Jim Carr

Senior Fellow at Center for American Progress

Jim Carr is a housing finance, banking and urban policy consultant. He is also a Senior Fellow with the Center for American Progress and Distinguished Scholar with The Opportunity Agenda. Previously, he served as Chief Business Officer for the National Community Reinvestment Coalition where he managed minority- and women-owned business centers in Washington, DC, New York, NY, and Houston, TX that assisted their clients to access more than $1.8 billion in capital and $350 million in federal contracts during his tenure. Prior to his appointment to NCRC, Jim was Senior Vice President for Financial Innovation, Planning and Research for the Fannie Mae Foundation where he built one of the most prestigious housing and urban policy research centers in the U.S. He also served as Vice President for Housing Research at Fannie Mae, Assistant Director for Tax Policy and Federal Credit with the U.S. Senate Budget Committee and Research Associate at the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University. Jim has served as Visiting Professor at Columbia University, Assistant Director for Tax Policy with the U.S. Senate Budget Committee, and Research Associate at the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University. Jim has served on research or policy advisory boards at numerous colleges and universities including Harvard University, University of California-Berkeley, and University of Pennsylvania.

Jim is an Advisory Committee Member of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Center for Community Development Investments and a Braintruster (blogger) for the Roosevelt Institute's New Deal 2.0 initiative. Previously, he served as an Executive Committee member of Americans for Financial Reform, He previously served on the Corporate Advisory Board of the Urban Financial Services Coalition and was as an instructor for the Neighborhood Reinvestment Training Institute. Jim has also been an advisor to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Urban Affairs Project Group in Paris, France. Jim has served as an international advisor on financial modernization and housing finance to China, Mexico, Turkey, and Colombia. He has served on Congressional delegations to South Africa and Ghana on housing and economic development.

Jim testifies frequently before the United States Congress on issues related to the economy, housing markets, financial system regulatory reform, and wealth disparities and economic mobility. He is particularly recognized for his knowledge about and leadership on development of financial instruments and strategies to promote sustainable affordable home lending, inner-city community and economic development, and wealth creation for lower-income households.

Jim has appeared on CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, MSNBC, FOX News, PBS, and a variety of local news stations in Washington, DC and New York. He has been interviewed on Newsweek on Air, Bloomberg Radio, and National Public Radio. Jim has been quoted and his research cited in various major newspapers including the Washington Post, USA Today, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, Reuters, and numerous additional media outlets.

Jim's speeches have been awarded top honors, including the "Best of the Best" award by the International Association of Business Communicators. Jim is the founder and former editor of the scholarly journal Housing Policy Debate (published by Rutledge Publishers) which, during Jim's 17 years as editor, was routinely rated one of the nation's premier urban studies research journals by the Institute for Scientific Information. He also served for more than a decade as editor of the peer-reviewed publication Journal of Housing Research. Jim's recent books include Replicating Microfinance in the United States and Segregation: The Rising Costs for America.

Jim has earned numerous professional and academic honors and awards. He is a 2012 Closing the Racial Wealth Gap Fellow with the Insight Center for Community Economic Development and Op Ed Project, 2004 Aspen Institute Scholar, recipient of the 2003 Community Impact Award from the National Organization of Black County Officials, the1998 Presidential Award from the National Association of Urban Bankers, and an Outstanding Achievement Award by the Neighborhood Reinvestment Training Institute in 1996. Jim holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree with honors from Hampton University, a Master of Urban Planning degree from Columbia University, and a Master of City and Regional Planning degree from University of Pennsylvania.