a leading community technology center by HUD's Chicago Neighborhood Networks program and as one of 15 model facilities in Illinois. Turner-Lee is a former research fellow with Northwestern University's Asset-Based Community Development Institute and has served as adjunct faculty at Northwestern, North Park and East-West Universities.

Henry S. Webber
Washington University
1 Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1018
St. Louis, MO 63130-4899
Phone: 314-935-7877
www.wustl.edu

Henry S. Webber is executive vice chancellor for administration and a senior lecturer at Washington University in St. Louis. In this capacity, he oversees facilities, capital projects, campus security and a variety of other areas. He serves on the university's management committee and has significant responsibility for building the university’s public education program. Previously, Webber worked at the University of Chicago for 21 years. From 2001 to 2008, he was vice president for community and government affairs. Under his guidance, the university's community affairs program was recognized as among the dozen strongest university-civic programs in the United States.

Julia Young
Facilitate.com
4323 23rd St.
San Francisco, CA 94114
Phone: 415-647-1335
Julia.young@facilitate.com
www.facilitate.com

Julia Young is a consultant specializing in group facilitation and collaborative problem-solving. She has worked as a facilitator, trainer and project manager with organizations in a wide range of industries, government agencies and communities. She was an internal corporate human resources programs consultant at National Semiconductor and a human resources manager at Hitachi Data Systems. Young then spent four years with Gemini Consulting as a senior consultant and project leader, followed by several years in private practice. Young is a co‐founder and vice president of Facilitate.com, a firm specializing in collaboration technology and facilitation services.

exploring: searching or traveling for the purpose of discovery

innovation: to add value by applying a new idea or method to something established