Looking Forward to the Weeks Ahead

There are several things I’m looking forward to in the next couple weeks.

Tomorrow I am co-hosting a small lunch for Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., a true rising star in the U.S. Senate.

Senator Reed is a member of the Senate HELP Committee, which oversees our nation’s health care, education, employment and retirement programs. He is also a major supporter of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program and the Weatherization Assistance Program.

Senator Reed is a smart, impressive man, and I look forward to getting to know him better in the months and years ahead.


On Friday, I travel to Boston for a tribute dinner for Robert Coard. Having served 41 years as Action for Boston Community Development’s president and chief executive officer, Bob is retiring.

Two thousand people are expected to attend Friday’s dinner to thank Bob for his leadership. I have been asked to join the governor of Massachusetts, the mayor of Boston and others to pay tribute to Bob. Admittedly, I am nervous about my speech, because probably 75 percent of it is expected to be humorous. I enjoy speaking, but this is a different kind of speech for me. I hope my attempts at humor will go over well and this long-time leader in Community Action will be appropriately honored.

On Saturday I travel to St. Petersburg, Fla., for the Combined Community Investment Futures and NCAF Energy Conference. I will kick off the event on Sunday with a 2010 election outlook and what it will mean for Community Action programs. The rest of the conference, which will run through Nov. 5, will offer tools, contacts and program information that community and housing development professionals need to build their community’s capital base.

I will be blogging regularly from the conference, so be sure to tune in next week.