Roundtable Sessions

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11

1. Finding Better Ways to Reach and Serve Rural Communities

Rural clients and program operators face challenges that need to be addressed by asset development and financial education program operators. This roundtable will offer an opportunity to hear about potential venues for recruitment and training at Farmers' Markets, Health Care Centers, Rural Utility Facilities and Cooperatives. It will provide time for exchanges of ideas and explore how rural residents might use IDAs for microenterprises, value-added farm production ventures and other wealth creation goals.

Facilitator(s): Carol Coren (Cornerstone Consultants)

2. Outcome Tracker IDA Tour: Web-Based IDA Account Management

This roundtable provides a product tour of Outcome Tracker IDA by VistaShare. Outcome Tracker IDA provides web-based client management of IDA clients, accounts, services, and outcomes. It manages different IDA program types such as AFI, ORR, and Youth IDA, and allows you to manage other non-IDA programs as well. Outcome Tracker has been recommended as an upgrade path for MIS IDA users. Current Outcome Tracker users include single-site IDA programs, IDA collaboratives, and statewide IDA networks.

Facilitator(s): Dave Smucker (VistaShare)

3. What If You Didn't Get the EITC All At Once?

The EITC cannot realize its full potential as an earnings supplement unless cash-strapped families have a viable means for choosing to receive at least part of the credit during the year rather than waiting for their tax refund. The current EITC advance payment option does not provide this. The presenters have proposed a framework for a new method for periodic payment and want to discuss how this can be done without jeopardizing refund-related asset-building programs. Background paper available at: http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2008/0505_metroraise_supplement_holt.aspx

Facilitator(s): Alan Berube (Brookings Institution) and Steve Holt (HoltSolutions)

4. Asset Building in Public Housing

Public Housing Authorities, and those entities that work with them, often have different and perhaps conflicting regulations, standards and opportunities than do other non-profits. Come together with HUD to network and collaborate with people who speak your language!

Facilitator(s): Anice Schervish and Kathryn Greenspan (HUD)

5. Financial Social Work: A Successful Long-Term Financial Behavioral Change Model

Join the dialogue on how best to engage clients in the on-going process of debt elimination, asset building and money management. Financial Social Work is a dynamic multi-disciplinary, psychosocial financial education model which addresses long-term financial behavioral change: because until and unless behavior changes, NOTHING changes! Financial Social Work educates, motivates and supports clients in building emotional and financial stability (a much more personal, emotional and individual choice than a cognitive, intellectual or educational pursuit.)

Facilitated by Reeta Wolfsohn (Center for Financial Social Work)

6. Market Expansion: AFI and People with Disabilities

Participants will be presented with three AFI program models from New York and New Jersey focused on creating home ownership and micro-enterprise opportunities for people with disabilities and their caregivers. Discussion will be held on how to improve and disseminate these models nationally, and how to increase economic development markets, linking successful micro-enterprise organizations to the disability IDA movement and to expanding micro-enterprise opportunities for people with disabilities. Regional micro-finance organizations have been invited to attend.

Facilitator(s): Emad Samad (Allies, Inc.)

7. Social Security and the Assets Agenda: Complementary Roles

The federal government's current fiscal situation and the impending retirement of the Baby Boom generation have generated calls to reform entitlements, including Social Security. Many have proposed privatizing Social Security and have sought allies among those who favor individual asset development and a system of lifelong savings. But would Social Security privatization really help low-income families build wealth and find a path out of poverty? Can you be both pro-Social Security and pro-private savings accounts?

Facilitator(s): Matthew Baumgart (Aspen Institute Initiative on Financial Security) and Virginia Reno (National Academy of Social Insurance)

8. Does Your Native Community Need an IDA Program?

Join this session to explore whether your Native community's asset-building strategy should include implementing an Individual Development Account (IDA) program. Representatives from the Native IDA Initiative, funded by the Department of the Treasury's CDFI Fund, will present an overview of the IDA program development process and provide an opportunity to discuss how IDAs may help Native consumers achieve their financial goals and contribute to the economic strength of their communities.

Facilitator(s): Leslie Newman (First Nations Oweesta Corp.)

9. Learn the CCC : Create Media that Connects with Your Consumers
Prince William

How can you use the Internet to reach clients and serve them better? We'll tackle low-literacy, language barriers and disability access in a discussion of web-based content design. We'll cover electronic outreach and promotions, email as a tool, creating an online presence and campaigns that work. We'll include a survey of present day success in online campaigns of NPO, NGO, private sector and governmental agencies.

Facilitator(s): Lee Davenport (One Economy Corporation), Austin Bonner (One Economy Corporation)

10.  Homeownership Done Right: Communicating about Homeownership in the Face of the Housing Crisis

Homeownership as an asset-building strategy for low-income families and communities has come under attack during the current subprime and foreclosure crisis. However, owning a home is still the primary source of wealth for low-income and minority households, and there is evidence that if the opportunity is structured correctly, homeownership remains a very effective way to build wealth. At this roundtable, CFED will present findings from the Assets and Opportunity Special Report on the role of homeownership in household wealth to spark a discussion about how to effectively communicate the importance of homeownership and supportive homeownership policy in the current housing market.

Facilitator(s): Lindley Higgins (NeighborWorks America)

11. Reaching Generation Y: Using Video Games to Teach Financial Skills
Lincoln

Too often financial education is like medicine; it may be good for you, but it does not taste good.  What if we could learn financial skills and knowledge through engaging, interactive video games?  Doorways to Dreams (D2D Fund) and its partners are developing a prototype financial education "casual" video game designed to teach discrete financial lessons.  Be one of the first to see the prototype game and offer feedback at this interactive roundtable.   

