Impact Lenders Podcast

CDFIs are coming together at an unprecedented pace to work collaboratively and solve problems at scale. One example is the Southern Opportunity and Resilience (SOAR) Fund.

CDFIs are coming together at an unprecedented pace to work collaboratively and solve problems at scale. One example is the Southern Opportunity and Resilience (SOAR) Fund.

High Impact President Peter Schaeffing has a candid conversation with Leah Fremouw, SVP & Director of Community Innovation at Virginia Community Capital (VCC) and Andrea Longton, C.F.A., Founder and Author-Administrator of The Social Justice Investor™

High Impact President Peter Schaeffing has a candid conversation with Leah Fremouw, SVP & Director of Community Innovation at Virginia Community Capital (VCC) and Andrea Longton, C.F.A., Founder and Author-Administrator of The Social Justice Investor™

Veterans have unique challenges and opportunities when it comes to entrepreneurship and securing business loans. On the one hand, the military provides leadership and strategic training, but deployment and frequent relocations can interfere.

Veterans have unique challenges and opportunities when it comes to entrepreneurship and securing business loans. On the one hand, the military provides leadership and strategic training, but deployment and frequent relocations can interfere.

Impact lenders tackle huge problems–the affordable housing crisis, structural racism, predatory lending, and many more. Yet impact lenders are typically locked out of the kinds of growth capital that allow for-profit ventures to quickly scale. Capital Good Fund, a nonprofit loan fund that provides ethical payday loans, energy efficiency loans, and car loans, has created […]

The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is not yet known, but one thing is certain: PPP loans and other short-term emergency loan programs will not be enough to save many small businesses. Community Reinvestment Fund is mobilizing its one-stop-shop business lending platform, Connect2Capital, in order to ensure the survival and long-term success of businesses in low-income areas, many of which are led by women and/or minority entrepreneurs. Patrick Davis of CRF appears on today's episode to tell us about the platform and how other CDFIs can use it to amplify their impact in the recovery.

As the economic damage of COVID-19 becomes clear, foundations are looking for new ways to support their communities. For many foundations, mission-focused lending to nonprofits is not in their standard playbook, let alone funding small businesses directly. In today’s episode, Deb Markley of LOCUS Impact Investing encourages foundations to find new ways to work. She […]

As we begin to deal with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, many impact lenders are leaping into action to offer forbearance to existing borrowers and low-interest loans to new borrowers. This is new territory for a lot of lenders, so on today’s episode we talk with two experts from New Jersey Community Capital, […]

CDFIs have long relied on a few mainstays for capitalization–banks, foundations, and the CDFI Fund. Recently, though, we have started to see increased investment interest from non-bank corporations. Today’s episode profiles one of the CDFIs that has been doing this the longest and with the most success, as demonstrated by a high-profile $50 million investment […]

CDFIs strive to deploy capital where it is most needed.  Nevertheless, a lot of smaller and midsize cities are left without a CDFI to serve them, even as larger CDFIs seek to continue to grow their markets.  After observing this gap, Mark Pinsky, former CEO of the Opportunity Finance Network, decided to develop a solution.  […]

Many impact lenders struggle with energy efficiency financing–sure, we all support the idea, but without technical expertise in the area it can be hard to get credit committees comfortable with utility cost savings that justify added upfront costs. Inclusive Prosperity Capital, a spin-off of the Connecticut Green Bank, aims to solve this problem. By specializing […]

Opportunity zones have been a hot topic in the impact finance industry since their announcement, but do CDFIs and other impact lenders have a role to play?  Michael Swack and Charles Tansey think so.  They join us on this episode to discuss their recent white paper, “The Potential Role for CDFIs in Opportunity Zones,” which […]

Sometimes it seems like everyone in the CDFI industry knows each other, and that many of us have been committed to the industry for our whole careers. Our guest on this episode is not one of those familiar faces. Jim McSherry is a career entrepreneur and, for two years, took over lending operations at the […]

Small buildings make up more of America’s housing stock than the large multifamily developments we often think about in the finance world. That means that to serve all the needs of a community, addressing the small building stock is essential. In this episode, two of the leading CDFIs in this space offer the lessons they’ve […]

Does heightened interest in impact investing present a real opportunity to diversify capital sources, or is it a mirage?  Yuliya Tarasava, one of the founders of CNote, believes CDFIs and other community lenders can seize the moment and expand their capital bases. She joins us in this episode to offer her company’s approach to helping […]

The grassroots movement that resulted in the creation of CDFIs as we know them today has a deep history.  In today’s episode we explore that history with one of the luminaries of the industry, Cliff Rosenthal. Cliff was there when it all started, and he shares his insights and anecdotes as he takes us through […]

Mark Barbash joins the impact lenders podcast to talk about the changing landscape of the small business lending sector, and how impact lenders can best respond to it. The declining number of community banks and the proliferation of online lenders has shifted the small business lending environment dramatically. Impact lenders need to understand these market […]

The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) motivates a substantial portion of bank investments into CDFIs, and as budgets for community development programs shrink, its importance continues to grow.  The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency recently released an advance notice of proposed rulemaking seeking comment on reforms to CRA, highlighting the likelihood that changes are […]