This panel will focus on what a vibrant, equitable, and recovered DC looks like five years from now, and how the work of the community economic development sector will help get us there.
Confirmed Speakers include Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, John Falcicchio, Andrew Flagel of the Consortium of Universities, Ellis Carr from Capital Impact Partners, and Marla Bilonick from NALCAB.
After the panel, we will present the Bob Pohlman Lifetime Achievement Award to a practitioner who has over 20 years of contributions to the Community Development Field.
Hope to see you there!
John Falcicchio serves as the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. Mr. Falcicchio has also served as the Mayor’s Chief of Staff since the start of her Administration after volunteering as a campaign advisor and director of Mayor-elect Bowser’s transition. Mr. Falcicchio previously served as a Senior Vice President of DKC, a New York based public relations firm; as a Regional Political Director for the Democratic National Committee during the re-election of President Obama; and as a long-time aide to former Mayor Adrian Fenty.
As Deputy Mayor, Mr. Falcicchio oversees the District’s portfolio of real estate development projects that drive economic development in communities and deliver affordable housing, jobs and amenities to residents. Those projects include the transformative developments at the St Elizabeth’s East Campus, the Parks at Walter Reed and Hill East as well as dozens of other projects across all eight Wards.
Marla Bilonick is NALCAB’s President & CEO and also serves as CEO of NALCAB’s subsidiary asset management company Escalera Community Investments.
A seasoned veteran in the arena of economic and community development, Marla brings over 20 years of expertise in small business development, community-based financial services and international aid with an emphasis on Latin America and the US Latino population. Prior to joining NALCAB, she served as the Executive Director of the Latino Economic Development Center in Washington, DC leading regional efforts to drive the economic and social advancement of low- to moderate-income Latinos by equipping them with the skills and tools to achieve financial independence. She also served as a NALCAB board member from 2016-2020.
Marla is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison with a BA in Political Science and she received her MA in International Economics and Latin American Studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.
Prior to her tenure at LEDC, Marla worked for DAI managing multimillion-dollar international development contract opportunities funded by USAID and other donor agencies in countries such as Bolivia, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua, and her native Panama. She also served as the Director of Seedco’s Upper Manhattan Business Solutions Center in Harlem – an initiative in collaboration with the New York City government to provide consulting and access to financing to local businesses. In addition, she helped Seedco develop and implement its long-term small business services approach after they were chosen to participate in the City’s September 11, 2001 small business crisis response.
Marla is a board member of the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), the National Housing Trust and a founding member of the National League of Minority Voters’ board. She is a former Aspen Institute Emerging Leaders in Microbusiness-ELM2 Fellow and a graduate of the Citi/OFN Leadership Program for Opportunity Finance at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Marla serves on Capital One’s Community Advisory Council and was an advisor to Wells Fargo’s regional “Where We Live” initiative. She was named a Community Champion for the Washington, DC metropolitan area by Capital One Bank in 2015.
Ellis Carr has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services and mortgage industries. Mr. Carr has served as Capital Impact Partners’ President and Chief Executive Officer since 2016. In 2021, he became the President and Chief Executive Officer of CDC Small Business Finance (Learn more about this exciting new initiative at www.investedincommunities.org).
Mr. Carr originally joined Capital Impact in 2012 as the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. Prior to joining Capital Impact, he held various positions in the investments, capital markets, strategy, and corporate finance areas within Freddie Mac, and in fixed-income fund management both domestically and abroad at Deutsche Bank.
Mr. Carr is an Aspen Institute Finance Leader Fellow; serves on Morgan Stanley’s Community Development Advisory Board; is the Board Chair for Martha’s Table; and Board Treasurer for HPN (the Housing Partnership Network). In 2018, he was recognized on Washington Business Journal’s list of “Top Minority Business Leaders,” as well as being named among their “Top 40 under 40” business executives in 2015. Mr. Carr graduated from Towson University with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting, and from Georgetown University with a master’s degree in Real Estate with a concentration in Finance.
Andrew Flagel is President and CEO of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area. He received his undergraduate and master’s degrees from Consortium member George Washington University, where he served as a regional director of admissions before being appointed as director of admissions for the Congressional Youth Leadership Council. He later received his PhD from Michigan State University’s prestigious program in Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education while serving as a director in Flint for the University of Michigan, focusing his research on access and inclusion.
As Dean of Enrollment for over a decade at another Consortium member, George Mason University, Flagel created ground-breaking new programs for members of the military, veterans, international, and transfer students, founded and led the Washington Youth Summit on the Environment and the Washington Journalism and Media Conference, and spearheaded the Pathways partnership with Northern Virginia Community College and Fairfax County Public Schools. He left Mason to become Senior Vice President at Brandeis University, serving as both their chief student affairs and chief enrollment officer. Just prior to joining the Consortium, he served as Vice President for Advancement at the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) where he successfully developed a broad range of innovative partnerships with non-profit organizations, foundations, and private companies to support quality and equity throughout higher education.
Flagel is a Visiting Senior Scholar at The George Washington University, and serves on the Board of Trustees for ConnctedDMV.org and the DC College Access Program, on the Board of Directors for the Greater Washington Board of Trade, and as the State Executive for the District of Columbia for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. He is also a member of the Presidents’ Trust for the American Association of Colleges and Universities, the Washington Higher Education Secretariat, the Millennium Campus Network Global Education Council, the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, the Washington Journalism and Media Conference Advisory Board, and the Sewanee Summer Music Festival Board of Advisors. He previously served as a Senior Scholar for the National Research Center for College and University Admissions, and on the Board of Trustees for the Tremont School. His wife, Jennifer, is Assistant Vice President and Director of Graduate Admissions at Bentley University, and their son is a student at Denison University.
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