Carol Wayman

Carol Wayman is the Federal Policy Director of CFED. She leads CFED’s federal policy efforts to expand economic opportunity through federal legislative and regulatory research and advocacy. Carol has designed and promoted legislation to expand matched savings accounts through enactment of an Individual Development Account tax credit, refundable Saver's Credit, and reauthorization of the Assets for Independence Act. Recent successes include asset limit reform in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (previously Food Stamps), which now exempts savings in IRAs, 529s, and Coverdells from asset limit tests. She worked to enact the Beginning Farmer and Rancher IDA program in the Food and Energy Security Act of 2007. Her efforts resulted in renewed funding for Individual Development Accounts at the Office of Refugee Resettlement.

She was also active in the enactment of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 which resulted in access to Federal Home Loan Bank advances for Community Development Financial Institutions, maintained and strengthened community interest directors on the boards of the Federal Home Loan Bank, preserved the Affordable Housing Program’s homeownership program, and other affordable housing and community economic development investments. In the past year, she has spoken on asset policy in front of Congress, Italy, Israel and state assets conferences.

Prior to joining CFED, Ms. Wayman served as the Director of Policy at the National Congress for Community Economic Development for nearly a decade. She advocated on behalf of nonprofit community development corporations and successfully increased federal and state government investment in their activities. Accomplishments included the enactment of the New Market Tax Credit, expansion of mission-related investment activities of the Federal Home Loan Banks as well as the appointment of nearly 20 CDC and CDFI leaders to FHLBank boards, and support of more than $4 billion in state housing and economic development policies.

Additionally, Ms. Wayman is the author of numerous publications including Stroke of the Pen: 40 Recommendations for Policymakers; At Your Fingertips: An Annotated Bibliography for CED Practitioners; Practitioner's Guide to Federal Community Economic Development Programs, and two guidebooks on the New Market Tax Credit.

Ms. Wayman also worked on tax, nonprofit, and homelessness policies for the Union Institute and the National Alliance to End Homelessness. She participated in city community economic development offices in Burlington, Vermont, and Las Vegas, New Mexico. She has a B.A. (Political Science) from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) and a M.P.P. (Tax Policy concentration) from American University.