FEATURED SPEAKER

Clifford Rosenthal joined the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on May 7, 2012,as Assistant Director for the Office of Financial Empowerment.  Previously, he served for more than 30 years as President and CEO of the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions, the nonprofit association for credit unions serving low-income communities.  He laid the framework for the establishment of the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund with concept papers he wrote in the late 1980s and co-founded the CDFI Coalition in 1990.  His work at the Federation was marked by innovative efforts to expand the reach of credit unions to low-income populations, by establishing networks and programs targeting the African-American, Latino, and disability communities.  He received the highest awards of the National Credit Union Foundation, the Opportunity Finance Network, the Insight Center for Community Economic Development, the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board, the Network of Latino Credit Unions and Professionals, and others.  Prior to joining the National Federation, he worked in organizations serving migrant and seasonal farmworkers and Native Americans.  He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Columbia University and was a mid-career Revson Foundation Fellow for the Future of the City of New York.