CDFI Representative
President and Chief Executive Officer
Opportunity Finance Network
Washington, DC
Harold Pettigrew currently serves as president and CEO of Opportunity Finance Network, the leading national network of community development financial institutions serving rural, urban, and Native communities. Before that, he was CEO of Wacif, one of the Washington, DC, area’s leading CDFIs focused on access to capital and technical assistance to low- and moderate-income entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurs of color. Mr. Pettigrew has spent his career in economic development, with nearly 20 years of experience in small business development, venture capital investing, transportation and transit, workforce development, and public sector management. Prior to Wacif, Mr. Pettigrew was the director of entrepreneurship at Prosperity Now, where he led the organization’s national efforts to advance policies and programs that increase business success for low-and moderate-income microbusiness owners throughout the United States. In addition, he has served as an advisor to the World Bank on private sector, small business development, and business licensing strategies and to the National League of Cities on equitable development strategies. His fellowships include OFN Opportunity Fellowship (2017) and Common Future Local Economy Fellowship (2016). He was a 2015 Next City Vanguard and is a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. Mr. Pettigrew has a master’s degree in urban planning from New York University and a bachelor’s degree from North Carolina State University, where he served as a member of the university’s Board of Trustees.