2021 OFN Conference Overview

The OFN Conference is the single largest gathering in the CDFI industry, offering CDFI practitioners, investors, funders, and other industry stakeholders a high-quality, practitioner-driven curriculum. With the added visibility CDFIs have achieved in over the past year due to COVID-19, the economic downturn, and the renewed focus on racial equity, we expect many first-time attendees who are new to the CDFI industry including representatives of state and local government, corporate and philanthropic funders, and the media. Last year, the 2020 OFN Conference: The Virtual Edition attracted nearly 2,500 participants; we expect this year’s Conference to attract many more!

OFN is seeking session proposals from a diverse and inclusive group of organizations and presenters that offer a wide range of perspectives on topics of interest to our diverse attendees. Each proposal will be considered for inclusion in one of the three planned events:

• CONNECT+ Forum: Building Equitable Resilience - June 30, 2021
• CONNECT+ Forum: CDFI Growth - July 29, 2021
• OFN Conference: Finance Justice. Finance Change. - October 19-21, 2021

OFN CONNECT+ Forums

This year, OFN will be hosting two virtual half-day forums leading up to the October OFN Conference. These gatherings will focus on two topics crucial at this time: Building Equitable Resilience and CDFI Growth. Each event will include large group presentations and breakout sessions followed by Q&A and opportunities for networking.

Request for Session Proposals

Requirements for Session Proposals

This year, in our virtual format, we aim to offer approximately 30-40 breakout sessions across the three events on topics of critical importance to CDFIs and their supporters in this moment of crisis and growth. To maximize the impact and relevance of each session and to include as many voices as possible, we may ask applicants to work with each other to combine proposals into a single session.

Session Length: This year, OFN will consider sessions in two formats:

1. Short Format: 60-75 minute total session with no more than 45-50 minutes of presentation and at least 15- 25 minutes of discussion and Q&A
2. Long Format: 90-120 minute total session with a break between two 45-60 minutes blocks. Each block should include at least 10-15 minutes of discussion and Q&A.

Speakers: OFN strongly encourages the maximum number of speakers to be limited to four, including the moderator. In rare circumstances, OFN may approve the inclusion of more than four speakers, most likely in a long format session.

Proposal Limit Per Organization: OFN will consider no more than two proposals per organization.  Organizations may be included on the proposed  panels for more than two sessions, but an organization may submit no more than two proposals

Complete Proposal: Please submit all requested information and materials with your proposal submission, including the bios and head shots for all proposed speakers.

Selected Sessions may be pre-recorded: OFN may choose to pre-record some of the breakout sessions. Prior to recording, OFN will schedule a planning call for each session, and collect all PowerPoints and session materials. Live discussion and Q&A will be offered for all sessions during the events, even for sessions that have been pre-recorded.

Timeline

• Information Call Via Zoom:  May 11, 1:00 PM EDT (Please RSVP to Victoria Kennedy) 
• Proposals Due: June 25
• Presenters Informed of Selection Decision for CONNECT+ Forum: Building Equitable Resilience: June 11 - Presenters have already been informed
• Presenters Informed of Selection Decision for CONNECT+ Forum: CDFI Growth: June 25
• Presenters Informed of Selection Decision for OFN Conference: Finance Justice. Finance Change. Late July

If you have questions about the process or your session idea, feel free to contact Seth Julyan or Tina Poole Johnson.

Topics of Interest

The global pandemic, the demand for racial reckoning, and the disparate economic harms and widening wealth gap have pushed CDFIs to go deeper and step up to address the needs of reeling communities. New investors have recognized CDFIs as “economic first responders” and poured unprecedented levels of capital into the industry. Traditional CDFI funders and stakeholders have provided record flexibility and investment. While the CDFI industry has matured, the need for scrappy, innovative, and entrepreneurial organizations is stronger than ever. How are CDFIs managing their extraordinary organizational growth? What will it take to grow into this moment and finance justice and lasting, equitable change?

The rallying cry of this year’s Conference is Finance Justice. Finance Change. The two forums leading up to the Conference will explore equitable resilience and CDFI growth. 

OFN welcomes proposals that are relevant to CDFIs and their stakeholders in the current national environment created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the resulting economic crisis, and calls for racial equity. We will consider the extent to which session proposals address the overarching themes of resilience, growth, change, and justice, as well as specific issues or topics. 

