Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, Next City to Host Webinar on Strategies for Place-Based Investment in Rural and Small Cities
NEW CARROLLTON, Md. (September 22, 2026) – As part of the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development’s Division of Just Communities’ participation in the Public Finance Initiative’s inaugural Rural and Small Cities Program, Next City will host a webinar highlighting how Maryland and the Moore-Miller Administration are building collaborative models to align capital around community priorities, strengthen local capacity, and expand opportunity in historically disinvested and underserved rural and small communities.
The September 29 webinar, entitled “A New Blueprint for Rural and Small City Investment”, will feature leaders from the Public Finance Initiative, the Division of Just Communities, and the Maryland Community Investment Corporation for a conversation exploring Maryland’s new approach to place-based investment that brings public resources and philanthropy together to achieve greater impact.
As part of the webinar, speakers will share how lessons emerging in Maryland and other parts of the United States have the potential to shape a new place-based investment strategy in rural and small communities that supports long-term community resilience and shared prosperity. Speakers include Cat Goughnour, Assistant Secretary for Just Communities at the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, Lourdes German, Chief Executive Officer and President of the Public Finance Initiative, and Michael Pokorny, Chief Executive Officer of the Maryland Community Investment Corporation. Additionally, Garland Thomas, assistant director of Maryland Revitalization Programs in the Department’s Division of Neighborhood Revitalization, will present on Neighborhood Revitalization grant and tax credit programs and projects that the Division has funded in Just Communities.
“To improve economic, health, and social outcomes for underserved residents across the state of Maryland, the innovative use of data, along with long-term investment and collaboration, is showing promise in urban, rural and small communities,” said Cat Goughnour, Assistant Secretary of Just Communities at the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. “Participation in PFI’s Rural and Small Cities Program supported state agencies in re-imagining how specialized state geographic designations can encourage co-investment that incentivizes private sector, foundation, and philanthropic partners to invest alongside the state to target funding and resources toward neighborhoods that have suffered from historical discrimination, disinvestment and exclusionary policies.”
“Through our work in the Rural and Small Cities program (supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation) we are fortunate to be working with two entities that serve distinct segments of Maryland’s investment ecosystem, MCIC and Maryland DJC,” said Lourdes German, Chief Executive Officer and President of the Public Finance Initiative. “On the webinar, we’ll share how the program has allowed us to test what is possible when different forms of capital that flow through government public finance channels, philanthropy, and the development finance ecosystem are considered with an integrated lens, and create potential expanded pathways for investing in the full economic and social life of rural and small cities that face historic disinvestment.”
“MCIC’s belief is that predevelopment lending and community engagement lets us see promising projects early, help them become financeable, and build capacity,” said Michael Pokorny, CEO of Maryland Community Investment Corporation. “Our work with the Public Finance Initiative has helped us strengthen that work, particularly as we think about opportunities for rural Maryland and small cities. I look forward to telling that story and sharing what we are learning during the webinar.”
The Division of Just Communities supports the State in counteracting past policy actions and inactions by government entities that have adversely impacted communities for multiple generations through the implementation of Maryland’s Just Communities Act, which was signed into law by Governor Wes Moore in 2024. It is responsible for recommending certain areas in Maryland as Just Communities to the Governor for designation.
A collaborative Action Plan between the Division and PFI was created this year to support the Department’s vision that all Marylanders will have the opportunity to live and prosper in affordable, lovable and just communities.
More information about the Sept. 29 webinar can be found on Next City’s website.
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CONTACT
Allison Foster, Director of Communications | allison.foster@maryland.gov
