James Carras
2021 ALI Fellow
Jim Carras brings to ALI urban policy and community and economic development expertise. Through his firm, Carras Community Investment, he facilitated the creation and expansion of over fifty community development corporations and development financial institutions and authored numerous affordable housing studies and revitalization plans. A recognized national expert on development finance, Jim was the founding executive director of the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders, the founding president of the Broward Housing Partnership and the South Florida Community Land Trust, chair of the Broward Housing Council, and the executive director of the Massachusetts Urban Reinvestment Advisory Group. He has also taught graduate level courses for the last thirty years, most recently at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.