The White House. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM
As questions swirl around the future of the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, credit union advocates met Tuesday with senior White House officials to underscore the program’s importance to underserved communities nationwide.
America’s Credit Unions Chief Advocacy Officer Carrie Hunt and Inclusiv President/CEO Cathie Mahon joined other CDFI stakeholders for a meeting with Office of Management and Budget Associate Director Mark Calabria. The conversation focused on the critical role credit unions play in community development and how the CDFI Fund aligns with the administration’s broader financial inclusion goals.
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The meeting followed a recent Executive Order directing federal agencies to scale back or eliminate certain programs deemed “non-essential,” raising uncertainty about the CDFI Fund’s future. While Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said CDFIs are a “key component” in supporting Main Street America, credit union leaders remain vigilant.
Hunt and Mahon shared data showing that CDFIs generate $8 in private capital for every $1 in federal funding, and that each federal dollar awarded to a CDFI credit union results in $12 in community lending.
In a separate letter to the House Financial Services Committee ahead of Tuesday’s hearing on capital access, America’s Credit Unions reinforced the case for continued funding.
“The collaborative public-private partnerships fostered by the CDFI Fund are a critical element that merits careful consideration,” America’s Credit Unions President/CEO Jim Nussle wrote. “By leveraging federal resources to stimulate significant private sector investment, the Fund plays a key role in revitalizing local economies.”
The full letter is available at America’s Credit Unions.
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Michael Ogden
Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.
