Today, Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Puerto Rico Economic Growth Coordinator Don Graves joined Julie Rodriguez, Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, Gene Sperling, Senior Advisor to the President and White House American Rescue Plan Coordinator, and Mitch Landrieu, Senior Advisor to the President and White House Infrastructure Implementation Coordinator for a virtual roundtable with federal, philanthropic, and community partners to discuss new community-led development models for Puerto Rico, the first convening of its kind. With a focus on equity, philanthropic partners provided input on local communities’ key needs and obstacles to accessing federal resources. Ahead of the upcoming Puerto Rico Economic Dialogue, Deputy Secretary Graves and fellow Biden-Harris Administration officials reiterated their commitment to Puerto Rico’s recovery and renewal as an unprecedented $120 billion in funding makes its way to the people of Puerto Rico.  

Additional roundtable participants included:

• Jerry Maldonado, PolicyLink
• Shaun Donovan, Ford Foundation
• Jose Garcia, Ford Foundation
• Deepak Lamba-Nieves, Center for New Economy
• Glenisse Pagan Ortiz, Filantropia PR
• Cristina Miranda Palacio, La Liga de Ciudades de Puerto Rico
• Adi Martinez, FURIA and UPR Resiliency Law Center
• Issel Masses, Sembrando Sentido
• Mira Patel, Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of Commerce
• Gretchen Sierra-Zorita, Associate Director for Puerto Rico and Territories, Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, The White House