Registration Is Now Open for Reinventing Our Communities: Transforming Our Economies

For immediate release

Contact: Rachel Brown, Media Relations, 215-574-3840

Philadelphia, PA — Registration is now open for Reinventing Our Communities: Transforming Our Economies, a national conference sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's Community Development Studies & Education Department that will be held Wednesday, September 21, to Friday, September 23, 2016, at the Hilton Philadelphia at Penn's Landing.

The seventh biennial Reinventing Our Communities conference will examine strategies on how communities can connect people, place, and capital to transform local and regional economies in an inclusive way. Throughout the conference, several plenaries, keynote speakers, and workshops will convene community development experts to discuss issues and challenges facing communities, including:

Gentrification and equitable development
Strategies to address extreme poverty
Job opportunities for workers without a bachelor's degree
Immigrant integration as an economic development strategy
Strengths and weaknesses of early childhood programs
Creative reuse of vacant land in lower-income neighborhoods

Preconference tours will highlight community development efforts in Philadelphia. New for 2016 are two off-site learning labs to allow participants to take a deeper dive into either resident engagement strategy or the Community Reinvestment Act.

This year's closing plenary will feature keynote remarks from Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President and CEO Patrick T. Harker, who will then be joined by Atlanta Fed President Dennis P. Lockhart and Cleveland Fed President Loretta J. Mester to discuss the Federal Reserve's role in transforming our communities.

“Conversations like the ones we are holding at this year's Reinventing Our Communities conference are critical in building transformative economies,” said Theresa Y. Singleton, community affairs officer and vice president of the Community Development Studies & Education Department at the Philadelphia Fed. “These discussions and the strategies that emerge from them are what drive real, impactful change.”

More than 500 community developers, advocates, and planners; government leaders; bankers; researchers; foundation representatives; business leaders; and students are expected to attend.
Cosponsors include the Penn Institute for Urban Research at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Minneapolis, New York, Richmond, and St. Louis.

The community development function within the Federal Reserve promotes fair and informed access to financial markets for communities and individuals, recognizing the particular needs of underserved populations. It does so by convening stakeholders to collaborate on community and economic development initiatives, conducting and sharing applied research, and identifying emerging issues. Research-informed practice and practice-informed research are key goals of the department.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia helps formulate and implement monetary policy, supervises banks and bank and savings and loan holding companies, and provides financial services to depository institutions and the federal government. It is one of the 12 regional Reserve Banks that, together with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., make up the Federal Reserve System. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank serves eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Delaware.