Deconstructing Opportunity Zone Tax Incentives

Opportunity Zones were created to entice developers to create projects in disadvantaged areas using tax incentives. Opportunity Zones are an excellent tax haven for investors but are they upholding their promise to these underserved communities? Ann McNeill and Christine McCarron moderate a discussion with this esteemed panel of experts: Rudi Bester, Denise Cleveland-Leggett, Cornell Crews Jr and Ben Toro-Spears, as we discuss what has - and has not - been working. Rudi Bester Rudi Bester, CEO & Managing Director Memory Trees Companies (“MTC”) Rudi retired from an executive career in financial technology to focus primarily on his family’s charitable foundation. Their Mission is “Giving Back Life… In Abundance!” Denise Cleveland-Leggett U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Region IV, Regional Administrator Denise Cleveland-Leggett is the Southeast Region Administrator of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s largest region in the nation. Based in the Atlanta Regional Office, she oversees HUD programs and operations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Southeast Region consists of twelve field offices and approximately 840 employees.  As the Regional Administrator she oversees and coordinates with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development annual funding of over $519 million, multifamily and public housing funding of $5.3 billion and single-family housing insurance in force of over $236 billion across the southeast region. Cornell Crews Jr. Cornell Crews Jr. is the Executive Director of the Community Reinvestment Alliance of South Florida.  A non-profit membership organization serving Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, dedicated to the enforcement and preservation of the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977. His previous employment included 16 years at Partners for Self Employment Inc. (PSE). Ann McNeill Ann McNeill is the President of MCO Construction and Services Inc., MCO Consulting, Inc., Constructively Speaking, Inc., Franchise Owner of Colbert/Ball Tax, Founder of Speak 2 Share, Inc., on the Board of Directors for Better Investing, and Founder of the National Association of Black Women in Construction (NABWIC). Ben Toro-Spears Florida Housing Coalition Ben Toro-Spears is the Chief Strategy Officer for the Florida Housing Coalition, with an extensive background in affordable housing and community development, real estate finance, and data management. Ben’s expertise includes fair housing, strategic planning, affordable housing development, geospatial analysis, and housing and community development activity impact assessments. Ben provides training to local governments, housing developers, and their partners on affordable housing program regulations, financial and data management, and best practices for organizational development.