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For most of the ten years since she graduated from DCRP, Jeannine Jacokes has been employed in setting policy for federal programs that promote housing, community development, and community development finance. Most recently, she has worked to create and then implement a federal program to support community development finance efforts across the country. She is currently a Program Manager with the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund of the U.S. Dept. of Treasury in Washington, D.C., a position she has had for about four years. The Fund is a relatively new part of the Treasury that provides support to community development financial institutions (CDFIs) in the form of grants, equity investments, and loans. Jacokes was responsible for the design of the CDFI Program and is a senior member of the staff implementing the program.

Jacokes also manages the Fund’s Bank Enterprise Award Program and the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Microenterprise Development. The Bank Enterprise Award Program provides incentives for banks to invest in low income communities. The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Microenterprise Development recognizes outstanding programs across the country that are innovative and have been effective at promoting microenterpise as a community development strategy.

Jacokes has been involved in the CDFI Fund since before she worked at Treasury. Prior to her appointment at Treasury, Jacokes worked for five years at the Senate Banking Committee, where she was responsible for writing and development of federal legislation guiding HUD programs including the HOME and CDBG. At the Banking Committee she also wrote the legislation for the CDFI Fund. After writing the legislation, she moved to Treasury to begin implementation of the programs.

After graduating from DCRP, Jacokes entered the Presidential Management Internship (PMI) program. She first worked at HUD on the Urban Development Action Grant Program (UDAG). Jacokes later worked on the State and Small Cities Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program. Her last PMI assignment was to work for the Senate Banking Committee. She stayed on with the committee after the PMI program ended.

Jacokes values the general exposure to the community development field she had while at DCRP. Also important to her are the analytical skills she developed, which she says are important when you go to a job. Overall, she says, "DCRP is pretty thorough in what it exposes you to and the quality of performance they ask students to turn out."

Jacokes predicts that government subsidies for community development finance will continue to be limited and "won’t be able to come close to scratching the surface of needs in communities." Because of this, community development organizations will have to work with banks and private sector financing entities in order to access capital. She encourages DCRP students to initially take this step by taking some classes in the business school to get a better understanding of how the private sector and financial services industry function.