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Community Affairs Events

2006 RAISE Texas Asset-Building Summit
November 15–16, 2006
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

This year's RAISE Texas Summit culminated a one-year process of listening and learning about asset building around the state. It began with a statewide summit in November 2005 and was followed by seven regional meetings in the first half of 2006.

• Attendees' final list of recommendations

The Purpose

This summit brought Texas asset-building stakeholders together in order to develop a statewide asset-building plan for 2007.

More Information

Contact Woody Widrow, woody@covenantcapital.org , or Julie Gunter, julie.gunter@dal.frb.org .

Program Agenda

Wednesday, November 15

Thursday, November 16, 2006

About the Speakers

Ann Baddour
Senior Policy Analyst, Texas Appleseed, Austin
As senior policy analyst, Baddour coordinates the national Appleseed project to promote access to fairly priced financial services for low-income immigrant communities. She has worked on consumer financial services issues and issues impacting lowincome communities for the past 10 years and has written multiple articles and publications in this policy area. Baddour is a founder and an advisory board member of the Texas New Alliance Task Force and board member of the Financial Literacy Coalition of Central Texas. She holds an M.P.A. from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and an M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies from UT–Austin.

Don Baylor
Senior Policy Analyst, Center for Public Policy Priorities, Austin
Baylor's work at the center focuses on workforce and economic development. Before joining CPPP, he served as a legislative director at New York ACORN, where he specialized in such issues as the Earned Income Tax Credit, the minimum wage, affordable housing and welfare reform. He earned a bachelor of arts in psychology from Georgetown University in 1994 and a master of arts in African American and Southern History from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1997.

Gloria Vasquez Brown
Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Brown oversees the Bank's Public Affairs Department, which encompasses corporate communications, economic education, publications, the Bank's web site, Bank events, the tour program and community affairs. Brown serves on the boards of the Women's Museum, TWU Foundation, Texas Council on Economic Education and Bryan's House and on the advisory board to the Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerce. She holds a bachelor's degree from Texas Woman's University.

Julie Cripe
President and Chief Operating Officer, OmniBank, N.A., Houston
Cripe has been an officer of OmniBank since 1979. OmniBank's loan assets, primarily small business loans, total more than $250 million. Cripe writes a regular weekly column for Houston News Today and is a frequent speaker on banking, finance and other small business topics. She is currently chair of the American Bankers Association Education Foundation as well as the Texas Bankers Education Foundation. She is a past international president of Financial Women International. In October, Cripe testified before Congress on the topic of financial literacy, its importance to the community and what bankers around the country are doing to tackle the issue.

Stephan Fairfield
President and CEO, Covenant Community Capital Corp., Houston
At Covenant Community Capital, Fairfield has helped low-income households build economic resilience through financial literacy, education, entrepreneurship and affordable housing. He also works to develop long-term poverty solutions through initiatives such as the Smart-Savings Program, designed to help low-income families establish a pattern of regular savings. Fairfield previously served 12 years as director of Houston's Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corp. He cofounded and was the first chairman of the Texas Association of Community Development Corporations. Fairfield has developed over 900 affordable housing units and seven community facilities. He has received the Texas Houser and Fannie Mae Maxwell awards. Fairfield holds a bachelor's degree from Baylor University and was a Harvard University Loeb Fellow in 2003–04.

Larry Garcia
President, El Paso Affordable Housing CUSO
Before taking his present post at the El Paso Affordable Housing Credit Union Service Organization, Garcia was president of a mortgage company specializing in the Hispanic low- to moderate-income housing market. Garcia is director and treasurer of the Border Fair Housing and Economic Justice Center, which serves U.S.–Mexico border communities. He is on the Consumer Federation of America's America Saves Hispanic advisory committee, cochairs the El Paso Saves Campaign and the Coalition for Family Economic Progress, and serves on Fannie Mae's community technology and credit union advisory councils. He has been on the El Paso County individual development account advisory board and predatory lending prevention task force and chaired the city's fair housing task force. He has a B.B.A. and an M.B.A. from the University of Texas at El Paso.

Melissa L. Garcia
Director of Family Asset Building, Foundation Communities, Austin
Garcia is responsible for the administration of the individual development account matched-savings program that provides Foundation Communities' clients with opportunities to save money for the purchase of a home, investment in a small business or pursuit of postsecondary education. In addition, she has primary responsibility for a new initiative, SEED, that helps families build nest eggs for their children ages 6 to 10. Garcia also provides training and technical assistance to organizations involved in designing and implementing savings programs and advocates for asset-building strategies on a local, state and national level. Before joining Foundation Communities, she was an AmeriCorps Recruiter for Serve Houston Youth Corps. Garcia holds a B.A. in political science from the University of Texas–Pan American.

