Building a Just Capital Ecosystem: A Personal and Strategic Call to Action

James Carras | May 15, 2025

Adapted from a keynote address delivered at the South Florida Community Reinvestment Alliance Annual

Conference on May 15, 2025.

I grew up in Boston, raised by a single immigrant mother in public housing. We lived on a widow’s social security and veteran’s benefits, surrounded by the stark realities of economic inequality and segregation. One of my earliest memories is being stuck in an elevator alone in the projects. Even then, I began to understand how the built environment—and the public policies behind it—shaped our lives in ways both visible and invisible.

Boston’s public housing system was segregated. Some projects were targeted at Black families, while others were targeted at White families. It was unjust, and even as a child, I sensed the harm it caused. Years later, as a graduate student at Tufts, I researched lending discrimination by Boston’s banks. My thesis focused on mortgage redlining, and it drew attention from gubernatorial candidates and members of Congress. That research laid the groundwork for a lifelong commitment to equitable capital and community reinvestment.

Out of that commitment came Massachusetts Urban Reinvestment, one of the first public interest community organizations to hold banks accountable under the newly passed Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Our work led to agreements with every major bank in the state. It and other CRA advocacy groups seeded institutions like the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation (MHIC), which used early Bank CRA-motivated capital to invest in affordable housing. Since MHIC was founded in 1990, it has provided a total of over $3.2 billion in financing for 658 projects, which have created or preserved over 25,500 homes and 6.9 million square feet of community and commercial space. In addition, Massachusetts banks also created a minority business CDFI, a community and banking council, and opened branches in underserved neighborhoods. The banks also introduced a Soft Second Mortgage product in 1990, which has helped over 22,000 low-and moderate-income households purchase their first homes. Over 40 lenders around the state offer the soft second mortgage.

From those early lessons, one principle stood out: change doesn’t happen unless you ask. I once introduced a community development corporation to a CRA-obligated bank. The banker later told me, “They were very nice, but they never asked for anything.” Advocacy without a clear ask leads nowhere. Whether you’re a developer, a lender, or a nonprofit, the ability to clearly articulate your need and its impact is vital.

My work eventually expanded to the Southeastern United States. With support from the John Hay Whitney Fellowship, I helped organize state-level reinvestment campaigns in Florida, North Carolina,South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Louisiana. These efforts emerged in response to the 1986 Supreme Court ruling that allowed interstate banking, which posed both a threat and an opportunity for local capital systems.

In Florida, we helped seed the Florida Community Loan Fund, which has since become a leading player in community development finance. It began with CRA capital from First Union Bank and evolved into an institution that has supported community development organizations, affordable housing, and community facilities. Our CRA advocacy group prompted the State of Florida to create a network of black Business Lending Corporations seeded with state investments and matched by CRA-motivated banks, resulting in CDFIs like BBIF that finance Black-owned businesses across the state.

Twenty years ago, we launched the Broward Housing Partnership with the intention of bringing together banks, community stakeholders, and local institutions to develop a bold, shared agenda for investment and inclusion. Unlike many efforts narrowly focused on compliance or technical reform, this partnership actively engaged a broad cross-section of the community. The result was a transformative action plan that led to the creation of two enduring institutions: the South Florida Community Land Trust and the Broward County Housing Trust Fund. Both initiatives were not just theoretical exercises—they were implemented and continue today to serve the housing and equity needs of Broward County, reinforcing the power of cross-sector collaboration.

Across the state, we’ve seen similarly impactful outcomes driven by CRA-motivated investment and advocacy. In Palm Beach County, the Housing Leadership Council played a catalytic role in advancing the creation of the county’s Housing Trust Fund. Through sustained policy advocacy and stakeholder convenings, the Council helped align CRA-regulated banks with local affordable housing priorities, ensuring that capital met real community needs.

In Tampa, the Corporation to Develop Communities (CDC) of Tampa has been a powerful example of how CRA-driven investment can fuel lasting impact. The organization has received critical capital from institutions like Chase, Fifth Third Bank, and Wells Fargo, enabling it to finance affordable rental housing through construction loans, Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) equity, and predevelopment support. Additionally, CRA-focused banks have backed CDC of Tampa’s New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) projects, supporting mixed-use and community facility developments that enhance both economic and social infrastructure.

