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Forbes Interview with CFED Founder Bob Friedman
By Kristin Lawton on 09/06/2011 @ 09:28 AM
Forbes' Rahim Kanani recently interviewed CFED founder and general counsel Bob Friedman for his column that focuses on leadership in the social sector. The interview was published today and posted on the homepage of Forbes.com.
Below are excerpts from the interview. Please go to Forbes.com to read the full article.
Forbes.com - CFED: Expanding Economic Opportunity for Low-income Families
Interview with Bob Friedman
By Rahim Kanani, September 6, 2011
Recently, I interviewed Robert Friedman, founder, general counsel and Chair of the Board of CFED—the Corporation for Enterprise Development—a national nonprofit based in Washington, DC dedicated to expanding economic opportunity for low-income families and communities. CFED uses a “think-do-invest” approach grounded in community practice, public policy and private markets.
Bob Friedman, CFED Founder, General Counsel and Chair of the Board
Rahim Kanani: Describe a little bit about the founding and motivation behind The Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED).
Robert Friedman: When I asked my mentor at the time what I should do, he suggested, “Hold out for a powerful job in the new Carter Administration or do what you want.” I was never offered a powerful job, so I did what I wanted: I started an institution devoted to finding new ways to create jobs and economic futures for low-income people with more capacity than opportunity. In 1978, at the suggestion of John Naisbitt, author of Megatrends, I organized a conference that unveiled innovative job creation efforts occurring at the community and global levels. On the strength of that conference, and the innovative power of common people, I founded CFED. John also counseled that, especially if the effort was fledgling, it was important to appear solid, and that a good logo was crucial; that logo, intended to show a third sector arising from the public and private and described as “copulating blue and green snakes” was later retired, but it did it’s job.
Rahim Kanani: Dig a little deeper into the current situation of low-income families and communities with respect to access to economic opportunity.
Robert Friedman: The twentieth century approach to reducing poverty, in the US and much of the developed world, focused on providing income supports (a safety net) and social services to needy people. It mitigated the pain and hunger of poverty, but often at the cost of undermining the self-esteem, aspirations and work of low-income people. The promise of the 21st Century is to build the ladder – to insure that every American (eventually, every citizen of the world) has a reasonable opportunity to go to college, start a business, buy and keep a home, and create a viable economic future for themselves and their families.
I believe that the vast majority of low-income and even very poor families have great strengths and productive capacity, and that the promise of America has always been that they would have a reasonable chance to earn their way in the world. We have proven over the past 30 years that having some savings provides “hope in concrete form,” and the confidence and wherewithal to move ahead. Most Americans, especially the poorer 60% of Americans lack the liquid savings to claim the future and move ahead.
Rahim Kanani: Looking ahead, paint a portrait of CFED’s activities and efforts 5 years from now.
Robert Friedman: I am generally optimistic, but I would probably have to admit that we will probably not have reached our goal of insuring that every American have a reasonable opportunity (and a few hundred or thousand dollars in savings) to unlock the American Dream of economic independence by then. I do hope, and think it is not unreasonable that as part of deficit reducing tax reform we will enact a refundable Saver’s Credit and savings platform which will provide a match to 50 million working families, a universal system of Child Savings Accounts, a reduction if not elimination of penalties in our income maintenance system for recipients who go to school, start businesses, save and work, and that we can increase recognition of the role of self-employed in entrepreneurship and job creation and ease their path forward.
But the work will have to go on to build the ladder. I expect we will have spawned several social enterprises by then – including but not limited to ROC USA which enables residents of mobile home parks to buy the land underneath them, and the 1:1 Fund that can match individual donors and low-income savers – which can yield revenues and impact simultaneously and enable us to fund and prove innovations before outside funders can see their merit. I hope that we will be able to speak to the common aspirations of this country, and show the potential of a savings-based investment in the genius of common Americans. I hope in my lifetime to see the America that Langston Hughes envisioned, “the America that never was yet still must be,” and the extension of real economic opportunity around the world.
Rahim Kanani is a writer, advocate, strategist and entrepreneur for global social change. His articles, opinions, and interviews with global leaders can be found at www.rahimkanani.com. Follow Rahim on Twitter @rahimkanani.
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