Today, as the CDFI Fund concludes fiscal year (FY) 2009, we look back on twelve months of unprecedented challenges and many great accomplishments. When the national economy was faced with the most severe economic crisis since the Great Depression, the CDFI Fund was still able to take significant actions to increase support for CDFIs and CDEs serving distressed communities.
At this mid-point in our fiscal year, I recently reflected on the Director's message I wrote last October in which I stated, ŇThe role that CDFIs play in serving distressed communities is more important than ever.Ó That phrase is something I've echoed a lot over the last six months, to anyone and everyone who would listen, and at every opportunity I have had. Well, some were listening very carefully, because the new Administration has come to rely upon us like none other in our history.
In the midst of the current national dialogue about the global economic crisis and how to resolve it, it is important that we not forget Americans living in distressed low-income communities across this nation. Now more than ever, the monetary awards and tax credits provided through the CDFI Fund's programs and the resulting investment capital and financial services made available to these low-income communities by CDFIs and CDEs are critically important.
CDFI Fund Director Donna Gambrell Selected to Serve in Treasury's Office of Financial Stability
Since its creation in 1994, the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund has awarded a total of $864 million to promote economic revitalization and community development through the CDFI Program, Bank Enterprise Award (BEA) Program, and Native Initiatives, which includes the Native American CDFI Assistance (NACA) Program. CDFIs have provided significant amounts of loans, investments, financial services, and technical assistance to underserved populations and low-income communities across the nation.
Welcome to the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund's website. My name is Donna Gambrell and I am the Director of the Department of the Treasury's CDFI Fund. I was appointed to the position on November 26, 2007, for a three-year term.
I appreciate this great opportunity to serve as Director during a time in which the CDFI Fund's efforts to build the capacities of community-based financial institutions are significantly enhanced as a result of an increased appropriations in Fiscal Year 2008.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund successfully concluded its 2007 national award announcements. Through our programs, we allocated $3.9 billion in tax credit authority and awarded $42 million to a combined total of almost 200 organizations that are committed to investing in and providing financial services to low-income communities and individuals across the country.
Since joining the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Develop-
ment Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund as its Director in February of 2007, the CDFI Fund has been focused on a variety of efforts to further our mission of expanding the capacity of financial institutions to provide credit, capital, and financial services to underserved populations and economically distressed communities in the United States.
On February 1, 2007, I began my tenure as Director of the CDFI Fund. I am honored that the President and U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson have given me their trust to lead this important institution.
I look forward to working with the dedicated, hard-working Fund staff, and deeply appreciate the very warm welcome that they have given me. They, like me, are passionate about the mission of this organization, and I intend to support them in our drive to promote economic revitalization and community development.