Center for Community Investment

Check out the Real Repair! Fulcrum Fellow alumna Melissa Jones joined ThirdSpace Action Lab and Next City to discuss health, healing, and anti-racist community development. This one is full of gems, so don't miss it.

The Real Repair: The Necessity of Health + Healing Work In Anti-Racist Community Development The Real Repair: The Necessity of Health + Healing Work In Anti-Racist Community Development. Wednesday, August 9, 2023.

Amongst our 104 Field Catalyst and Fulcrum Fellowship participants and alumni, no two leaders are pursuing system-level change in the same way. Rather, this growing network of leaders is committed to identifying the priorities that are essential for their neighbors to live in thriving places and finding creative solutions to finance pipelines of deals that will achieve these priorities while building ways for each set of deals to be easier than the last.

A system, as defined by Donella Meadows, “is a set of things—people, cells, molecules, or whatever—interconnected in such a way that they produce their own pattern of behavior over time.” We believe that cultivating a cohort of leaders who are committed to ensuring that investment meets resident visions to address the long-term effects of racism will create a system that moves resources more equitably. As we look at how systems-level change work has developed over CCI’s seven years in the field, we are inspired by the ways that these interconnected individuals envision new futures.

In a new series of interviews with some of our alumni, we will take a moment to look closely at what this work can look like, and how it’s playing out on the ground.

Our first interview was with Damon Burns, a member of our inaugural cohort of Fulcrum Fellows over seven years ago and CEO of Finance New Orleans. Last month, Finance New Orleans and Accelerator held The Resilient New Orleans Innovation Challenge Showcase, a competition whose winners will be partners in building new, affordable, climate resilient housing in New Orleans.

Learn more about the event and Damon's work:

Network Spotlight: Damon Burns - Center for Community Investment Amongst our 104 Field Catalyst and Fulcrum Fellowship participants and alumni, no two leaders are pursuing system-level change in the same way. Rather, this growing network of leaders is committed to identifying the priorities that are essential for their neighbors to live in thriving places and fin...

In 2022, Build Healthy Places Network unveiled a groundbreaking playbook on rural healthcare partnerships. Now, BHPN is taking the next crucial step. BHPN has reconnected with organizations featured in the original playbook to gain a deeper understanding of the partnership landscape. From innovative collaborations to unexpected challenges, discover the real stories behind enhancing health equity in rural communities: bit.ly/3y5YNkP.

Did you catch Fulcrum Fellow alumna Mileyka Burgos-Flores on the Main Street America Business Insights podcast? Mileyka discusses the importance of Main Street leaders supporting small businesses, the importance of "owning the dirt," and advice for fellow community leaders - you don't want to miss it.

Find it on your usual podcast feed or listen here:

Mileyka Burgos-Flores, Allapattah Collaborative CDC In this episode of Main Street Business Insights, Matt talks with Mileyka Burgos-Flores, executive director of the Allapattah Collaborative CDC in Miami, Florida, the only designated Main Street community in Miami. Mileyka is this year’s recipient of the prestigious Mary Means Leadership Award.

We are at a critical turning point in the fight to create equitable resilience to climate collapse. For leaders committed to racial justice, it's inarguable that BIPOC, immigrant, rural, and other historically disinvested communities are often most impacted by climate instability. For leaders committed to transforming the community investment ecosystem, it's inarguable that when the work is siloed, fragmented, and reactive, it is the most vulnerable communities who are left behind.

The California Climate Leaders Fellowship, a new CCI leadership development program in collaboration with The California Endowment, is focused on helping leaders addresses the challenges created by climate change through advocacy, investment, and system change.

We are so proud to announce the first cohort of this essential program. The 13 members are recognized leaders ready to foster the kinds of collaboration necessary for the formation of equitable, climate resilient communities. We can't wait to get to work with this amazing team!

