We are excited to welcome Brian Rakovitis, our new manager of financial empowerment initiatives, to the Community Economic Development Association of Michigan (CEDAM) team!

Rakovitis has made his way back to CEDAM after starting as an AmeriCorps member through us. He served at United Way of Washtenaw County on the previously active Michigan Foreclosure Prevention Corps. 

After his service with AmeriCorps, Rakovitis stayed on at United Way as the financial empowerment specialist. In this role he focused on economic mobility, managed their VITA tax program and was a part of the mobile financial resource team which provided education, coaching and technical assistance and training to nonprofits who were interested in taking on financial stability work.

“I really enjoy financial empowerment and economic mobility work,” Rakovitis said. “I was looking for a position that would move me from direct service to the capacity building and policy side of things. I was very excited when the opportunity to do just that came along at CEDAM.”

In his new role here, Rakovitis will be developing children’s savings account programs throughout the state, aiming to get more low- and moderate-income youth to strive toward post-secondary education, whether it be college, vocational training or other options. He’ll also be helping develop financial stability throughout the state of Michigan and the midwest, and aligning policies and best practices around financial stability work.  

“Financial stability and economic mobility is more than simply balancing a budget,” Rakovitis said. “It’s helping families become more sustainable so that they have the ability to progress. Helping families make ends meet is essential, but we also want to look at the next step — asking what dreams and goals families have, and help makes those become a reality.”

Contact and Connect

Email: rakovitis@cedamichigan.org

Phone: 517.485.3043 X 1942

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-rakovitis-9641b062/