Carolina Rodrigues is NCRC’s Lending Program Manager. She was born in Washington, DC, and has lived in the DMV area forever. Her family is originally from Brazil, and speak Portuguese. She went to high school in Forestville, Maryland, and completed her bachelor’s degree online while working full time. She started her career as a bank teller for Capital One when she was eighteen. She worked for several financial institutions, and in 2019, she learned how to underwrite consumer loans. This is where she discovered a passion for lending and being able to not only help but educate consumers on their finances. From there she navigated into the lending field, with her most recent past position being a Consumer Lending Manager for FedChoice FCU. 

Professionally, Carolina wishes to learn and grow as much as possible. She enjoys learning and education has always been one of her top priorities. She also has a passion for helping people and believes that this new role will help expand on those skills. 

Some of Carolina’s hobbies include reading, working out and spending time with family and friends. She also has three cats that she loves dearly.

Daniella Djiogan serves as the Director, Small Business Support Services, CDFI. She previously managed the small business and entrepreneurship program at the Washington DC Economic Partnership where she cultivated strategic partnerships, provided program leadership, developed resources, and assisted hundreds of entrepreneurs and businesses looking to start and grow in the district.

Daniella has also worked for the Charles County Economic Development Department in Southern Maryland, where she contributed in planning, developing, and implementing strategic economic development projects in target industry sectors. She holds a master’s degree in International Development and a bachelor’s degree in Economics. Originally from Cameroon, Daniella is a polyglot with fluency in English, French and her native dialect.

Lexine Varughis is the Grant and Compliance Specialist at NCRC. She was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, IL, and comes from a background in the legal and mortgage industry, and in affordable housing, while working with many housing agencies across the country.

Lexine holds a master’s degree in public policy, human rights advocacy from Adler University, Chicago, and a bachelor’s in political science from Michigan State University. Through this educational experience, she was able to see how political, social and economic change is evaluated, and how policy recommendations are developed and implemented especially for communities that are in need.

Lexine enjoys volunteering and serving in the community, and leading people to serve in the communities around her. She has a heart for social justice and believes everyone has the right to reach their full potential in this world.

Simon “Mac” McNeil is the Executive Director of NCRC’s Community Development Fund (NCRC CDF). He is a top performing executive with multinational business experience that understands how to motivate large and small staffs of leaders to achieve high-level and demanding goals, while balancing employee work satisfaction. Named as one of the 10 Most Influential Black Corporate Leaders to Watch in 2023 by CIO Views Magazine, he most recently reported to the CEO of the Sanneh Foundation as Executive Vice President and led all business functions and senior leadership teams of the organization to include, data management, external affairs and partnerships, finance, fundraising, human resources, learning and development, operations, programming, risk and threat management, strategic branding and sustainability, strategic initiatives, and technology.

Mac has 19 years of finance and executive leadership experience with large banks such as JPMorgan Chase, where he was a 1st Vice President District Manager in Arizona and Southern California, and at Bank of America as Vice President/Operations Market Manager in the Inland Empire of California. Mac was the executive operations leader for 60 financial centers and had direct responsibility for a $2 billion P&L and over 500 employees. He was Vice President Operations for Synchrony Bank and led the Operations Optimization team to include Agile project management methodology, process improvement transformation, robotic process automation, intelligence character recognition implementation, the IRA and Trust front office operations teams and the bank correspondence and ATM card teams with operations in Charlotte, North Carolina; Merriam, Kansas; and Manila, Philippines.

Mac also has executive leadership experience in the CDFI space. He led all enterprise operations as Senior Vice President of Operations for the Community Reinvestment Fund, USA, which included asset management, credit underwriting, customer engagement, data management and analytics, loan origination and closing, loan servicing, process governance, risk and controls, technology and vendor relations.

Mac began his leadership career in the United States Army as an Intelligence Analyst in the Special Operations Command, specializing in psychological operations and is a Desert Storm Veteran. 

Mac has a doctorate (ABD) from the University of Phoenix in Management in Organizational Leadership, an MBA from the University of Phoenix, and a BS in Business Administration from Pfeiffer University.

Mac has served on several boards to include Feeding America of Greater Riverside, Inspire Life Skills Training, and was the co-lead for the African American Network Charlotte for Synchrony.  He has also been featured in Who’s Who of Black Charlotte.

Patrick Dixon has experience serving low-income African American communities through volunteering, interning, and work experience. His passion, mission, and purpose lie in helping those who are overlooked and underserved. His ultimate goal in his career is to expand awareness and access to economic development for groups who are underserved. He believes that closing access and opportunity gaps while empowering the underserved are not only the best way to create more equitable economies, it is simply the right thing to do. To achieve his goals, he plans to gain real-world experience in economic development so that he is in a position to build opportunities for others. He attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA and is originally from Blythewood, SC.

Roxy Smith is the new Director of Relationship Development at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition Community Development Fund (NCRC CDF), where she leads efforts to drive economic mobility and provide access to capital for underserved communities. Her work involves spearheading fundraising initiatives, cultivating corporate and philanthropic partnerships, developing new business opportunities, and delivering impactful presentations that align partners’ goals with NCRC’s mission to strengthen historically disinvested communities.

Roxy brings over 23 years of experience in the banking industry, where she held multiple leadership roles, including as a Preferred Market Leader in the Riverside/San Bernardino CA region. She managed teams of financial professionals, helping clients achieve financial wellness, and led efforts in associate development, risk management, and community outreach.

In addition to her professional achievements, Roxy is an active member of her community. She serves on the Arlington Business Council and the Economic Development Council for the Chamber of Riverside, working to promote local business growth and development. She has also served on various non-profit boards.

Outside of work, Roxy lives in Southern California, enjoys traveling with her family, is a Disney enthusiast, and loves attending football and baseball games. She and her husband have been married for 17 years and are proud parents of their 13-year-old daughter and two adorable poodles.