Jodie Harris

Pandemic-program role: As Director of Treasury's CDFI Fund (the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund), Harris reported in a Dec 9, 2020 director's update that more than 300 CDFIs participated as PPP lenders, making 114,717 loans for a total of $7.5 billion. The bureau also administered $3 billion in CDFI pandemic-recovery grant funding (the Rapid Response and Equitable Recovery programs), which the City of Philadelphia's announcement called the highest level of appropriated grant funding in CDFI Fund history.
Institution · office: Treasury · Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) · Type: career
Tenure (relief-relevant): Director of the CDFI Fund, January 2019 – end of April 2023; 15 years in other Treasury roles before becoming Director.¹²³

The job (role mechanics)

Level / appointment: Director of the CDFI Fund, named effective January 2019. American Banker reported that she "was appointed to the position during the Trump administration."¹³
Core responsibility: Lead the CDFI Fund: certify CDFIs and Community Development Entities and administer its programs (the CDFI Program, New Markets Tax Credit, Bond Guarantee, Bank Enterprise Award, Capital Magnet Fund, Native Initiatives, and the pandemic-era Rapid Response and Equitable Recovery programs) that invest federal dollars alongside private capital in economically underserved communities.¹²
Expectations / mandate: Steward the CDFI Fund's appropriated budget (~$331 million in FY2023, supporting, among other things, $5 billion in New Markets Tax Credit authority, $500 million in bond guarantees, and $300 million+ in affordable-housing grants) and direct the deployment of pandemic-recovery funding to mission lenders.¹

Who they are

Jodie Harris is a native of Philadelphia. PIDC describes her as "an economic development industry leader with three decades of experience spanning the public, private, and nonprofit sectors" who joined PIDC "after nearly two decades serving in various roles in the federal government, including four years as director" of the CDFI Fund.¹⁴

Education

B.A. (bachelor's) in finance and international business, University of Maryland.¹
MBA in finance and management, New York University.¹
MPA in public policy, New York University.¹

Career before

Early career / private and nonprofit sectors: community-development credit analyst at Meridian Bank; strategic-planning director at Accenture; social- and education-policy researcher at New York University; and nonprofit work supporting small businesses and entrepreneurs in New York City, including two years as president of the Urban Business Assistance Corporation.¹
U.S. Treasury: The City of Philadelphia's announcement says she "served for 15 years in a variety of roles at the Department of the Treasury, including program manager, senior advisor, and director of community and economic development policy" before becoming Director.¹⁵
Named Director of the CDFI Fund, January 2019.¹³

Role in the pandemic relief programs

The CDFI Fund as a PPP "mission lender" channel (2020). In a Dec 9, 2020 director's update, Harris stated that "more than 300 CDFIs that participated as lenders under the [PPP] … [made] 114,717 loans for a total of $7.5 billion." She described CDFIs as the "'lenders of last resort' for many small businesses that lacked access to traditional banks," reaching "low-income and economically underserved populations [that] have been overlooked by mainstream lenders."²
Expanding CDFI Target-Market eligibility for PPP. In that same Dec 9, 2020 release, Harris announced that the CDFI Fund would treat all PPP loans originated in any Eligible Market during calendar-year 2020, including loans outside a CDFI's approved Target Market(s), as Target-Market activity for recertification purposes, without requiring a Target-Market modification. The release notes that Certified CDFIs must attest annually to meeting the 60% Target Market threshold to maintain Certification.²
$3 billion in CDFI pandemic-recovery grant funding (timing: 2021–2023). Separately from the PPP channel, the CDFI Fund administered $3 billion in pandemic-recovery appropriations under Harris ("the highest level of appropriated grant funding in CDFI Fund history"), deployed through the CDFI Rapid Response Program and the CDFI Equitable Recovery Program to expand lending in low-income and underserved communities.¹

Documents written or signed

CDFI Fund Director's update, "CDFI Fund Expands Target Market Eligibility for Payroll Protection Program Lending," Dec 9, 2020, issued over Harris's name as Director.²
Congressional testimony as CDFI Fund Director: e.g., testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (on CDFI Native Initiatives) and keynote/public remarks such as the 2019 Opportunity Finance Network Conference address; first-party records of her directorship (posted on cdfifund.gov).⁶⁷