Topics of particular interest include:

• Racial equity, inclusion, and justice
• Equitable resilience, including social and economic as well as climate/environmental resilience
• CDFI organizational growth and sustainability, including proven models, best practices, and innovations scaling the sector and impact through collaboration and partnerships 
• Capitalization and fundraising 
• CDFI governance, management, and staffing 
• Impact measurement and reporting
• Lending: proven models, best practices, and innovations
• Risk assessment and management 
• Effective policies, procedures, processes, and systems,  both organizational and lending
• Technical assistance, coaching, and other development services: proven models, best practices, and innovations
• Clean energy and climate solutions, including just transition for coal communities
• Food Systems and food justice
• Rural  transformation and sustainable economies, including strategies for eliminating persistent poverty 
• Community-led holistic health
• Other important topical issues

Suggestions for Developing a Strong Proposal

To increase your chances of being selected, we strongly suggest that you:

• Share practical, actionable information that helps participants do their jobs better. 
•  Go in-depth rather than staying broad: sessions that skim the surface usually receive lower ratings from attendees.
•  Consider the diversity of your presenters (race, ethnicity, gender) as well as the institutions they’re affiliated with (rural/urban market, small/large asset size, financing sector). 
• Include presenters from two or more organizations with different perspectives−and consider including a borrower, partner organization, or community representative.

OFN will work hard to select a mix of strong session proposals that offers value to a range of audiences and levels of experience. We do our best to accommodate as many strong proposals as we can. Sometimes we do this by asking people who propose similar topics to combine their ideas into a single session.

Sample Session Descriptions

Below are three sample session descriptions that you can model your description on.

Managing Risk in the Time of COVID-19

While CDFIs have demonstrated time and again their ability to mitigate and manage risk, the level of uncertainty introduced with the recent pandemic has made sizing up risk more challenging. The purpose of this session is to provide participants with a framework for analyzing pandemic-related risk in their underwriting and portfolio management functions. Three CDFIs from different sectors and geographies will share their creative and rigorous approaches to risk management while maintaining a strong mission focus. Participants will leave the session with actionable ideas for assessing pandemic-related risk in new loans, evaluating and managing risk in existing portfolios, and stress testing portfolios under different operating assumptions.

The Journey Is the Destination: How CDFIs Can Move from “Colorblind” to “Antiracist”

Women of color accounted for 89% of new businesses opened every day over the year before COVID-19. Black women are 300% more likely to launch a new business than a white person, and Latinas are 180% more likely−and both are more likely to fail, due to lack of affordable capital and access to business advising. The CDFI industry was founded as an antidote to the failings of the traditional financial system, like red lining and lending discrimination. We’re working hard to close these gaps, but “colorblind” policies and ways of doing business hold us back from truly centering Black and Brown business owners and confronting racial and economic injustice head on. As an industry we must move from colorblind to antiracist, and this session is an open and frank discussion of how we do it.

Democratizing Energy Resources for Social Justice and Racial Equity

As we race to enact clean energy practices, how are we protecting against socioeconomic and racial inequities? As clean energy policies ramp up in scale and ambition, they confront challenging new questions: what actors will cover the costs related to this transition? How can our partners in this space help CDFIs think beyond the transaction to evaluate the long-lasting quality of life impacts of underserved and often vulnerable tenants? How can we be stewards of responsible development practices to protect against crushing energy cost burden and harmful environmental impacts? Join us for a discussion on how to enhance our sector’s mission to raise our collective consciousness on climate and energy.

Presenter and Session Policies

OFN Conference Registration: Session presenters and organizers will be given a complimentary registration to the Conference.  The Connect+ Forums will be a free event for all attendees. 

Session Organizer: The Session Organizer will be the primary contact for all communications regarding the selected proposal and the session. The Session Organizer assumes full responsibility for the design of the session, the coordination of all session presenters (if applicable), submission of all presenter and session materials, compliance with OFN’s deadlines, and a successful session delivery.

Proposal Submission Instructions

Proposals are due by 11:59 pm ET on Friday, June 25. 

All proposals must be submitted online. OFN will not accept hard copies. 

If you have questions on how to submit a proposal, please contact Leigh Bethea.

If you have questions about the content of your proposal, please contact Seth Julyan or Tina Poole Johnson .