Learn more at https://centerforcommunityinvestment.org/california-climate-leaders-fellowship/

Counting down to Juneteenth - part 10:

We've reached the final installment of our conting down to Juneteenth series. Juneteenth was declared a federal holiday in 2021, in the midst of a reckoning that brought conversations about racism to the forefront. Corportations, nonprofits, and government entities declared a renewed dedication to fighting injustice. Today, we've seen some of these declarations continue into actions. We've seen others go silent. We've also seen a tremendous backlash.

There’s no silver bullet to solve the deeply rooted injustices Black Americans face – but as Sarida Scott told us this month, “this incredibly hard work will benefit everyone, it will strengthen the ecosystem, it will strengthen the economy. I believe in the fight – it is a great fight to be in, it is worthwhile, and we have wins to celebrate.”
We hope everyone in our network is taking time to rest, reflect, and celebrate your contributions to this fight. We look forward to continuing in struggle beside you.

Countdown to Juneteenth, part 9:

The Storied Communities, Community Stories project from the Community Opportunity Alliance and ThirdSpace Action Lab is a research project that seeks to understand the role that resident voices have played historically, play today, and could play in the future of community development organizations. The shift from focusing on capital to focusing on people is transformative and we encourage you to take some time to understand the key roles that residents can play in community investment.
https://thepeoplespractice.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/StoriedCommunitiesIssueBrief.pdf

Countdown to Juneteenth, part 8:

What stories are implicit in the ways we do community development - especially in Black neighborhoods? Naming and pushing back against those stories is an essential part of remaking our financial system.

Urban Strategies, Inc. speaks the bold truth that "capacity building" is not investment: "The current approach to capacity building diverts dollars away from the actual point of impact in communities – an arrangement that is maintained by an undercurrent of antiblackness practices, as well as the economic “insider baseball” still played between consulting firms and funders. If we want results in our neighborhoods and in society at-large, that kind of unearned privilege must change."

Read the whole article here:

Beyond Capacity Building: A Call for Narrative Shift | Urban Strategies, Inc. For practitioners in the equitable community development industry: how to be more intentional in the shared narrative on “capacity building".

Counting down to Juneteenth, part 7:

David Bowers is Enterprise Community Partners’s vice president and market leader for the Mid-Atlantic region. In a recent interview, he highlighted the Purple Line Corridor Coalition, who we had the pleasure to work alongside as part of our Accelerating Investments for Healthy Communities initiative. Bowers highlights the humanity behind his work for affordable housing – each person who lives in or loses an affordable home has a story.

His patience in this work struck home for the CCI team. Having worked with some organizations – including the Purple Line Coalition – up to six years ago, we know that dividends sometimes don’t show up until long after an initiative ends.

So we’ll keep on pressing forward – diligently and patiently.

Each One of Us Has a Story | Enterprise Community Partners A Q & A with David Bowers to learn more about his own story, the origin of FBDI, and how he weaves his background as an ordained minister into his work to create affordable homes and access to opportunity.

In late 2020, four Fulcrum Fellow alumni wrote the essays in "Centering Black People in Community Development: New Visions from Black Women Leaders." They contributed to highly visible conversations that were happening around the country about racial and economic justice and a just recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Three years later, we’re reflecting on what has changed since that moment. We asked Sarida Scott, author of "Thoughts on Centering Blackness and Employment Equity in Detroit," what she’s learned since 2020 and what’s next for employment equity in Detroit. Read her original essay and explore her thoughts.

https://centerforcommunityinvestment.org/news/employment-justice-sarida-scott/

Counting Down to Juneteenth, part 5:

The Seattle area’s Field Order 15 Fund, a reparative lending fund supported by the Black Home Initiative and HomeSight, assists Black developers who are building affordable homes in the communities that need these resources most. Nearly (and only) 160 years after Civil War General Tecumseh Sherman issued Special Field Order 15 as a promise that formerly enslaved people would build wealth on land they owned, this fund seeks to address the first and often most difficult barrier to building new affordable homes – project planning capital.

