St. Louis Experts To Join National Community Development Leaders for ''''Exploring Innovation'''' Week; HUD's Poticha To Address Housing Conference Friday

ST. LOUIS, Mo.  — St. Louis-region community development experts will join national leaders at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis as part of the Bank's “New Voices, Fresh Ideas—The Future of Community Development” conference the week of April 19.

The conference is part of the St. Louis Fed’s annual “Exploring Innovation in Community Development” week.   Registration for all events is still open via the St. Louis Fed’s Exploring Innovation web site at www.exploringinnovation.org.

On Tuesday, April 20, the Bank will host “Restructuring and Retooling for the Future: A National Conversation,” with Ray Boshara, vice president and senior research fellow at the New America Foundation, Washington, D.C.;  Gary Logan, president of Synago Consulting, Kansas City, Mo.; and Ruth McCambridge, of The Nonprofit Quarterly,  Boston, Mass.  The session, which begins at 9:30 a.m. CT, will also be broadcast via live videoconference to the Bank’s Little Rock, Ark., Louisville, Ky., and Memphis, Tenn., zones.

Following lunch, a local dialogue will then follow at 1 p.m. CT.  This session will feature a number of St. Louis-area experts, including Bruce Lindsey, dean of the College of Architecture and Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Design at Washington University in St. Louis; Peter Hovmand, director of Washington University’s Social Design Lab, and Ken Harrington, managing director of the Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Washington University’s Olin College of Business.

Attendees participating in the April 20 program will also be the first to hear the details of the St. Louis Fed’s new “The 10,000-Hour Challenge,” which will be officially announced following the morning session.

On Wednesday, April 21, the Bank will host a special screening of “The New Neighbors,” a documentary of how one town created an integrated suburb.  Following the screening, a local panel featuring Sean Thomas, executive director of the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group and Jennifer Rafanan, executive director of Missouri Immigrant and Refugee Advocates, will discuss the documentary’s local implications.   The Wednesday session is scheduled from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. CT.   Lunch will be provided.

Finishing up the week on Friday, April 23, is the “Creating Whole Communities” conference sponsored by the St. Louis Fed, the University of Missouri-St. Louis and the East-West Gateway Council of Governments.  Among the featured speakers will be Shelley Poticha, director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities.  She will speak on “Changing Federal Policy and What It Means for St. Louis.”

The "Creating Whole Communities" conference will be held from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. CT, with a networking reception to follow.