In Miami-Dade County, the Opa-locka Community Development Corporation (OLCDC) is one of the most prominent, Black-led Community Development Corporations in the region. OLCDC has attracted CRA-aligned investment for a range of transformative projects, including mixed-use developments, affordable housing, and cultural arts initiatives. These investments not only provide essential services and housing but also help preserve the cultural identity and economic agency of the communities they serve.

Likewise, Carrfour Supportive Housing has emerged as a leading developer of permanent supportive housing in South Florida. The organization is regularly financed by CRA-regulated banks through LIHTC equity and debt, allowing it to serve individuals and families facing homelessness and special needs. Its work exemplifies how CRA-driven capital can support deeply affordable, service-enriched housing models that address both economic and human needs.

Together, these stories reflect the tangible impact of the CRA when used as a tool for justice-oriented investment. They demonstrate that with the right partnerships, priorities, and persistence, financial systems can be leveraged to build lasting community institutions and shift the balance of opportunity in historically marginalized places.

But none of this progress was inevitable. CDFIs, housing funds, and reinvestment policies didn’t appear by accident. They were born of advocacy—of people showing up, asking hard questions, negotiating with financial institutions, and refusing to accept the status quo. These institutions were not handed to us. We built them.

Today, we face new challenges. Federal and state support is waning. Regulatory rollbacks loom. In South Florida, these pressures are compounded by climate risks, gentrification, and a deeply bifurcated economy.

So, what values must guide us now?

We need a shared and unshakable commitment to equity and inclusion, ensuring that all communities, particularly those historically excluded, have access to opportunity. Community voice and participation must be central, recognizing that the people most affected by policy decisions must have the power to shape them. We must pursue economic mobility as a core outcome, not just growth for its own sake, but growth that lifts people. Our investments must be place-based, rooted in the distinct identities and needs of neighborhoods. Affordable housing must be protected and expanded in ways

that prevent displacement. And we must strengthen the capacity of under-resourced organizations that are closest to the ground and best positioned to serve.

South Florida has faced—and continues to face—unique challenges: devastating natural disasters like Hurricane Andrew, waves of rapid immigration, an economy heavily reliant on tourism and real estate speculation, and the persistent legacy of racial segregation. These forces have created pathways to prosperity for some, but exclusion and displacement for far too many. If we fail to act with intention, we risk deepening inequality rather than correcting it.

To move forward, we must begin with what I call an Equitable Capital Audit. This involves identifying the unmet capital needs across housing, small business, infrastructure, and workforce development. We must map where CDFIs, loan funds, and intermediaries are operating—and, just as importantly, where they are not. We also need to highlight capital programs that are underutilized or misaligned with community needs.

From there, we must build not just CRA compliance systems, but a real CRA campaign—an effort grounded in purpose-driven reform. This entails defining specific goals that align with local priorities, establishing a CRA Equity Platform that directs investments toward equity, fostering meaningful and ongoing dialogue with banks and regulators, and implementing precise mechanisms for tracking progress and publishing results.

But capital alone is not enough. It must be matched with community capacity. Too often, money is available but inaccessible because local organizations lack the necessary bandwidth, technical support, or pre-development resources to utilize it effectively.

To truly build an inclusive and effective capital ecosystem, we must go beyond simply deploying funds—we must invest in the infrastructure that enables communities to absorb and use capital effectively. This includes providing technical assistance to small and emerging developers so they can navigate financing, permitting, and project management processes. It also means offering capacity- building grants to community-based organizations that are doing the work but often lack the administrative or financial infrastructure to scale. We need to establish first-loss capital and flexible financial tools that reduce risk and unlock private investment in high-impact, mission-driven projects. Finally, we must design regional capital absorption strategies that coordinate actors, reduce

fragmentation, and ensure that funding reaches the people and places it’s intended to serve.

This is how we close the gap—not just between money and mission, but between potential and impact.

As we move forward, let’s plant the seeds for the next generation of financial institutions. Let’s challenge how capital is distributed. Let’s build systems that not only include underserved communities but are shaped and led by them.

This is the work of our time. Let’s keep going.

James Carras is Principal of Carras Community Investment, Inc. and a Lecturer at Harvard Kennedy School, where he teaches equitable development and housing policy.