'We Have a Vested Interest in Helping Communities Grow'

Regions Bank and Community Development Financial Institutions team up to ensure everyone has access to financial services and opportunities to succeed.

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / September 12, 2024 / Regions Bank

Foto: Accesswire

By Candace Higginbotham

Leroy Abrahams, head of Community Engagement at Regions, welcomed the attendees of the third annual Regions Bank CDFI Convening by outlining shared priorities for the leaders in the room.

"We have a vested interest in helping communities grow," Abrahams said. "We all benefit when our communities are successful, and CDFIs play a critical role in that growth and success."

Community Development Financial Institutions, or CDFIs, are private financial institutions dedicated to delivering responsible, affordable lending to help low-income, low-wealth, and other disadvantaged people and communities join the economic mainstream.

Support for CDFIs has long been a part of Regions' community engagement strategy, and the collaboration has increased in recent years. Regions Bank and the Regions Community Development Corporation continue to provide lending and investments, and Regions Bank offers shared bank services, as well as subject-matter expertise, collaboration and technical assistance.

The annual CDFI Convening is a good example. Abrahams and Wendi Boyen, head of Community Development Lending and Investment at Regions, launched this program a few years ago to bring leaders from Regions and CDFIs together in the same room to share ideas and talk about how to leverage these important relationships to better serve our communities.

"CDFIs are valuable because of their interaction with communities and flexible products and services," Abrahams said. "They can do things midsize and large banks can't do."

This year, Regions hosted 14 CEOs and leaders from CDFIs across the bank's footprint.

As in past years, the agenda featured presentations by executives from Regions and guest institutions, covering topics suggested by the CDFI participants.

But the real conversation originated off the podium. Instead of a series of one-way presentations, the meeting consisted of two half-days of dialog and Q&A.

We all benefit when our communities are successful, and CDFIs play a critical role in that growth and success.

Leroy Abrahams, head of Community Engagement at Regions

And that's exactly what Abrahams and Boyen wanted.

The CDFI executives had a lot of questions for Regions Treasurer Deron Smithy and Chief Investment Officer Alan McKnight, who talked about the economic landscape, balance sheet management, interest rate risk and liquidity management. The audience encouraged the speakers to elaborate on hedging strategies, deposit pricing and other topics of keen interest.