Cinnamon Chambers-Lewis, co-chair (emeritus)
Cinnamon Chambers-Lewis brings years of professional experience working in the financial industry most of which, devoted to developing programing around the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), corporate social responsibility initiatives and consulting for nonprofit organizations and social enterprises. Mrs. Chambers-Lewis has nearly two decades of experience in the community development industry, 10 of which have specifically been associated with affordable housing programming, government antipoverty initiatives, and non-profit agencies. She has assisted with the development of VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) sites, as well as implemented many financial literacy and homebuyer education programs throughout New York City communities.
Mrs. Chambers-Lewis has a personal best practice to focus her efforts on banks requiring foundational expertise developing program toward CRA goals. Her advocacy for non- profits and government agencies has been instrumental in creating lasting community development partnerships. While working for Metropolitan Commercial Bank, Mrs. Chambers established multiple lending and investment relationships with CDFI’s, non-profits and created a platform for the bank’s corporate social responsibility and community development service initiatives to thrive. She led Implementation and execution of a sustainable and compliant CRA strategy, business and communications plan resulting in a satisfactory upgrade to the bank’s prior needs-to-improve CRA rating.
Prior to joining Metropolitan Commercial Bank, Mrs. Chambers-Lewis was with Astoria Bank, now Sterling National, where she managed both the CRA program and the bank’s very successful first time home buyers program in partnership with the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York and Sonnie Mae. Mrs. Chambers-Lewis spent a decade with Amalgamated Bank, where she was primarily responsible for the coordination of regulatory filings, examinations, and ongoing communication with regulatory agencies concerning CRA matters. She also developed and implemented CRA program administration, including oversight for: CRA public files and notices; socio-economic data analytics; and CRA—related lending, investments, and service efforts to ensure exam readiness. She worked in partnership with business lines to design and implement products and programs targeting low-to-moderate income customers and communities. Mrs. Chambers-Lewis developed business relationships with not-for-profit and government organizations by working to leverage impact of community involvement.
Mrs. Chambers-Lewis actively participates on board affiliations and committees with non- profits and CDFI’s, including but not limited to the Disability Opportunity Fund, New York Women’s Foundation and Neighborhood Housing Services. She makes it a habit to develop referral sources and actively seeks and refers new business and community development program opportunities through this participation. Mrs. Lewis attended Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, prides herself in being a native New Yorker, although she now resides in New Jersey. She is currently SVP, Director of CRA Complianceis with Coastal Community Bank and ismarried with two children.