Facilitator(s): Nick Maynard & Tim Flacke (D2D Fund, Inc).

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12

1. Building Wealth in Communities by Working with Anchor Institutions

Since 2007, The Democracy Collaborative has worked with the Cleveland Foundation to develop an economic inclusion strategy involving three components: 1) working to develop viable worker and community-owned businesses, 2) getting anchor institutions (especially hospitals and universities) to commit to purchasing products from those businesses, and 3) developing "green collar" jobs in the process. Discussion will explore the promise and difficulties in this work and ways to link such efforts with individual wealth building strategies.

Facilitator(s): Steve Dubb (The Democracy Collaborative)

2. Outcome Tracker IDA Tour: Web-Based IDA Account Management

This roundtable provides a product tour of Outcome Tracker IDA by VistaShare. Outcome Tracker IDA provides web-based client management of IDA clients, accounts, services, and outcomes. It manages different IDA program types such as AFI, ORR, and Youth IDA, and allows you to manage other non-IDA programs as well. Outcome Tracker has been recommended as an upgrade path for MIS IDA users. Current Outcome Tracker users include single-site IDA programs, IDA collaboratives, and statewide IDA networks.

Facilitator(s): Dave Smucker (VistaShare)

3. Effective Delivery of Savings Programs Through Targeted Initiatives

Many tools exist to encourage low-income households to build savings: low-cost accounts, matched funds, and budgeting/educational/motivational tools. But what is the best way to deliver these tools? We will explore examples of partnerships through which to offer savings programs (eg: tax prep sites, employers, housing authorities). We will discuss how using such channels can improve ability to reach target clients, increase uptake, facilitate tracking, and support sustained savings. The audience is encouraged to share examples and brainstorm other potential delivery channels.

Facilitator(s): Janneke Ratcliffe (UNC Center for Community Capital)

4. Connecting Assets Research to Practice

CFED believes that high quality asset research can and should be structured to help inform programs , and also that insights from program operators are vital inputs to good research design. The goal of this roundtable is to spark a conversation between asset practitioners, advocates, policymakers, researchers and funders in order to surface common areas of interest for research, and to discuss ideas for creating more collaboration. ALC participants with interest in strengthening the connection between practice, policy, and research are especially encouraged to attend. To focus our conversation, the roundtable will kick off with a short panel of practitioners, researchers and funders speaking about the value of collaboration in advancing their work.

Facilitator(s): Ida Rademacher (CFED)

5. Native Asset Building - Is it a Cultural Fit?

Asset building in any community must match with the worldviews of those building/expanding their assets otherwise it may not achieve buy-in from the community and could lead to unintended negative consequences. Join a discussion about how Native communities define assets; the possible effects of asset building (individual and communal) on communities both rural and urban; and community-led research into what promotes sustainable integrated asset building programs and policies.

Facilitator(s): Joanna Donohoe (First Nations Oweesta Corporation)

6. Community Financial Access Pilot

The Community Financial Access Pilot is an initiative of the US Treasury, endorsed by the President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy which seeks to expand access to financial services and financial education to low- and moderate-income people by building sustainable community-based collaboratives.

Facilitator(s): Louisa Quittman (Department of the Treasury)

7. Financing Strategies for Homeownership Preservation Since the Mortgage Crisis

The mortgage foreclosure crisis has raised serious questions about the fragile nature of homeownership for lower-income people and communities. Do the financing standards used over the past 10-15 years need to be re-engineered? If not, what should be kept and what needs to be re-tooled? How can funders continue to impact innovative, smart and high quality homeownership strategies going forward? This roundtable will be especially targeted to funders with capital to address these issues.

Facilitator(s): Michael Sloss (ROC USA Capital)

8. Evaluating IDAs for Education

Validating links between IDA investments in education and sustainable employment could inform practitioners about ways to improve clients' uses of vocational, community college, proprietary, and university-level classes and certification programs. This asset model deserves more attention; improvements are needed to link curricula to 529 programs and other personal development strategies. Join a discussion about assessing clients' pre and post program experiences and developing curricula to support people saving to invest in themselves or their children.

Facilitator(s): Carol Coren (Principal, Cornerstone Consultants)

9. Pilot Opportunity: Tax Time Saving with U.S. Savings Bonds
Prince William

Since 2007, Doorways to Dreams (D2D) Fund and its partners have been testing the appeal of U.S. Savings Bonds to lower-income tax clients, with encouraging results.  In 2008, D2D introduced the "savings bond portal," a web-based ordering system for savings bonds.  VITA coalitions and other free tax sites are invited to come to this roundtable to learn more about D2D's bond pilot program, the savings bond portal, and the opportunity to participate in 2009. 

Facilitator(s):  Preeti Mehta and Christina Kasica (D2D Fund)

10. A Conversation About Asset Building with the McCain and Obama Presidential Campaigns
Washington A & B

As the country prepares for new leadership, there is anticipation for a new generation of asset building policies and opportunities. Hear representatives from both major Presidential candidate campaigns discuss how their platforms will expand asset building opportunities and create new asset building policies for America. In particular, hear about the wealth building, retirement savings, education, and entrepreneurship plans proposed by the campaigns.

Moderator: Bob Friedman (CFED)
Speakers: Deborah Matz (Obama Campaign) and Alex Brill (McCain Campaign)

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