The strength of CDCs and CDFIs is their close connection to local needs, their ability to "read" market opportunities, and their persistence in identifying strategies to make use of those opportunities. Whether it's neighborhood redevelopment, a shopping mall that brings in an array of consumer services to a poor community, or a value-added wood products business in a rural community, CDCs/CDFIs work to understand the market and then respond creatively.

The industry has come a long way and has learned that CDCs/CDFIs must operate as businesses. CEI realized that we need to "walk the talk" and approach our own activities with the discipline that we expect of the businesses with which we work.

With $5 billion in assets under management, community development institutions must be accountable.

Like its peers, CEI is a mission-driven corporation. Our central values are justice, diversity, entrepreneurship, collaboration with partners and stakeholders, customer service, professional development, employee participation in the workplace, and the health of communities. Frequent reflection upon these values to reexamine and test them generates and renews commitment to the work.

CDCs/CDFIs do not exist in a vacuum. Their work affects and is deeply affected by political, social, and economic changes and trends. To have an ongoing and increasing impact on economic opportunity, an affirmative development environment is a prerequisite, both in the U.S. and in emerging economies.

The globalization of the world economy challenges our industry to take into account international policy and how it impacts a progressive domestic agenda, along with the needs and hopes of billions of people living in poverty around the world. The slogan "think globally, act locally" rings true, but both global thinking and global action are necessary to ensure the sustainability of local economies.

CDCs and CDFIs are best at experimentation and innovation with products and services that help develop economic opportunities for people and communities with low incomes. Thin as their resources are, CDCs/CDFIs must demonstrate courage, learn from mistakes, and persist in their entrepreneurial effort to ameliorate the conditions of poverty.