Career after / where they are now

Stepped down as CDFI Fund Director at the end of April 2023. American Banker reported the departure, citing a post on the fund's website.³⁵
President of PIDC (Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation), effective June 1, 2023. The PIDC Board (announced Feb 23, 2023; approved Feb 21, 2023) selected Harris as PIDC's next president, the first African American woman to lead the 65-year-old public-private economic-development corporation.¹⁴
Current status (2025–2026): President of PIDC, Philadelphia's city-wide public-private economic-development corporation.⁴

Sources held in this archive

Original source documents and archived captures

Capital Plus Financial / Crossroads Systems — a Certified CDFI whose PPP volume made it the emblem of the channel her bureau mobilized.
Prestamos CDFI / Chicanos Por La Causa — the nonprofit CDFI that became 2021's largest PPP lender by loan count.
Adewale O. "Wally" Adeyemo — deputy secretary over Treasury's CDFI and emergency capital programs.

Sources (first-party)

City of Philadelphia / Department of Commerce, "Jodie Harris Named Next President of Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC)," Feb 23, 2023 — first-party (government) source for her CDFI Fund directorship since January 2019, ~15 prior Treasury years (program manager, senior advisor, director of community and economic development policy), the $3 billion pandemic-recovery funding and $331M FY2023 budget, her pre-government career (Meridian Bank, Accenture, NYU, Urban Business Assistance Corporation), education (University of Maryland; NYU MBA + MPA), Philadelphia-native status, and the June 1, 2023 PIDC start — ^phila: City of Philadelphia / Department of Commerce, "Jodie Harris Named Next President of Philadelphia Industrial... (original: phila.gov · stored capture) ↩
CDFI Fund, "Update from CDFI Fund Director Jodie Harris: CDFI Fund Expands Target Market Eligibility for Payroll Protection Program Lending," Dec 9, 2020 — first-party source for "more than 300 CDFIs … 114,717 loans for a total of $7.5 billion" under PPP (CARES Act §§1102/1106) and for the 2020 Target-Market recertification flexibility — ^cdfinews402: CDFI Fund, "Update from CDFI Fund Director Jodie Harris: CDFI Fund Expands Target Market Eligibility fo... (original: cdfifund.gov · stored capture) ↩
American Banker, "CDFI Fund director stepping down" (secondary; corroborates the January 2019 start and the spring-2023 departure) — ^americanbanker: American Banker, "CDFI Fund director stepping down" secondary; corroborates the January 2019 start a... (original: americanbanker.com · stored capture) ↩
PIDC, "Jodie Harris" team/leadership bio (PIDC president since June 1, 2023; 12th president; first Black leader) — ^pidcbio: PIDC, "Jodie Harris" team/leadership bio PIDC president since June 1, 2023; 12th president; first Black lea... (original: pidcphila.com · stored capture) ↩
CDFI Fund staff bio, "Jodie Harris," cdfifund.gov — Treasury background and CDFI Fund role progression — ^cdfibio: CDFI Fund staff bio, "Jodie Harris," cdfifund.gov — Treasury-since-2007 background and CDFI Fund role progr... (original: cdfifund.gov · stored capture) ↩
CDFI Fund, "Testimony of CDFI Fund Director Jodie Harris Before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs," cdfifund.gov — first-party record of her directorship/testimony — ^cdfitestimony: CDFI Fund, "Testimony of CDFI Fund Director Jodie Harris Before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian A... (original: cdfifund.gov · stored capture) ↩
CDFI Fund, "Keynote Address by CDFI Fund Director Jodie Harris at the 2019 Opportunity Finance Network Conference," cdfifund.gov — first-party record dating her directorship to 2019 — ^cdfikeynote: CDFI Fund, "Keynote Address by CDFI Fund Director Jodie Harris at the 2019 Opportunity Finance Network... (original: cdfifund.gov · stored capture) ↩