Samantha Porter, Senior Manager and Advisor, Community Engagement, Philadelphia Fed
Samantha (Sam) Porter's interest in community development (CD) began in graduate school, while pursuing a master's degree in public administration. But a natural disaster derailed his career in the field. “Even before I started doing disaster recovery, I had an interest in CDs,” he said. “It was clear that public service and community development were important to me.”
In 2012, Superstorm Sandy (Sandy) devastated the Caribbean and coastal mid-Atlantic United States, causing property damage, flooding, and billions of dollars in damage. As a member of New Jersey's Policy and Program Development Team focused on post-Sandy recovery, Sam says he gained a comprehensive perspective on CD. “It exposed me to more aspects of community development because disasters affect communities at every level,” he said. “I focused on housing restoration that used federal Community Development Block Grant funds. However, more than housing needs to be addressed.”
Sam noted that communities also need investment in small businesses that experienced service disruptions during the storm. Workers were displaced, which affected the labor market. And infrastructure for transportation, supply chains and utility services needs to be restored. Most importantly, he said, federal funds need to be used primarily in low- to moderate-income (LMI) communities. This is because disaster recovery funds are used Community Development Block Grant Allocations within the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which require that a certain percentage of funds be used for rehabilitation specifically for LMI communities.
Sam added that this work gave him an opportunity to focus on how this funding should be stratified in historically underserved communities (by race and ethnicity) as well as LMI communities. “HUD funding is just one of many sources of funding used to respond to disasters,” he said. “So working in this space also gave me additional exposure to ways to channel funds into these communities.”
Importance of community development
After working in disaster recovery and the mayor's office in Philadelphia, Sam realized he wanted to use applied research to find solutions to specific CD challenges. His applied research in graduate school led him to search to get back to his roots Philadelphia Fed. “When the opportunity to work at the Fed came up, I jumped at the chance to be a part of developing research,” Sam said. “I enjoy thinking about what questions people are trying to answer and how our research informs that. Working in government and public service around community development and economic issues felt inspiring and right for me.”
Sam says Fed's commitment to high-quality work has influenced him and driven him to maintain that standard throughout his career. As a community engagement advisor and outreach manager, she promotes capacity building. Capacity building helps organizations improve their development, governance and training to better serve their communities. In this role, Sam also shares industry expertise and best practices that can help improve community development.
He leads a team that compiles district insights through conversations with LMI community partners. These insights inform discussions on supervision, regulation and monetary policy at its banks. “I love the engagement because it's thinking about capacity building and how we bring Fed research in the CD space to practitioners so they can develop approaches to solve tough problems,” says Sam. “Outreach is exciting because you get to know the stakeholders and how they share the experience of the economy from the perspective of LMI customers.”
“When the opportunity to work at the Fed came up, I jumped at the chance to be a part of research development. I enjoy thinking about what questions people are trying to answer and how our research informs that.”
A focus on wealth inequality
In addition to outreach and research, Sam leads the Philadelphia Fed Equitable Wealth Initiative (EWI). EWI, a partnership between the Philadelphia Fed and the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey, focuses on the black-white racial wealth gap in Philadelphia. Sam cites this initiative as one of the most exciting projects he has worked on at the Fed.
The idea for this work grew out of the Fed's 2021 webinar series, Racism and Economics. During the virtual event, subject matter experts engage in conversation around the various economic barriers that people of color face. “A webinar focused on the racial wealth gap and inspired my project for EWI,” she said. “EWI brings together community leaders and partners to explore resources and asset-building opportunities, providing the foundation for building a healthy, strong regional economy.”
Sam co-authored the research report, “Wealth building is an uncertain road” The publication investigated residents' experiences with the racial wealth gap and wealth building in Philadelphia. Roundtable meetings were held following the report's release. “These discussions were very impactful as we strengthened the ecosystem of organizations in Philadelphia that focus on wealth creation and addressing the racial wealth gap,” he said. “And we've also presented a lot of important research on this topic to Philadelphia stakeholders.”
Data beyond numbers
Sam says the challenges he saw in disaster recovery for the LMI community are similar to the work he does every day. He sees data and engagement as critical to looking more broadly at community development issues.
“It's hard to see the experiences of LMI people in general data,” he said. “However, there are indicators of how our economy is working and how it can work for everyone when focusing on different aspects of the LMI community, such as race or gender. CD's work is critical if we are to address the structures that influence these issues.”
