WASHINGTON, D.C. – ROC USA® is proud to announce the presidential appointment of Board Member Michael Swack, to the Community Development Advisory Board. As a member of the advisory board, Swack will advise the Director of the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund.
The CDFI Fund’s mission is to grow economic opportunity for underserved people and communities so that all have access financial services they need to prosper. The CDFI Fund invests, supports and trains organizations that provide loans, investments, financial services and technical assistance to underserved communities, like ROC USA. ROC USA Capital is a CDFI, and a wholly owned subsidiary of ROC USA, LLC.
The Community Development Advisory Board is comprised of nine private citizens appointed by the President, the administrator of the Small Business Administration, as well as the Secretaries of the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, and Treasury.
While this is his first time advising the Board, it’s not his first experience with the CDFI Fund. Swack was the recipient of the 2019 Ned Gramlich Lifetime Achievement Award for Responsible Finance from the CDFI industry, the highest honor it can give.
As for his new adventure serving on the Community Development Advisory Board, he said: “It is a great honor to be appointed to this Board. I hope I am able to provide input that can change and improve the CDFI field to provide opportunities for those who need it the most.”
Advising the board is just the next step for Swack. He has a storied career in economic development, specifically for smaller, underserved communities. He is currently a faculty member at the University of New Hampshire’s Carsey School of Public Policy and Paul College of Business and Economics. He is also the director of the Carsey School’s Center for Impact Finance, which works toward bridging the gap of income inequality as well as sustainable business solutions for underserved communities. In addition to serving on ROC USA’s Board of Directors, Swack sits on the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund Board.
ROC USA President Paul Bradley said he was thrilled for Swack, with whom he’s worked for decades.
“Michael has been a tremendous friend to the resident ownership movement, literally from Day 1, and this is such a well-deserved honor,” Bradley said. “Michael was key to the creation of the first ROC in New Hampshire in 1984, and that success paved the way for the next 280 ROCs and hundreds more to come.”