CDFI FUND - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Program Manager
- Program Manager for the Capital Magnet Fund
Andrew Schlack is the Program Manager for the Capital Magnet Fund (CMF). Andrew joined the CDFI Fund in 2017 with over 20 years of experience in community development and affordable housing finance, and previously served as Acting Program Manager, and Associate Program Manager for the CDFI Program and Native Initiatives. Prior to joining the CDFI Fund, Andrew was Director of Investments at Calvert Impact Capital (CDFI) where he managed a portfolio of investments in secured real-estate, CDFIs, affordable housing developers, land banks, and other social enterprises. Andrew holds a Master's of Architecture, and a Master's of Urban and Regional Planning degrees from the University of Minnesota.
Job Titles:
- Program Manager
- Program Manager for the New Markets Tax Credit
Christopher Allison is the Program Manager for the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program at the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund). Mr. Allison previously served as Associate Program Manager for the NMTC Program. He oversaw the development of NMTC application materials, led the implementation of the NMTC evaluation process in the CDFI Fund's new Awards Management Information System (AMIS), and made recommendations for tax credit allocations.
Prior to joining the CDFI Fund, Mr. Allison was a Program Manager at Single Stop USA, where he oversaw grant and performance management for a national portfolio of community-based organizations related to income supports. He worked on several innovative workforce development and asset building projects at Seedco, a national economic development intermediary. Mr. Allison has also held positions with Self-Help Ventures Fund and the Center for Community Capital in North Carolina.
Mr. Allison holds a Master of City and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with an emphasis on economic development, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in urban studies from Eugene Lang College at The New School in New York.
Job Titles:
- CDFI Staff Member
- CDFI Representative / President and CEO
- President of MoFi
Dave Glaser is currently the President of MoFi, a position he has held since 2007. MoFi is a Community Development Financial Institution that provides loans to individuals and businesses across the Rocky Mountain West that are just outside the financial mainstream. Mr. Glasser formerly served on the board of the Opportunity Finance Network and is a member of the U.S. Bank Community Advisory Committee, the Columbia Bank Community Advisory Panel, and the Mission Lender Working Group Steering Committee. He holds a Master of Science from the University of Montana and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Colorado. Dave lives with his family in Missoula, Montana.
Job Titles:
- EDA 's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Development and Chief Operating Officer
- U.S. Department of Commerce Designee / Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Development and Chief Operating Officer
Dennis Alvord serves as EDA's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Development and Chief Operating Officer and is responsible for enterprise-wide operations and program execution. Mr. Alvord concurrently performed the duties of the Assistant Secretary and the Deputy Assistant Secretaries of Economic Development and Regional Affairs from April 2017 through March 2019 and, again, from January through August 2021. Active in the Department, he was elected as Co-Chair of the Department Management Council, comprised of senior executives from all of Commerce's principal operating units. Previously, as Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary, he worked on a broad portfolio of department-wide management, operations, program and policy issues and co-chaired the Department of Commerce's 2016-17 Presidential Transition, coordinating efforts across the Department and with the White House and President Elect's Transition Team.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Director
- Deputy Director for Finance and Operations
Dennis Nolan joined the CDFI Fund in October 2011. As Deputy Director for Finance and Operations, Mr. Nolan is responsible for taking the lead in developing policies, operating procedures, internal controls, and short- and long-term strategic plans. With years of experience in community and economic development policies, administration and finance, Mr. Nolan helps ensure the success and longevity of the CDFI Fund and its programs.
Prior to working at the CDFI Fund, Mr. Nolan was the Deputy Chief Financial Officer in the Department of Administration and Finance at the Millennium Challenge Corporation, an independent U.S. foreign aid agency focused on fighting global poverty. Prior to Millennium Challenge Corporation, Mr. Nolan served at the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for a total of 25 years experience in federal financial management.
Job Titles:
- Legal Counsel
- Legal Counsel to the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund
Dietrich Douglas is Legal Counsel to the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) and in that role functions as lead counsel on all legal matters related to the CDFI Fund's policies, programs, and administration. Prior to being named Legal Counsel in 2023, Mr. Douglas served as Branch Chief within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Medicare Operations Division where he supervised a team of attorneys handling claim appeals.
