The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund recently announced $104.8 million in awards for 179 local financial institutions serving struggling communities in 44 states and the District of Columbia.

Last week I had the opportunity to speak on a panel at a conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on the future of Community Development. The panel was the closing plenary session for the conference entitled Rethink. Recover. Rebuild: Reinventing Older Communities. It was broad conversation that gave me an opportunity to reflect upon and share some of the lessons and experiences we have had as part of the Community Development Innovation Forum here in Massachusetts.

Bob Van Meter, Executive Director of LISC/Boston, and Joe Kriesberg write about a recent conference in Washington, DC that highlighted the importance of working comprehensively to build strong neighborhoods.

Last Friday, at an event hosted by the Boston Foundation, the Community Development Innovation Forum released a new study by the Non Profit Finance Fund that looked at the fiscal health of the CDC sector.

Bill Pinakiewicz from NFF, highlighted the key findings of the study, including:

After a couple of years of cajoling and encouragement from friends and colleagues, and a few months of my own contemplation and procrastination I have decided to venture into the blogosphere. My hope is to offer some ideas, information, and insights that will be of interest to community developers and their partners in Massachusetts and perhaps around the country. I welcome your feedback and comments as I hope this blog becomes a vehicle for sparking conversation and debate about key issues in our field.