November 1-3
Rudy Espinoza
Executive Director, Inclusive Action for the City, Los Angeles
More Info
Rudy Espinoza
Executive Director, Inclusive Action for the City, Los Angeles
Rudy Espinoza is the Executive Director of Inclusive Action for the City, a Community Development Financial Institution that works towards economic justice for low-income communities through advocacy and transformative economic development. Under his leadership, Inclusive Action helped legalize street vending in LA, passed statewide legislation to support street food vendors in California, has deployed over $4,000,000 in micro-loans and grants to under-served entrepreneurs, and co-created a commercial real estate initiative that preserves small businesses in gentrifying neighborhoods. Rudy serves on the Board of UNIDOS US, the United Way of Greater LA, the Center for Nonprofit Management and Abode Community Housing.
Harold Pettigrew
President & CEO, Opportunity Finance Network
More Info
Harold Pettigrew
President & CEO, Opportunity Finance Network
As President & CEO of the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), Harold leads the nation’s leading financial intermediary and network of CDFIs, with over 400 members including community development credit unions, banks, venture capital, and loan funds, that provide affordable, responsible financial products and services in low-income rural, urban, and Native communities nationwide. Prior to joining OFN, Harold served as CEO for the Washington Area Community Investment Fund (Wacif), leading one of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area’s leading CDFIs focused on access to capital products and services, and advisory programs to entrepreneurs. Prior to Wacif, Harold served as Director of Entrepreneurship at Prosperity Now, and from 2011 to 2013, Harold was appointed by the Mayor to serve as Director of the DC Department of Small and Local Business Development, where he served as the city’s chief small business advocate, negotiated over $300 million in contract set-aside’s for small businesses, and led the city’s agency responsible for supporting the development, economic growth, and retention of small businesses. In 2021, Harold was appointed by President Biden to serve on the US Department of Treasury’s Community Development Advisory Council and serves on the Community Investment Council for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
Irvin M. Henderson
Principal, Henderson & Company
More Info
Irvin M. Henderson
Principal, Henderson & Company
Irvin M. Henderson is the principal of Henderson & Company, a consulting firm and development company concentrating on commercial development for the urban core infill and rural areas. He is the former President of Henderson Financial and the former CEO/Current Chair of Gateway CDC. Irvin is Chair Emeritus of the National Trust Community Investment Corporation, Audit Chair of Community Capital Trust, a Trustee Emeritus of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Past Chair of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, and Audit Chair of the National Main Street Center. He is re-developing the historic New Granada Theater in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, the ICA GreenRise Center in Chicago, and the historic North End of Hartford. In Birmingham, he is developing the Ramsay-McCormack site, the Masonic Temple, which is part of the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, and other 4th and 5th Avenue sites in the city’s Civil Rights District. Irvin is the Managing Partner of Ensley District Developers and Historic District Developers.
Melissa Bradley
Founder, 1863 Ventures
More Info
Melissa Bradley
Founder & Managing Partner, 1863 Ventures
Melissa L. Bradley is a tri-sector leader and Managing Partner at 1863 Ventures with more than 20 years of entrepreneurship, investment and leadership experience. She is an Adjunct Professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University where she teaches impact investing, social entrepreneurship, P2P economies and innovation. Melissa has served as a Presidential Appointee under Presidents Clinton and Obama. Under Clinton, Melissa served as Financial Regulatory Affairs Fellow at the Department of Treasury, Office of Thrift Supervision, where she researched the impact of welfare reform and micro-enterprise lending on the financial industry and authored “IDA Strategy for Asset Accumulation.”
Angel Gregorio
Founder, The Spice Suite
More Info
Angel Gregorio
Founder, The Spice Suite
Angel Gregorio is the founder and owner of The Spice Suite, a growing community-centric spice boutique, located in the Washington, D.C.’s Langdon Park community. She created The Spice Suite to offer patrons unique, interactive culinary experiences through fresh spice blends and cooking oils from around the world, customized to disrupt the typical cooking experience. Angel has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to improving the lives of the city’s most at-risk and vulnerable youth and families. Prior to launching her entrepreneurial career, she worked in educational leadership and youth advocacy roles as a teacher, counselor, and later vice principal.
Since embarking on her self-proclaimed “food is fashion” journey, Angel and her businesses have been featured on a variety of local and national media platforms, such as Forbes, Bon Appetit Magazine, Essence, CBS Morning News, Sway in The Morning Show, The Drew Barrymore Show. Her love for fashionable flavors and natural gifts in the kitchen also landed her a spot in the Top 40 of MasterChef’s Season 8 and on local morning television. Now the owner of Black and Forth, a multi-use commercial development, she has renovated an area to be The Spice Suite and also owns four salons that are rented to Black women to help expand their businesses. This newest venture is where Angel epitomizes the proverb “lift as you climb.”