Before this, Mr. Douglas was Program Counsel with the Legal Services Corporation where he performed grant oversight and provided program guidance to federally-funded legal-aid organizations that serve low-income individuals. He has also served as Assistant Director with the New Jersey Department of Human Services, which manages federally-funded public assistance programs. There, he managed a legal unit that adopted regulations, drafted policy guidance, managed the third-party procurement process, and served as general counsel.
Mr. Douglas has more than 15 years of combined experience conducting grant oversight, managing legal and regulatory affairs in state government and practicing civil litigation. He holds a Bachelor's Degree from Virginia Union University, and a Juris Doctorate from Howard University School of Law. He is a member of the New York State Bar.
Job Titles:
- Program Manager
- Program Manager of the Depository Institutions Initiatives
Eddie Tsibulevskiy is the Program Manager of the Depository Institutions Initiatives unit and is responsible for the management of the Bank Enterprise Award and Small Dollar Loan Programs. He most recently served as Senior Financial Analyst at the U.S. Export-Impact Bank where he analyzed and managed a large portfolio of direct loans and loan guarantees. Prior to this, Mr. Tsibulevskiy served recently as Associate Program Manager of the CDFI Fund's Capital Magnet Fund. He holds an M.S. in Economic Development from Georgetown University and a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
Job Titles:
- Program Manager
- Program Manager for the CDFI Fund Cross Program Team
Felicia Young is the Program Manager for the CDFI Fund Cross Program Team. In this role, she leads efforts to provide program management support to CDFI Fund award programs to help meet competing deadlines and priorities associated with Program funding rounds. She also leads initiatives to promote continued process alignment and efficiencies across award programs. Prior to joining the CDFI Fund, Felicia managed strategic planning and operational programs and process improvements at multiple federal agencies. She also has extensive experience overseeing major award programs at the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Railroad Administration and Federal Highway Administration.
Job Titles:
- CDFI Staff Member
- President and CEO of Opportunity Finance
Harold Pettigrew currently serves as president and CEO of Opportunity Finance Network, the leading national network of community development financial institutions serving rural, urban, and Native communities. Before that, he was CEO of Wacif, one of the Washington, DC, area's leading CDFIs focused on access to capital and technical assistance to low- and moderate-income entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurs of color. Mr. Pettigrew has spent his career in economic development, with nearly 20 years of experience in small business development, venture capital investing, transportation and transit, workforce development, and public sector management. Prior to Wacif, Mr. Pettigrew was the director of entrepreneurship at Prosperity Now, where he led the organization's national efforts to advance policies and programs that increase business success for low-and moderate-income microbusiness owners throughout the United States. In addition, he has served as an advisor to the World Bank on private sector, small business development, and business licensing strategies and to the National League of Cities on equitable development strategies. His fellowships include OFN Opportunity Fellowship (2017) and Common Future Local Economy Fellowship (2016). He was a 2015 Next City Vanguard and is a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. Mr. Pettigrew has a master's degree in urban planning from New York University and a bachelor's degree from North Carolina State University, where he served as a member of the university's Board of Trustees.
Job Titles:
- Program Manager
- Program Manager for the Office of Compliance Monitoring
Heather Hunt is the Program Manager for the Office of Compliance Monitoring and Evaluation at the CDFI Fund. In this role she is responsible for the management of the CDFI Fund's compliance reporting and monitoring functions. Prior to joining the CDFI Fund, she served as a Senior Consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton, where she provided outreach and analytical post-award monitoring support to National Science Foundation (NSF). She supported task efforts to assist NSF in implementing an outreach strategy targeted to the research grants community and underrepresented populations, and also conducted post-award desk reviews of NSF award recipients to ensure they were in compliance with OMB and NSF regulations. She holds a Bachelor of Science from George Mason University.
Job Titles:
- Manager
- Program Manager for Legislative and External Affairs
Jason Boehlert is the Program Manager for Legislative and External Affairs for the CDFI Fund. In this role he oversees the CDFI Fund's Congressional and public affairs activities. He has over 20 years legislative and communications experience in the housing, community development, and economic development sectors. Prior to joining the CDFI Fund, he served as Executive Director of the National Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies (NALHFA) and National Association for County Community and Economic Development (NACCED). He has also held government relations positions with the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI), National Association of Development Organizations (NADO), and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). He holds an MA from The George Washington University and a BA from Santa Clara University.
