On June 17th, Greater Ohio Policy Center joined Opportunity CLE partners, Cleveland Development Advisors (CDA) and Finance Fund Capital Corporation (FCAP), at their 3rd Annual Opportunity CLE Neighborhoods Roundtable.  The Roundtable shared the impact CDA and FCAP are having with JP Morgan Chase’s Pro-Neighborhood investments, a program that has annually awarded three-year grants to groups of community development financial institutions (CDFIs) that form innovative partnerships to enhance opportunities for low- and moderate-income Americans and to revitalize distressed neighborhoods, in three Cleveland neighborhoods. Hosted at the Pivot Center for Art, Dance and Expression, the roundtable was an excellent opportunity to hear feedback from the CDCs in the Glenville, Clark-Fulton and Buckeye/Kinsmen neighborhoods that benefited most from this funding. The Roundtable also highlighted early plans for the Equitable Development Ecosystem Collaborative, which includes CDA and other financing and resource partners.

The 2022 Roundtable featured CDC directors who spoke about the ways a small business fund created by CDA/FCAP with PRO Neighborhood funds helped transform their neighborhoods. One such director, John Anoliefo of the Famicos Foundation detailed that they were able to give grants ranging from $1250-2500 to 44 different small businesses in the St. Clair-Superior, Glenville and Hough areas. A common theme was how grateful these CDCs are having received funding from CDA/FCAP , and how much impact they’ve been able to have on their communities largely in thanks to this additional, flexible funding. The creative use of funds has allowed for money to be put toward all manner of projects. It’s allowed them to distribute grants to small businesses, fund development projects, as well as hire consultants for property research.

The keynote speech of the event was delivered by the Chief of Integrated Development of the Bibb Administration, Jeff Epstein, who spoke to the City’s priorities in regard to the evolution of equitable development projects in the region through innovation and collaboration. The city hopes to become more efficient and effective in developing talent, tracking accountability through establishment of better metrics, and placing greater emphasis of community voices.

In addition to reporting on CDC successes, the Collaborative featured a selection of successful developers of color who spoke on their experiences, as well as some of the struggles they faced and overcame as minorities in this field. These developers are helping to inform the creation of the Economic Development Ecosystem Collaborative, which aims to increase the number of developers of color in Cleveland and Cuyahoga Co.

Sheila Wright, president, managing partner and co-founder of Frontline Development Group, LLC., gave a powerful testimony on the systematically differential treatment she, and many other minority developers, had experienced, ensconcing the paradigm in a single, simple, yet powerful sentence, “When it’s about minority developers, it’s subsidies; when it’s majority developers, it’s incentives”.

The Roundtable was an excellent opportunity to hear from people who had a vested interest in the greater Cleveland area and truly believe that Cleveland is an area of opportunity. It is clear that the Collaborative has a deep focus in creating a healthy ecosystem in the equitable development sphere, and fostering a space that allows developers, especially minority developers, to take initiative and be the driving force of change in their hometown. GOPC looks forward to witnessing the future of collaborative work and support from CDA, FCAP and other Cleveland area partners.