FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

December 11, 1997
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SECRETARY RUBIN ANNOUNCES NEW CDFI DIRECTOR AND RECOGNIZES CDFI AWARDEES

Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin announced today the appointment of Ellen West Lazar as Director of Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. Secretary Rubin made this announcement at a ceremony recognizing recent awardees in the the Fund's CDFI program and Fund's Bank Enterprise Award (BEA) Program. "The CDFI Fund is a sound investment for the Federal government," said Secretary Rubin. "The Fund is helping to bring hope and opportunity to communities that have long been left behind. Local community-based institutions that have received CDFI funding are creating jobs and revitalizing America's neighborhoods. This public-private partnership is essential to ensuring the nation's financial system works to the benefit of all Americans." Ms. Lazar, the new Director of CDFI, has served since 1996 as Executive Director of the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders (NAAHL), a 250 member trade association whose mission is to promote private investment in affordable housing. Prior to joining NAAHL, Ms. Lazar served as General Counsel and Assistant Secretary, and then as Vice President for the Enterprise Foundation, a non-profit, publicly supported foundation dedicated to providing affordable housing and community services for the poor, where she was responsible for the administration of a 150 employee national organization. Ms. Lazar has also served in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, The National Housing Partnership and as a lawyer in private practice. Secretary Rubin also announced today that Paul Richard Gentille will serve as Deputy Director and Chief Financial Officer of CDFI. Mr. Gentille had served since 1981 as Financial Manager and Deputy CFO of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). At today's ceremony, Secretary Rubin recognized 48 community organizations that were awarded this fall a total of $38.3 million in financial and technical assistance in the second round of CDFI Program. In addition, Secretary Rubin recognized 55 insured depository institutions that received a total of $16.9 million in incentive grants in the second round of the Fund's Bank Enterprise Award (BEA) Program. The CDFI Program leverages Federal dollars by requiring that each CDFI provide a one-to-one match with funds from non-Federal sources for each dollar of assistance it receives. In addition, CDFIs receiving assistance from the Fund are held to performance standards that help ensure that the Federal investment will result in significant community development impact. The structure of the CDFI Fund allows decisions about how to best meet community needs to be made by the local organizations. The CDFIs receiving assistance from the Fund include community development banks, multi-bank community development corporations, credit unions, loan funds, venture funds and microenterprise loan funds. The assistance may be made in various forms, including equity investments, grants, loans, and funding for technical assistance. Click here to see a photo of Secretary Rubin speaking at the ceremony. Click here to see the list of CDFI and BEA awardees recognized at today's ceremony.