The Future of the Community Development Banking Listserv

[Community Development Banking List]

Original message from: SArck@OpportunityFinance.net

Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), the nation's leading network of community development financial institutions (CDFIs), announced today that effective immediately it will manage the CommunityDevelopmentBanking-L (CDB-L), a free, ongoing listserv and related LinkedIn group. Since 1994, the CDB-L has served community development practitioners including credit unions, banks, CDCs, loan funds, trade associations, regulators, governments, and partner non-profits.

"OFN is pleased to become the steward of the CDB-L, which is an important tool, and voice, for the community development industry. We join others in thanking Bill Myers for his vision in creating this open forum and for dedicating 17 years to managing it. The CDB-L will play an ongoing and important role as CDFIs serve many more communities and much broader and deeper markets with a more complete set of products and services than we do today," said Mark Pinsky, President and CEO of OFN.

CDB-L, which currently has more than 4,000 subscribers, allows community banking professionals to share ideas, resources, and other relevant information to which they may not otherwise have free access. The CDB-L and the LinkedIn group encourage networking regarding knowledge, resources, and opinion, and connect subscribers with timely postings regarding conferences, job openings, legislative initiatives, and publications to improve the collective knowledge of the industry.

Bill Myers, founder of the CDB-L, and newly appointed Director of NCUA's Small Credit Union Office said, "The CDB-L and associated LinkedIn group have become vibrant forums, like 18th century artistic salons. As such they require topical maintenance and guidance to stay active. And as 21st century electronic forums they require up to date digital media tools to keep accessible. OFN's expertise and capacity will bring knowledge of the field, an interest in furthering discussion, and an exploration of new medium to this successful platform for information exchange."

The transition in management will be seamless, as the CDB-L and LinkedIn group will operate with no significant changes in the user experience and supporting partners. Current partners GA Institute and Cornell will continue to generously provide list archive and hosting services. Over time, and with CDFI input, OFN will explore how to build on current success and add value by increasing information flow and widening the network of community development professionals and allies.

In 2010, the CDB-L had 822 postings, including 151 job postings and 69 conference, seminars, or training announcements. The liveliest discussions were on financial literacy, foreclosure, youth, micro-enterprise, incubators, immigrants, green banking, grant funding, and homelessness.

To learn more about Opportunity Finance Network, visit our Web site at www.opportunityfinance.net.