Jeannine Jacokes

Jeannine Jacokes is the founding Chief Executive Officer of Partners for the Common Good (PCG), a U.S. Treasury–certified CDFI intermediary she launched in 2000, and simultaneously the Chief Executive and Policy Officer of the Community Development Bankers Association (CDBA), the national trade association for community development banks and thrifts. She grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan during the Rust Belt era; her father was a professor at Aquinas College and her family was active in Michigan politics. She earned a bachelor's degree in political science / urban studies and business administration from Aquinas College, and a master's in city and regional planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Jacokes began her career in the late 1980s as a Presidential Management Intern and Community Development Specialist at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. She then served as a professional staff member and senior policy advisor to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs (roughly 1990–1995), where she played a lead role in drafting the authorizing statute for the CDFI Fund. She subsequently joined the U.S. Department of the Treasury leadership team that stood up the CDFI Fund under President Clinton — a program that has since distributed billions of dollars to mission lenders.

Under her leadership, PCG built the CDFI industry's first national wholesale loan participation network, now partnering with 50–70+ CDFIs and managing a growing portfolio (reported at $300M+ under management / $325M+ through the participation network as of 2025–2026). During the COVID-19 pandemic, her advocacy through CDBA helped secure roughly $12 billion in federal resources for CDFIs and Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs), including creation of the Emergency Capital Investment Program (ECIP). She also serves on the board of trustees of the Community Reinvestment Fund, USA (CRF).

• Provides debt capital, not equity — PCG participates in and originates loans alongside partner CDFIs to extend their lending capacity, rather than taking equity stakes in startups.
• Core belief, in her own words: "Mission and margin are not incompatible."
• Focuses on affordable housing, community facilities, and neighborhood revitalization serving low- and moderate-income people and communities.
• Prioritizes collaboration among CDFIs, helping smaller lenders stretch scarce capital through shared participations (historically $18–20M in transactions annually).
• Strong emphasis on women's leadership and access to capital; frames her leadership around "How do we get the work done and still make room for a full life?"
• Says "yes" to deals that advance economic justice and are backed by a mission-aligned community lending partner.