Day One at OFN 2025: What “Opportunity Next” Means for CDFIs Like Invest PGH
Despite the government shutdown, Washington DC is buzzing this week with the sound of collaboration, optimism, and a little defiance. Invest PGH is here for day one of the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) Conference, the largest annual gathering of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) in the country, and the message is clear: the future of opportunity finance starts now.
This year’s theme, “Opportunity Next,” isn’t about predicting what’s coming, it’s about deciding what comes next, together. In the opening plenary, the tone in the room was hopeful but grounded, full of energy and conviction, but maybe just a little bit tired (this work is not for the faint of heart).
A Room Full of Purpose (And Some Power Suits)
The morning kicked off with a rallying call from OFN leadership: “There is power in this room. There is potential in this room. There is passion in this room.” It was both an invitation, and a reminder. The twenty-two hundred strong CDFI professionals, investors, policymakers, and community advocates gathered aren’t just attendees, they’re the people redefining what financial inclusion looks like in America.
As Bank of America’s Dan Letendre put it, “We understand how important OFN is to the CDFI industry, and we understand how important the CDFI industry is to a better functioning financial system.” He struck a balance between accolades and realism, acknowledging that while federal funding and philanthropic dollars both have tightened, the sector’s strength lies in it’s adaptability, and always has.
Letendre didn’t mince words: “That business model [of relying on government funding] no longer exists. But I’m not saying there isn’t a CDFI business model; of course there is.” He pointed to the field’s roots: the religious orders and early foundations putting their faith and capital behind CDFIs long before there even were government programs or impact investors. “We’ve been through change before,” he said, reminding the room that his bank and others like it have partnered with CDFIs for decades and aren’t going anywhere. “We will step into this moment, not step back.”
Uncertainty Meets Opportunity
The phrase for day one was, “confidence through uncertainty.” Harold Pettigrew, OFN’s President and CEO, took the stage and set the tone for the week ahead. “Confidence and uncertainty,” he said, “are not contradictions. They must exist together.”
He acknowledged the challenges facing the industry: shifting political winds and constant questions about relevance. But Pettigrew’s message wasn’t about survival, it was about evolution. “We are America’s financial first responders,” he said. “We’ve been tested before. We’ve been tested again. But we endure because we know our ‘why.’” And that why, that stubborn belief that everyone deserves access to opportunity, is what drives organizations like Invest PGH to show up every single day for small businesses, childcare providers, and community builders across Pittsburgh.
A Blueprint for the Future
Pettigrew outlined OFN’s five focus areas for the road ahead, the foundation of what he called a, “shared architecture for our future.”
Capital Innovation
Product Transformation
Talent and Leadership
Policy Power
Technology and Data
Each of these points felt less like an abstract hope and more like a practical map for the work CDFIs are already doing in their communities. For Invest PGH, that means continuing to deliver creative, responsive financing for Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods, from small business owners on Penn Avenue childcare centers that keep downtown’s workforce moving.
Invest PGH’s Takeaway: Keep Building
For CDFIs like Invest PGH, day one at OFN felt both familiar and strange. The conversations in Washington echo what’s already happening back home: shifting funding landscapes, deepening partnerships, and new ways to measure and sustain impact. But there was also a palpable sense of solidarity, a recognition that every CDFI in the room, no matter its size, plays a real part in shaping what “opportunity” will look like for the next generation.
Letendre put it perfectly: “Our communities need CDFIs. Banks need CDFIs. Philanthropic foundations need CDFIs. This country needs CDFIs.”
It’s not sentimental. It’s strategy.
Day One: Optimism with an Edge
The welcome closed on a note that felt both uplifting and defiant. The message was not, “Everything’s fine.” No dogs, no flames. No, it was, “We’re still here, and we’re just getting warmed up.” As Pettigrew put it, “Optimism alone is not enough. Our future cannot rest on any one funder or any one moment. The only way to have the future we want is to create it.”
That creation is already underway, in every small business loan closed, every home rehabbed, every childcare center opened, every neighborhood revitalized by CDFIs across this country. Invest PGH is proud to be a part of that story, representing Pittsburgh at OFN 2025 and connecting with our peers, investors, and advocates who share the same mission: to make opportunity not a promise, but a practice.
The work ahead will take innovation, courage, and maybe more than a little hustle. But if today’s opening session was a sign, this network is ready. Opportunity Next begins now, and Invest PGH is in the room where it happens.
