Tricia Kerney-Willis

Tricia Kerney-Willis is Deputy Director of the White House Council on Strong Cities, Strong Communities (SC2). SC2 is a federal interagency pilot initiative that aims to strengthen neighborhoods, cities, and regions by enhancing the capacity of local governments to develop and execute economic visions and strategies. In her prior role, she served as manager of the Office of Training and Outreach at the U.S. Department of the Treasury Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. She was responsible for oversight of national outreach and training initiatives for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), Community Development Entities (CDEs), and increasing awareness of CDFI Fund programs with public and private sector stakeholders. Before joining the Department of the Treasury in July 2009, Ms. Kerney-Willis was a Vice President in the Consumer Real Estate division at Bank of America Corporation in Washington, DC, where she focused on Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) lending. She also served as an Assistant Vice President and Relationship Client Manager in the Community Development Banking division. Ms. Kerney-Willis began her career in community development finance at Baltimore Community Lending - a U.S. Treasury certified CDFI. She managed the Commercial and Multifamily Real Estate Lending division which provided loans to small, minority, and women-owned real estate developers and investors for the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of vacant and abandoned properties in Baltimore City. She is a graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, a Master of Science in Public Affairs, and a Master of Urban Planning from the university's School of Architecture and Planning.