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor
- Fund Director
Jeff Merkowitz is Senior Advisor to CDFI Fund Director Jodie Harris and brings over two decades of both policy and direct, on the ground experience in the areas of housing finance and community development. He previously served as Director of Operations and Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, where he was responsible for crafting the Senator's policy responses to both the foreclosure crisis and the longstanding shortage of affordable housing in California. His work for the Senator to expand refinancing opportunities led to over 2 million struggling homeowners being able to refinance their mortgages at historically low rates, and he led efforts in the Senate to push the Federal Housing Finance Agency to fund the Housing Trust Fund and Capital Magnet Fund.
Prior to his time in the Senate, Merkowitz served as the Chief Financial Officer for Opportunity Fund, a certified CDFI. There he created the financial infrastructure to manage over $25 million in lending programs for affordable housing development and small businesses, as well as receive and distribute $50 million in New Markets Tax Credit allocations, and developed key partnerships with local and national banks. While in California, he also was a director on the board of InnVision, the largest homeless services provider in the South Bay.
Additionally, Merkowitz served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica, where he organized local women's groups to start up small businesses and provided assistance to rural communities with small development projects such as bridges, roads, health posts, and potable water projects. He is a graduate of Princeton University and earned a MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
Karen Miller is the Financial Manager for the CDFI Fund, having the responsibility of managing the budget execution, formulating the President's Budget, oversight of the monthly financial statements, the CDFI Fund's yearly audit, and preparing their annual financial report (AFR). Her team provides support to all areas of the CDFI Fund, ensuring proper use of appropriated funds, the availability of funds, and responding to various data calls that come out of Departmental Offices, Department of the Treasury.
Karen came to Treasury in 1997 as a secretary in the Office of the Deputy Chief Financial Officer and later received her Bachelor's degree in Accounting, transitioning into the Office of Financial Management in 2000 as an accountant responsible for the Exchange Stabilization Fund (ESF), where she ensured that ESF consistently achieved clean audit opinions. She later became a supervisor, overseeing the reporting of various funds/accounts within Treasury, including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act accounts. Prior to Karen coming to the CDFI Fund in November 2012, she also assisted in the financial reporting of Treasury's AFR and the government-wide financial statements.
Karen has a combined total of 31 years of Federal Government service, having spent 13 years with the Department of Defense prior to joining Treasury.
Job Titles:
- CDFI Staff Member
- U.S. Department of the Treasury Designee / Acting Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions / Washington, DC
Job Titles:
- Deputy Director
- Deputy Director for Policy and Programs
Marcia Sigal is the Deputy Director for Policy and Programs for the CDFI Fund, where she oversees the efforts of all of the CDFI Fund's award programs in support of the CDFI Fund's strategic vision. She previously served as the Program Manager of the Capital Magnet Fund. Prior to joining the CDFI Fund, Ms. Sigal was the Director of the Program Policy Division for the Office of Affordable Housing Programs in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Ms. Sigal's expertise as a community development policy analyst and innovator served her well as the Director of Community and Economic Development at the Council of State Community Development Agencies, an Affordable Housing Policy Analyst for the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO), and Management Analyst at the Fairfax, VA Department of Housing and Community Development. In these roles, Ms. Sigal has shaped national outcome measurement metrics for community development programs, designed and launched new community development and affordable housing policies and programs, and developed capacity building and technical assistance programs for non-profit organizations as well as state and local governments.
She has a Master's Degree in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and attended Cornell University, where she studied community services and social work.
Job Titles:
- President and CEO of the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders
Marla Bilonick is the President and CEO of the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB) and also serves as CEO of NALCAB's subsidiary asset management company Escalera Community Investments. Ms. Bilonick brings over 20 years of expertise in small business development, community-based financial services and international aid with an emphasis on Latin America and the US Latino population. Prior to joining NALCAB, she served as the Executive Director of the Latino Economic Development Center. Ms. Bilonick is a board member of the Opportunity Finance Network, the National Housing Trust and a founding member of the National League of Minority Voters' board. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of Wisconsin and a Master of Arts in international economics and Latin American studies from Johns Hopkins University.