Michael Goeken
Special Projects Manager, Community Initiatives Department, City of San Antonio
Goeken manages the city's Family Economic Success Program, which offers city and county residents numerous asset-building, debt-reduction and asset-protection services to help them achieve homeownership, postsecondary education and a better quality of life. Before joining the city, he was an assistant department director at Texas A&M University, publisher of the San Antonio Business Journal and CFO of the San Antonio Light. Goeken is a certified workforce development professional. He presently serves as an adjunct faculty member in the Alamo Community College District and teaches various courses in business and computer information systems. He holds a bachelor's degree in management, an M.B.A. in business computing science and a master of science in accounting—all from Texas A&M.

Maxine Luster
Recruitment Specialist, American Airlines, Fort Worth
Luster has worked in various human resources capacities during her 19-year history with American, enabling her to become familiar with many company functions: reservations, sales, employee relations, diversity strategies, among others. Most recently, her work has concentrated on recruiting, where she was instrumental in bringing the Texas Saves program to American employees. Luster is secretary of the DFW Chapter of the African American Employee Resource Group at American and is president of the Dallas Metroplex Council of Black Alumni Associations. She holds a B.S. in business administration from Alcorn State University in Mississippi.

Karen Lyons
IDA Program Coordinator, Foundation Communities, Austin
Lyons is responsible for all aspects of the individual development account (IDA) matched-savings program, including the case management of more than 100 saving families. She also teaches the homebuyer education course and is a technical assistance provider to emerging IDA programs. In addition to her work at Foundation Communities, Lyons has taught English as a second language to adult learners for seven years and currently serves as the board president of Casa Marianella, a shelter for recently arrived immigrants in Austin.

Cynthia E. Nevels
State Coordinator, Texas Saves, Dallas
Nevels was named coordinator of Texas Saves, a social marketing and asset-building campaign affiliated with America Saves, in 2004. She is also the founder and executive director of Junior Finance Literacy Academy, a not-for-profit service provider delivering financial education, investor education and personal financial management certificate courses to youth and adults. She is chairman of African American Leaders of Tomorrow, a Texas nonprofit economic development and political awareness coalition. She has written numerous professional and training guides for human resource management and recruitment and is a columnist for The Financial Report. Nevels, a certified professional in human resources, holds a B.A. in psychology and business management from Texas Woman's University and attended the Graduate Marketing Program at Southern Methodist University.

Courtney Nickles
Associate Director, Texas Credit Union Foundation, Dallas
Nickles encourages and promotes financial education initiatives and manages the foundation's grants and scholarships programs. She has trained approximately 1,100 people, including representatives from over 140 credit unions, on the National Endowment for Financial Education's High School Financial Planning Program. Nickles also serves as chair of the Texas Jump$tart Coalition, which comprises over 200 organizations and individuals devoted to improving the level of financial education for Texas youth. She was instrumental in getting financial education bills passed by the Texas legislature in 2005 and has worked with state agencies, local schools and others in 2006 to implement the bills. Before joining the Texas Credit Union Foundation, Nickles was assistant marketing director for an Amarillo financial institution.

Alfreda B. Norman
Assistant Vice President and Community Affairs, Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
As head of the Dallas Fed's Community Affairs Office, Norman is responsible for supporting the Federal Reserve System's economic growth objectives by promoting community and economic development and fair and impartial access to credit. Norman was one of the first neighborhood development officers hired by Bank of America in Texas in 1992. Responsible for developing a strategic community development plan to extend credit to low- and moderate- income communities, she went on to assume statewide CRA responsibilities with Bank of America's mortgage lending group. In addition to banking, Norman has been a supervisor in the city of Dallas' Office of Cultural Affairs and held management positions at The Container Store headquarters in Dallas. Norman earned a B.A. from Southern Methodist University and is a graduate of the University of Virginia's Graduate School of Retail Banking.

Natalie N. Parish
Director of Public Relations, Unity One Federal Credit Union, Fort Worth
Parish oversees all of Unity One's community outreach efforts, including its work with local schools and nonprofit organizations. She serves on several chamber and nonprofit boards in communities served by the credit union. Parish was named 2005 Citizen of the Year by the Saginaw (Texas) Area Chamber of Commerce and 2005 Diplomat of the Year by the Northeast Tarrant Chamber. Unity One has been recognized for excellence in financial education by the Texas Credit Union League and Texas Credit Union Marketing Council. Parish holds a B.S. in communications from Tarleton State University.

Susan San Martin
Senior Vice President, Bank of America, San Antonio
San Martin serves as the community development market manager for Central and South Texas, in addition to her role as team leader for Bank of America's Central/Southwest region. She provides advice and counsel to the bank's state and market presidents on CRA issues. San Martin has more than 20 years of experience in a wide variety of financial institution operations that include CRA and HMDA management and compliance, reporting, loan support groups and systems conversions. She holds a B.B.A. in finance from the University of Texas–Pan American.

