Agendas and Recordings
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1
2:00–3:30: COP Roundtables
Our Communities of Practice (COP) enable members to work with their peers to improve performance and knowledge by discussing relevant strategic issues and finding joint solutions that lead to concrete outcomes. Agendas will be determined by COP working groups.
1. CDFI/Lenders Group
2. CFO
3. COO/HR
4. Multi-Family Developers
5. Property Ops/Resident Services
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2
12:00-1:30: Opening Plenary - Building Racial Equity
We are living in a unique, historic moment of change for our industry. Sparked by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and with the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on Black and Brown communities, our country is now confronting systemic injustice and addressing racial inequity in a way we haven’t seen in more than 50 years, and perhaps since the Civil War. As affordable housing and community builders, our industry has long been aware of the need for equity and worked toward that vision, but to truly address these injustices our organizations and how we approach our work will need to go through a fundamental transformation. Join us for our opening plenary which, after brief introductory remarks and business updates, will feature a member-led exploration of this moment and the work that lies ahead.
2:00-3:30: Concurrent Sessions
1. The Homelessness Priority: Strategies, Challenges and Opportunities
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a new urgency and a significant shift of state and local resources to house people experiencing homelessness. Is your pipeline changing to be responsive and competitive? If so, what is your organization doing to prepare to acquire/develop appropriate housing, and what are you doing on the property/asset management and resident services side to ramp up for the more significant human support and challenges that supportive housing entails? We will hear from members who have made a strategic decision to ratchet up their focus on addressing homelessness, and discuss the implications of doing so and the emerging new partnerships that may be needed to succeed.
2. Creating Resiliency for Vulnerable Renters
High unemployment and lost wages resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has put many renters and homeowners at risk of losing their homes. Just as it did in the Great Recession, this risk has again fallen disproportionally on Black and Brown households. Affordable housing owners/operators are also feeling the impact of lost rental income and increased costs. The crisis has exposed the economic vulnerability of households with low incomes and requires a greater focus on innovative ways to support residents. This session will focus on approaches to addressing the immediate crisis as well as opportunities to increase the long-term financial security of residents. We will highlight partnerships HPN is forging with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling and Compass Working Capital to test new approaches to assisting residents.
3. The Future of Resident-Informed Property Design
The COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the impact of climate change and the renewed focus on addressing the needs of diverse populations are driving a nascent exploration of property and community design informed by real-life experience. Many members are beginning to look at design as a way to enhance resiliency and efficiency that cuts across all areas of community development from single- and multi-family development, the delivery of services, property operations and asset management, to cost containment and green and healthy building. We’ll explore how members are taking steps to pave the way for implementing new approaches.
4. Diversifying Our Sector
Join us for a peer exchange session where our members will highlight the work they are undertaking to address racial equity in their organizations, in how they work in communities of color, and how they are seeking to diversify our sector by attracting more people of color to their staffs and as contractors and vendors. Hear about interesting and innovative work being done by your peers, share your efforts, offer your thoughts, and explore challenges and successes in our collective attempt to improve outcomes.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3
12:00–1:30 :Concurrent Sessions
1. Next Generation Capital
Join us for a two-part capital conversation. Part I: The cost of capital to develop affordable housing in our country should be lower and not bundled in the same risk category as, for example, commercial real estate. What steps can we take now to help investors evaluate and regard our industry as its own distinct asset class, worthy of their separate attention and investment? BRIDGE Housing will kick-off our discussion with an overview of their recent 501(c)(3) bond transaction. Part II: CDFIs are uniquely positioned to provide financial solutions at the local level and several are introducing new efforts and initiatives to advance racial equity in the communities they serve. LIIF and CIP will seed the discussion by describing their new programs in this critical space.
2. Closing the Racial Wealth Gap Through Homeownership
Homeownership is arguably the key way that households build intergenerational wealth and the persistently low rates of homeownership in the Black and Brown populations is driving the racial wealth gap in the US. We will be joined by Alanna McCargo, Vice President for the Housing Finance Policy Center at the Urban Institute to discuss the Center’s research on the Black homeownership gap and their recommendations on how to reduce it. We will also discuss strategies that HPN Members are utilizing to increase the production of homes and lending to borrowers with low incomes, particularly people of color, and opportunities to spur greater progress in reducing the wealth gap.
3. Chicken Little Was Right!
It often seems that the sky is falling, but we are responsible for the people and homes in our communities so we need to be prepared for just about everything. This includes sudden events such as tornados, fires, earthquakes; looming storms, hurricanes and floods; environmental degradation like smoke or air pollution; community-level risk, including riots, police actions, immigration raids; and unpredictable health risks (hello COVID). Join us for a discussion on how members are dealing with and planning for both the short and long terms to ensure they keep their residents safe and healthy, and their portfolios in good condition to serve many families over the lives of the properties.
4. Addressing Racial Equity as a Network
Be part of an important dialogue on what HPN members can do as a network to enhance our collective impact on racial equity. This conversation will build on the opening plenary and peer exchange session on racial equity the day before to discuss what commitments we may make as a network and what tools we need to achieve them. We will begin to explore ideas on key elements of a strategy for increasing our impact by working together. What might our guiding principles be? What actions might we take in the short and longer terms? How can HPN support this effort?
2:00–3:30: Closing Plenary: The Policy Environment After the Elections
We will close out our fall member meeting with an exploration of what we can expect in the coming year following the November elections. HPN members and outside guests will help us map out new directions, priorities, timelines and – hopefully – bold new initiatives to scale up our efforts and increase our collective impact for those we serve.