Job Titles:
- CDFI Staff Member
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Designee / Deputy Assistant Secretary for Risk Management and Regulatory Affairs
Job Titles:
- Program Manager
- Program Manager for the Office of Certification Policy
Michelle Dickens is Program Manager for the Office of Certification Policy and Evaluation at the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund). As Program Manager, Michelle provides oversight of all Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Certification and Community Development Entity (CDE) Certification and related activities that support the associated CDFI Fund Programs.
Prior to joining the CDFI Fund, Michelle's career focused on local and national non-profit administration and management in the areas of community and economic development. She served as Program Manager for the Maryland Department of Housing & Community Development, Community Investment Tax Credit Program. Additionally, Michelle has provided program oversight at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, Family League of Baltimore City, National Association of Workforce Boards, and Maryland Employment & Training Institute.
Michelle earned a Master of Public Administration from the University of Baltimore, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New York at Albany.
Ms. Pravina Raghavan began her tenure as the Director of the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFU Fund) on March 11, 2024.
On her appointment, Noel Poyo, Treasury's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community and Economic Development said, "I am proud to introduce Director Raghavan to the CDFI Fund team and the broader community finance field. She is a seasoned leader in community and economic development with an impressive track record of overseeing billions of dollars in mission-oriented federal investments."
Prior to the CDFI Fund, Director Raghavan served as the director of the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) located at the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). MEP helps small and medium-size U.S. manufacturers develop new products and customers, expand, and diversify markets, adopt new technology, and improve supply chains.
Prior to MEP/NIST, she served as executive vice president in the Division of Small Business and Technology Development for Empire State Development, the New York State economic development agency. In that role, she led and managed a diverse portfolio including small business lending, bond guarantee, venture capital and technical assistance programs that provided billions of dollars in economic impact for the state; created and implemented the $100 million New York Forward Loan Fund and Empire State Digital resource for COVID-19 small business recovery; and designed and implemented the state's $800 million COVID-19 Small Business Recovery Grant Program.
She also served as deputy associate administrator of investment and innovation at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and was responsible for the Small Business Investment Companies Program, Small Business Innovation Research Program and High Growth Entrepreneur initiatives. She also served as district director for SBA's New York District Office.
Director Raghavan previously served as senior adviser to then-Deputy Secretary of Commerce Bruce H. Andrews. In that role, she worked on a large number of economic and operational issues across the department, including strategic planning and policy development on various topics including emergency management, economic development, international trade, weather, budget, contracts, staffing and technology development.
Before joining the federal government, Director Raghavan was a vice president with MTV and BET Networks, a founder and owner of a global strategic advisory firm, and business development director for Misys PLC, one of the world's largest banking software companies. She was also an associate at Broadview International, a London investment bank, and worked at AT&T in several finance and management roles, including her last five years as mergers and acquisitions director for Europe and Asia. Director Raghavan has an M.B.A. in finance from Seton Hall University and a B.S. in finance from the Pennsylvania State University.
Job Titles:
- Treasury 's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community
Patrice Kunesh, of Standing Rock Lakota descent, is the founder and director of Peȟíŋ Haha Consulting, a social enterprise committed to fostering self-determined Native nations by expanding their access to economic opportunities and fostering social and economic capital. Previously, she established and led the Center for Indian Country Development at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, a national initiative focused on activating financial, human, and social capital to facilitate economic growth and prosperity in American Indian and Alaska Native communities. Ms. Kunesh began her legal career at the Native American Rights Fund, where her work centered on jurisdiction and natural resources, nation building, and Indian child welfare matters. Ms. Kunesh previously served in various federal government roles including as the Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and as the Deputy Solicitor for Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Expertise in Native American Community Development Representative
Job Titles:
- Chief Information Officer
- Chief Information Officer at the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund
- Information Technology
Paul Markovitz serves as the Chief Information Officer at the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. He guides the CDFI Fund in the development and design of innovative information technology by working with CDFI Fund staff to improve business practices and pursue new methods of collaboration and decision-making.
