Robert W. Davenport, National Development Council

 

Bob’s entire professional career has been spent in the field of economic and community development.  From starting as a VISTA Volunteer, working in Appalachia to organize a community food cooperative, to progressing to Citibank’s Economic Development Center making loans to fledgling businesses in the five boroughs of New York City, to heading the National Development Council, Bob has always been in the business of building bridges between the finance community and low income populations to create jobs, community wealth, housing, and skills in low income communities. 

NDC, as the National Development Council is known, is one of the nation’s oldest and most respected nonprofit organizations dedicated entirely to stimulating investment and creating jobs in low income communities.  Working nationally, with a staff of fifty, NDC assists communities to finance community development projects.  Whether it is providing technical assistance to community based nonprofit organizations or units of local government, conducting intensive classroom training for finance professionals, or making direct investments using capital raised locally and nationally from major financial institutions and its client communities, NDC is all about finance in low income communities. 

Through its finance affiliates, NDC has invested more than $1 billion of its own capital raised through local and national financial institutions.  NDC’s Grow America Fund is an SBA guaranteed lender making loans to small businesses who create jobs and invest in low income communities.  NDC’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation (known as HEDC) acts as a nonprofit developer, taking on development projects on behalf of NDC’s client communities.  NDC’s Corporate Equity Fund has invested more than $250 million in low income housing tax credit projects on behalf of CRA motivated banks.  And HEDC New Markets has received a $165 million allocation of new markets tax credits for use in low income communities.

NDC’s success can be attributed to one thing: the ability to find the common ground between the finance community and low income neighborhoods.  Building bridges, establishing trust, and accommodating needs are the secrets to sound community development.