Reparative lending, and reparations more broadly, seek to break cycles of disenfranchisement from land and generational wealth in Black communities. Learn from HomeSight’s executive director, Darryl Smith, about the history behind this project:

https://youtu.be/TvE0z-9pw-4

You can learn more about the Greater Seattle’s Connecting Capital and Community team here: https://www.lincolninst.edu/publications/articles/2024-02-3C-seattle-black-home-initiative

And for even more about how leaders are supporting Black developers, don’t skip Fulcrum Fellow alumna Maggie Smith’s blog, “Building a Network of Developers of Color: What We Learned.”

https://centerforcommunityinvestment.org/news/building-a-network-of-developers-of-color/

Counting down to Juneteenth, part 4:

Focusing on community development in the wake of the pandemic, Ja’Net Defell’s “2021: Changing the Perspective from Need to Opportunity” argued that the way to do better by Black communities was to change how business, government, and philanthropy think about what project constitute “development.” Focusing on the full spectrum of businesses that go into a thriving business, she wrote about work to fund climate resilience (Green Era Chicago), historical preservation (Obsidian Collection Archives), as well as coffee shops, event spaces, and all the other amenities that go into a thriving neighborhood."

She wrote that funders and capital markets “spend less time examining the perceived risk of funding projects in Black communities and instead look for opportunities to make them work.”

💬 https://centerforcommunityinvestment.org/resource/centering-black-people-in-community-development-new-visions-from-black-women-leaders/

We’ve seen a huge shift in the intervening years toward asset-based community development lending and funding. More and more conversations are turning to new underwriting practices, and other operational shifts within portfolios.

Fulcrum Fellow alumna Eliisa Frazier wrote her recent blog, “Not All Developers of Color Are Emerging,” as a call toward asset-based lending that addresses the true gaps between Black developers and their white peers – which is far more often a capital gap than an experience one.

💬 https://centerforcommunityinvestment.org/news/not-all-doc-are-emerging/

This lesson from 2020 has stuck with the community development community and continues to grow: traditional ideas of risk are outdated, and Black and brown lenders and leaders are ready to forge new systems that serve us all.

The Chicago Community Trust Community Desk Chicago Low Income Investment Fund

We’re counting down to Juneteenth by reflecting on writing from 2021 by Black women leaders in our network. Three years ago, conversations about racial justice were resonating across institutions. In Joanna Trotter’s contribution, "Recovery Together: Developing a Collective and Equitable Approach to Economic Recovery," she reflected on the ways that economic recovery in 2009 left Black communities behind – and how the then-new We Rise Together funders collaborative was working to prevent such disparities in Chicago’s COVID-19 recovery.

💬 https://centerforcommunityinvestment.org/resource/centering-black-people-in-community-development-new-visions-from-black-women-leaders/

Since then, the collaborative has awarded more than $46 million to projects in long-disinvested Chicago neighborhoods. Balancing affordable units, shared ownership strategies, and economic opportunities, this project has continued to enact a community's vision through the long years of hard work that follow the loudest initial conversations.

💪🏾 https://wrtogether.org/2024/03/we-rise-together-grants-direct-more-than-7-million-to-real-estate-projects-worth-198-million-in-chicagos-disinvested-communities/

The Chicago Community Trust

According to recent research on redlining from NCRC, 55 years after Congress outlawed using discriminatory maps to guide mortgage lending with the Fair Housing Act, race-based exclusion from homeownership is still a de facto reality.

🔎 https://ncrc.org/decades-of-disinvestment/

As we count down to Juneteenth, we've thinking about how community development systems can be transformed so that Black communities can continue to get free from health disparities, uneven outcomes, and barriers to economic inclusion. This conversation was highly visible around the country in late 2020 when four Fulcrum Fellow alumni wrote the essays in "Centering Black People in Community Development: New Visions from Black Women Leaders.

💬 https://centerforcommunityinvestment.org/resource/centering-black-people-in-community-development-new-visions-from-black-women-leaders/

What has changed since that moment, when we saw the disproportionate effects of COVID-19 on Black people? Since leaders around the country pledged to do things differently following the racial reckoning of the preceding summer? Since we wrote of a new administration coming into office and our hope that the lessons of 2020 would ripple into deep change?