Prior to joining the CDFI Fund in February 2011, Mr. Markovitz spent over 20 years working in the IT field within the Federal government. Most recently, Mr. Markovitz spent seven years at the National Science Foundation (NSF). At NSF, he served as the Foundation's Chief Enterprise Architect, Senior Agency Information Security Officer, and Chief of the Security, Architecture, Policy and Plans branch.
Prior to NSF, Mr. Markovitz worked for a little over six years at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). At NIH, he served as an IT Project Manager for NIH's enterprise grant management systems. In addition to managing various software development projects, Mr. Markovitz led activities for planning and managing the IT portfolio budget for NIH's enterprise grant systems. While at NIH, Paul also served on a 6-month detail as a Solutions Architect to the Federal Grants.gov initiative.
Before working for NIH, he spent 18 months in private industry at TYC Associates, Inc., a small 8A firm. Mr. Markovitz was a Project Leader and Senior Systems Analyst on a 5-year NIH contract where he supported the planning, design and development of NIH's grant management systems. He began his federal career at the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) where he specialized in various communications protocols. Mr. Markovitz holds a Master's Degree in Computer Science from Loyola University.
Job Titles:
- Program Manager
- Program Manager for the CDFI Program
Pooja Patel is the Program Manager for the CDFI Program and Native Initiatives. Pooja has nearly 20 years of experience related to federal affordable housing and community economic development programs. Prior to joining the CDFI Fund, Pooja was a Senior Director at ICF. In this role, she managed a portfolio of projects focused on the successful design and administration of federal community development programs, including establishing and evaluating policies, guidelines, and methodologies that guide program operations.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director of National CAPACD
Job Titles:
- Program Manager
- Program Manager and Research Analyst in the Financial Strategies and Research Unit
Shannon McKay is currently the Program Manager and Research Analyst in the Financial Strategies and Research Unit at the CDFI Fund. She has been with the CDFI Fund since 2019 where her portfolio has included managing the data collection, cleaning and report development of the Fund's Annual Certification and Data Collection (ACR) report, as well as supporting other research initiatives.
Prior to joining the CDFI Fund, Shannon was the Research Manager in the Community Development department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Her research work there included small business lending, foreclosures, neighborhood stabilization, homelessness as well as workforce development and worker displacement. Shannon holds a Ph.D. in Urban Studies and Planning from MIT, a M.S. in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University, and a B.A. in Economics from Vassar College.
Job Titles:
- Program Manager
- Program Manager for the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program
Susan Suckfiel is the Program Manager for the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program at the CDFI Fund. Prior to joining the CDFI Fund, Susan managed the Office of Portfolio Management at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) where she was responsible for the management and compliance of the SBA's $120 billion portfolio of direct and guaranteed loans, including oversight of the servicing for the SBA disaster, 504, and 7(a) loan programs. Susan brings with her an extensive knowledge of the many aspects of lending, loan servicing, compliance and loan administration, as well as a deep background and training in federal personnel management. She holds a bachelor's degree in business administration.
Job Titles:
- Manager
- Operations Manager of the CDFI Fund and Oversees the Management of the Fund
Telma Holmes is the Operations Manager of the CDFI Fund and oversees the management of the Fund's infrastructure, including human resources, acquisitions, property, equipment, space logistics, safety, travel, and training. Since joining the Operations team in 2011, she has been the Fund's Small Business Specialist, providing advice to the program offices on procuring small business and informing small business owners on procurement opportunities within the CDFI Fund. She began her career at the CDFI Fund in 2009, serving as Chief Information Officer.
Prior to the CDFI Fund, Ms. Holmes was the Contracting Officer Technical Representative (COTR) of the Treasury Foreign Intelligence Network (TFIN) where she was responsible for developing and directing the successful implementation of a project management plan to stabilize the Treasury Department's only Top Secret IT system.
Ms. Holmes has over 20 years of experience within the Department of the Treasury and has previously been an IT Specialist and Program Analyst within the Office of the Chief Information Officer, a Budget Analyst for the Working Capital Fund Program Office, a Program Analyst within the Information Technology Strategy and Policy division and has served as President of the National Treasury Employee Union.