About the Speaker

Ms. Pravina Raghavan began her tenure as the Director of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) on March 11, 2024.

On her appointment, Noel Poyo, Treasury’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community and Economic Development said, “I am proud to introduce Director Raghavan to the CDFI Fund team and the broader community finance field.  She is a seasoned leader in community and economic development with an impressive track record of overseeing billions of dollars in mission-oriented federal investments.”

Prior to the CDFI Fund, Director Raghavan served as the director of the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) located at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).  MEP helps small and medium-size U.S. manufacturers develop new products and customers, expand, and diversify markets, adopt new technology, and improve supply chains.

Prior to MEP/NIST, she served as executive vice president in the Division of Small Business and Technology Development for Empire State Development, the New York State economic development agency. In that role, she led and managed a diverse portfolio including small business lending, bond guarantee, venture capital and technical assistance programs that provided billions of dollars in economic impact for the state; created and implemented the $100 million New York Forward Loan Fund and Empire State Digital resource for COVID-19 small business recovery; and designed and implemented the state’s $800 million COVID-19 Small Business Recovery Grant Program.

She also served as deputy associate administrator of investment and innovation at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and was responsible for the Small Business Investment Companies Program, Small Business Innovation Research Program and High Growth Entrepreneur initiatives. She also served as district director for SBA’s New York District Office.

Director Raghavan previously served as senior adviser to then-Deputy Secretary of Commerce Bruce H. Andrews. In that role, she worked on a large number of economic and operational issues across the department, including strategic planning and policy development on various topics including emergency management, economic development, international trade, weather, budget, contracts, staffing and technology development.

Before joining the federal government, Director Raghavan was a vice president with MTV and BET Networks, a founder and owner of a global strategic advisory firm, and business development director for Misys PLC, one of the world’s largest banking software companies. She was also an associate at Broadview International, a London investment bank, and worked at AT&T in several finance and management roles, including her last five years as mergers and acquisitions director for Europe and Asia. Director Raghavan has an M.B.A. in finance from Seton Hall University and a B.S. in finance from the Pennsylvania State University.