Sarah J. Seals
Public Relations Specialist, Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants
Seals focuses on media outreach and community relations projects, such as the CPA profession's effort to combat financial illiteracy. Before joining TSCPA, Seals was the communications manager for the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission based in Oklahoma City, an organization representing the governors of 30 oil and natural gas producing states. While at the commission, she worked on a variety of communications and public policy advocacy efforts. She has served on various committees at the chapter and national levels of the Public Relations Society of America. Seals holds a bachelor's degree in public relations and political science from Oklahoma Baptist University.

Jeff Stys
Director of Community Initiatives and Public Policy, United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast, Houston
Since joining United Way in 1997, Stys has held positions in public policy, allocations, fundraising and community initiatives. He is currently responsible for the biennial community assessment, disaster preparation and response program, as well as oversight of all United Way community initiatives. Stys led United Way's efforts on the recovery from Tropical Storm Allison, which resulted in the repair or rebuilding of homes of low-income seniors, people with disabilities and families with small children. After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Stys was named to the Houston mayor's hurricane task force, on which he represents over 20 human services organizations providing case management services to the approximately 100,000 evacuees living in the area. Stys has a history degree from LeMoyne College and a master's in public policy from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

Eloy A. Villafranca
Community Affairs Officer, Dallas Region, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Dallas
Villafranca works with banks and communities throughout Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Working in the Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection, he interacts with community- based organizations, public and private companies, bankers, regulatory agencies and the public to bring greater understanding and compliance with CRA, the fair lending laws, community development and financial literacy. Villafranca joined the FDIC in 1989 and established the Community Affairs Program in the Dallas Region in 1991. Prior to his regulatory work, he was a banker in Midland, San Antonio and Dallas. Villafranca holds a B.B.A. in finance from Texas Tech University, an M.B.A. from the University of Texas and a J.D. from Texas Wesleyan School of Law.

Eric Webber
Vice President/Communications Director, GSD&M, Austin
Webber serves as spokesman and "brand steward" for GSD&M, which sees itself as a brand in the same way it positions its clients. During his tenure, the agency has been featured in Time, Esquire, Fast Company, USA Today, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Fortune and many other publications, and has appeared on CNN, ESPN, and both Today and The Tonight Show. GSD&M clients include AT&T, BMW, Wal-Mart, Southwest Airlines, MasterCard, Norwegian Cruise Lines, the U.S. Air Force and the PGA Tour. GSD&M has 850 employees and will bill approximately $2 billion in 2006. Webber joins us courtesy of Idea University, an arm of GSD&M focusing on the exchange of information and expertise with others who want to achieve and maintain high standards in the world of communications.

Woody Widrow
Director, Texas Asset Building Coalition, Austin
As director of the coalition, Widrow provides technical assistance, training and resource development for organizations in Texas and works to develop a statewide asset-building agenda and network through its RAISE Texas campaign. He has worked as a consultant for nonprofit, for-profit and public entities around the country as a grant reviewer and technical assistance provider. Before moving to Texas, he served as vice president of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, deputy director of the National Association for Affordable Housing Lenders, executive director of the National Housing Institute and editor of Shelterforce, a national housing magazine. Widrow earned a B.A. from SUNY Cortland and a master's in community and regional planning from Rutgers University.

Sherrie Young
Executive Director, Credit Coalition, Houston
Young provides credit, homebuyer and reverse mortgage counseling programs at the Credit Coalition. The coalition membership includes Houston area financial institutions, community organizations, community leaders, credit reporting companies and other businesses and organizations. In addition to her duties as lead instructor and counselor, Young participates in many community events to promote personal financial education, individual development accounts, free VITA site tax preparation assistance and other programs that help families build assets. She holds certifications in homebuyer and reverse mortgage education from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, American Homeowner Education and Counseling Training Institute, NeighborWorks America and the AARP Foundation. She is a licensed Realtor and a member of the Houston Association of Realtors.

Michelle Zadrozny
Director of Community Development, Nets to Ladders, Austin
Zadrozny is responsible for Member Development Services at Nets to Ladders, including coordinating business-to-business collaborative relationships between member organizations, relationship management and consulting services delivery. Prior to joining Nets to Ladders, Zadrozny managed vendor contracts for a firm that provides third-party insurance/Medicaid screening and eligibility for uninsured patients in the hospital. Previously, she held various roles, including case management and program administration for the Austin/Travis County Mental Health Mental Retardation Center. Zadrozny is a licensed master's level social worker in the state of Texas. She holds an M.S. in social work from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.A. from the University of Dayton in Ohio.

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