Roots & Reckoning
Roots & Reckoning is the 60-minute keynote conversation recorded at the NYS CDFI Coalition's 2026 conference, NYS CDFIs at Work: Bridging the Gap, in Albany. It brings together two of the people responsible for building the CDFI movement:
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Clifford Rosenthal — co-founder of the national CDFI Coalition, author of the first concept paper that became the federal CDFI Fund, and longtime CEO of the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions.
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Mark Pinsky — founder of CDFI Friendly America and the former longtime president and CEO of Opportunity Finance Network.
Why this conversation? Why now?
For more than thirty years, Community Development Financial Institutions have moved capital into the neighborhoods that conventional banks have passed over: financing affordable housing, small businesses, and community facilities from cities to rural communities.
That track record exists because, decades ago, a small number of people convinced Washington to create something that hadn't existed before: a federal program to support mission-driven lenders.
That program, the CDFI Fund of the US Department of Treasury, is being targeted right now.
Over the past two years it has faced repeated proposals to eliminate its grant funding entirely, an attempt to terminate its federal staff, and long delays in releasing money Congress had already approved.
Treasury did not release $289 million in fiscal year 2025 CDFI Fund grant awards until April 2026, and that money must reach communities before it expires on September 30, 2026. The clock is ticking.
Congress has kept the Fund's budget intact - with bipartisan support. Getting the dollars out the door is a matter of real urgency.
Watch and Share
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Thirty-plus years of CDFI lending hasn't happened by accident. It happened because people built a movement, strategically, and often against long odds.
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Many of the people who built the movement are still here, still working, and still have something important to say about its future.
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New York's CDFIs are proof of concept: this is what the model looks like when it works, in real communities, right now.
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This is a great time to tell our origin story.
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This conversation reminds funders, legislators, reporters and the general public why the CDFI Fund was built, who built it, and what it has delivered.
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Watch the full video or the clips below. Share them on your website and social platforms with the hashtags #RootsAndReckoning #SaveCDFIs #NYSCDFI #CDFI #CDFIsAtWork
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NYS CDFIs and allies - join the Spread the Roots Challenge! Watch your inbox for details!
Full Video
