AGENDA
Times subject to change, speaker details to come
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2026
11:30 AM | Registration Opens
12:00 PM | Lunch
12:15 PM | Welcome & Opening Remarks
Suchi Saxena, Vice President, Community Development, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
12:45 PM | Panel Discussion
Listening to Communities - Listening to communities is essential to understanding housing affordability challenges. Community leaders from across the United States share how housing affordability impacts the low-and moderate-income communities and households they serve.
Panelists
Nick Mitchell-Bennett, CEO, Come Dream Come Build
Ashani O’Mard, President, Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership
Guacolda Reyes, Chief Real Estate Development Officer, The Resurrection Project
Margaret Salazar, CEO, REACH
Moderator – Jeremy Hegle, Assistant Vice President and Community Affairs Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
2:00 PM | Break
2:15 PM | Panel Discussion
Macro Factors Impacting Housing Affordability - Rising costs across the housing sector, including insurance premiums, property taxes, and maintenance, have increased baseline expenses for renters, homeowners, and real estate developers. Federal Reserve community development experts discuss how they are studying such cost factors, the impacts of these costs on communities, and possible opportunities to address affordability challenges.
Panelists
Karen Cuenca, Senior Community Development Specialist, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Daniel Hartley, Senior Economist and Economic Advisor, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Domonic Purviance, Banking Supervision Expert, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Libby Starling, Senior Community Development Advisor, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Sisi Zhang, Community Development Economic Advisor, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
Moderator – Joanna Trotter, Vice President of Programs, Paul M Angell Foundation
3:30 PM | Break
3:45 PM | Engaging Rural Communities on Housing Affordability - Rural communities face unique housing affordability challenges, yet geographic dispersion and limited infrastructure can make sustained work on these issues difficult. This panel explores how Federal Reserve community development teams engage on rural housing affordability, from establishing regional collaborations to taking events directly to communities and cultivating local relationships.
Panelists
Tracy Choi, Senior Outreach Manager, Community Engagement and Analysis, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
Dustin Ingram, Senior Community Development Specialist, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Shannon Sansone, Rural Investment Collaborative Manager, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
Moderator – Bill Menner, Executive Director, Iowa Rural Development Council
5:00 PM | Reception
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2026
8:00 AM | Breakfast
9:00 AM | Welcome Remarks
Hue Nguyen, Assistant Vice President and Community Affairs Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
9:05 AM | Keynote & Fireside Chat:
Governor Michael Barr, Federal Reserve Board
Karen Leone de Nie, Vice President and Community Affairs Officer
10:05 AM | Break
10:15 AM | Panel Discussion
Understanding Rental Markets - Many renters spend more than 30% of their income on housing costs, and a significant portion spend over 50%. Panelists share work that identifies ways to improve affordability—and roadblocks to doing so—in local rental markets across the country.
Panelists
Pearse Haley, Quantitative Research Analysis Specialist, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Matt Klesta, Senior Policy Analyst, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
Heidi Reijm, Principal Community Development Specialist, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Maxine Xu, Data Scientist, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Moderator – Elizabeth Kneebone, Assistant Vice President, Community Development Research, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
11:30 AM | Discover Fed Communities: Resources to Inform and Inspire Your Work
Whitney Felder, Marketing Communications Specialist, Fed Communities
11:45 AM | Lunch
1:00 PM | Panel Discussion
Homeownership Affordability and Readiness - Housing affordability continues to present challenges for potential homebuyers. Federal Reserve staff share insights into some of the latest homeownership trends, including work revealing how factors such as rising prices, credit barriers, and limited starter home inventory affect ownership.
Panelists
Mariah Allen, Community Development Research Analyst, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
Steven Howland, Senior Researcher, Community Development, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Lizzy Mattiuzzi, Research Advisor, Community Engagement and Analysis, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
Rocio Sanchez-Moyano, Senior Researcher, Community Engagement and Analysis, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
Moderator – David Jackson, Vice President and Community Affairs Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
2:15 PM | Break
2:30 PM | Panel Discussion
Financing Housing Development: A Complex Landscape - Financing housing, and especially affordable housing, is often complex, requiring multiple types and sources of public and private funding. This complexity can bring additional challenges to developers and property owners. On this panel, housing and community development experts share research and insights on financing strategies and ways to increase access to capital to support greater housing supply and affordability.
Panelists
Kassandra Huhn, Outreach Advisor, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Jonathan Kivell, Director of Community Investments, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Amanda Nunnink, Senior Managing Director, Multifamily, Kayne Anderson Real Estate
Rachael Surmick, Community Development Economic Advisor, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Moderator – Rob McGhee, Senior Vice President and Community Impact Territory Manager, Fifth Third Bank
3:45 PM | Closing Remarks
4:00 PM | Coffee Hour