| 8:00 AM – 3:45 PM The Expo features NeighborWorks America, LISC, Community Loan Center of America, Black Squirrel, People & Places Collaborative, and Community Opportunity Alliance Research tables. |
| 9:00 – 10:00 AM — Bristol/Kent The proposed Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) rule could have major impacts on the flow of money to disinvested communities and the community development field. Join this interactive working session to learn about COA’s preliminary priorities for the proposed rule and help shape our advocacy. Participants will identify how the proposal could affect their organizations and communities, share local examples, and begin developing effective comment letters. No prior expertise is required. Come prepared to contribute your experience and leave with practical tools for taking action. Speakers:
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| 9:00 – 10:00 AM — Newport/Washington Fundraising is not just the responsibility of development staff. Colleagues across your organization hold stories, relationships, and insights that can help donors and funders better understand your organization’s work and impact. This interactive workshop will help participants identify practical, authentic ways that non-development staff can support fundraising without becoming frontline fundraisers. Through concrete examples, facilitated discussion, and a hands-on activity, we will explore roles for staff across the organization. You will leave with concrete ideas for building a stronger culture of fundraising — one that supports development staff while honoring the expertise and capacity of the full team. Speaker:
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| 9:00 – 10:00 AM — Providence I-IV AI can help community development organizations improve access to knowledge, reduce staff burden, and better support members and partners. It also raises real questions about trust, fairness, governance, and community impact. This session gives staff and board leaders a practical framework for deciding where AI helps, where it harms, and how to use it responsibly. Speakers:
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| 10:30 – 11:45 AM — Newport/Washington Many community development leaders wrote off Opportunity Zones after the program's early years, citing a lack of transparency, accountability, and community benefit requirements. But significant changes have been made. Opportunity Zones are now permanent, eligibility rules have tightened, reporting requirements have expanded, and states are redesignating zones for the next decade. Join Jeremy Carter of NALCAB and Opportunity Zone investors for a practical discussion of what has changed, what hasn't, and how community development organizations can engage. Through a brief OZ 101, policy updates, and real-world project examples, participants will learn how to influence tract selection, partner with mission-driven investors, and help shape the next generation of Opportunity Zone investments. Speakers:
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| 10:30 – 11:45 AM — Providence I-IV Participate in this highly interactive workshop! Learn how to use process mapping to visually represent the steps in your organization's workflow, uncovering bottlenecks and opportunities for more effective workflow. Through hands-on activities, you’ll create your own sample process map — no software required — and walk away with practical tools you can use immediately. This workshop is ideal for managers, problem solvers, and curious minds who want to make work clearer, easier, and a little more adventurous. Speaker:
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| 12:30 – 1:30 PM — Narragansett Ballroom With support from Wells Fargo, a cohort of COA members in Washington, DC, South Carolina, and Texas tested strategies to increase the supply of affordable homes for middle-income workers in diverse markets. Based on their findings, The Coalition DC developed the Workforce Housing Accelerator and a policy brief. Join us for a robust discussion about effective strategies to address structural and regulatory barriers and how they can be advanced by community developers across the country. Speakers will share practical solutions — including policy reforms, financing tools, land strategies, and housing models — to expand housing options for middle-income workers and strengthen local economies. This conversation is particularly timely given new incentives for states and localities to expand the housing supply now that the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act has become law. Speakers:
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| 2:00 – 3:15 PM — Providence I-IV Learn about state and local policy wins from association professionals who helped make them happen. A dynamic panel of leaders will discuss how they accomplished recent victories. Then, we will break into small group discussions to explore how to translate winning strategies to your own policy work. Leave with new connections, concrete takeaways, and strategies you can put to work right away. Speakers:
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| 2:00 – 3:15 PM — Newport/Washington How can community development associations become trusted media resources, connecting reporters with local stories, trends, advocates, and experts? Learn from reporters who cover our beatJoin us for a live pitch clinic, where COA members will pitch real stories to reporters and get candid feedback. We'll also explby Then we'll open the floor for your questions about working effectively with the reporters. This session is for not just for communications staff! We encourage EDs, policy and program staff, and everyone else who who Speakers:
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| 4:00 – 5:00 PM — Off-site Explore Omni Development Corporation's affordable housing communities and see firsthand how deep community engagement shaped each development. Hear how residents, advocates, and private partners came together to create not just homes, but opportunity, pairing quality housing with services like financial counseling, digital literacy training, and free Wi-Fi to support long-term stability. Speaker:
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| 4:00 – 5:00 PM — Off-site West Elmwood Housing Development Corporation develops affordable housing on formerly-blighted properties in communities that are home to many immigrants and refugees. They launched the Sankova initiative so residents can grow, sell and buy culturally-appropriate food. Come see their affordable housing developments, community gardens, community kitchen, and market featuring locally-produced food. Tour Guide:
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| 4:15 – 5:45 PM — Off-site Tour the Millrace District in the neighboring city of Woonsocket. Learn how NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley converted three historic manufacturing buildings into 70 affordable apartments including live/work units, commercial space, and the Millrace Kitchen — an event venue and commercial kitchen supporting food entrepreneurs. The Project is the culmination of 15 years of neighborhood planning and resident engagement and ongoing investment in arts and economic development activities. Tour Guide:
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| 6:30 PM Track 15 Food Hall — 1 Union Station, Providence A 30-minute cocktail reception will take place before the dinner. |