Stay tuned this month. We'll be sharing new thinking from our network and talking about the lessons that have been learned - forgotten - in the last three years.

And we want to hear from our network (that's you!): what have you learned since 2020? What do you wish people were still talking about? What's next?

Learn from current Field Catalyst and Fulcrum Fellow alumna Melissa Jones, Executive Director of the Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative (BARHII), in a conversation highlighting successful collaborations in these sectors to improve population health and health equity and exploring future steps to advance these efforts.

Ruth Thomas-Squance, Co-Executive Director at BHPN, led this engaging discussion with a distinguished panel of women leaders of color. They discussed the recent launch of a primer, developed through a partnership between Build Healthy Places Network and the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, to support collaboration between public health and community development for health equity.

Check out the recording of the panel here >> https://bit.ly/3ysHhXI

We’re counting down to Juneteenth early at CCI! Has the Capital Absorption Framework helped you connect with your neighbors to bring more capital to Black entrepreneurs in your city? We want to hear your story. We know that from downtown Appalachia to Chicago to Dallas to DC, our network is connecting with the community to fight disinvestment so that dollars stay in the hands of the people and everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

Tag a Black-owned business or Black entrepreneur in the comments and we’ll share and shout them out in our June newsletter!

Amazing work from one of our Expanding Place-based Investment Cohort (EPIC) at Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN) members:

HAN members BJC HealthCare and EPIC participant SSM Health in St. Louis, MO are driving economic development and job creation. BJC and SSM formed St. Louis Healthcare Support Services, LLC, to build a regional laundry facility handling 35 million pounds of linens annually. This initiative aims to hire 80 community members from underserved areas for well-paying jobs with benefits.

Health systems can play a catalytic role in addressing local challenges like affordable housing and food access by fostering meaningful public-private partnerships.

Incredible to see leaders making these place-based investments and improving the community investment ecosystem.

Read more about this amazing opportunity here >> https://bit.ly/3R02lvc

We are still applauding Invest Appalachia, beloved veterans of our Connect Capital Initiative, after they successfully concluded fundraising efforts for the Invest Appalachia Fund, securing a remarkable $35.5 million!

The Invest Appalachia Fund is designed to provide flexible, community-first impact investment, complementing the existing community finance system and reaching persistently under-resourced populations across Central Appalachia. This incredible achievement includes significant commitments from national and regional investors, with 80% of the funds coming from outside Appalachia, bringing much-needed mission-aligned capital to this historically underinvested region.

This milestone is a testament to the power of collaboration and shared vision for a more equitable and resilient Central Appalachia. Congratulations to Invest Appalachia for helping to pave the way for a brighter future in their community.

Congratulations to 2022-23 Fulcrum Fellow alumna, 3C Miami team member, and CEO of The Allapattah Collaborative CDC, Mileyka Burgos-Flores!

Burgos-Flores was just recently recognized as the 2024 Mary Means Leadership Award recipient. As a former Fulcrum Fellow, she concentrated on developing community ownership models focused on equitable care, aiming to prevent displacement and fostering wealth creation in marginalized neighborhoods. Burgos-Flores’ commitment to safeguarding the integrity and community of Little Santo Domingo certainly does not go unnoticed, and this award is truly well-deserved.

Read more about Mileyka’s award recognition and explore her dedication to nurturing grassroots leaders and small businesses in her community here > https://bit.ly/4dBJ5Oj

Mileyka Burgos-Flores Named 2023 Mary Means Leadership Award Recipient Main Street America is proud to recognize Mileyka Burgos-Flores, Chief Executive Officer at The Allapattah Collaborative CDC in Miami, Florida, as the 2024 Mary Means Leadership Award recipient.

Several members of the CCI network had the pleasure of speaking at the Housing California Conference in Long Beach this March.

Over 2,300 individuals from various fields such as housing, homelessness, and other sectors gathered with us to discuss our achievements and collaborate on shaping California's future, aiming to ensure homes, health, and prosperity for everyone.

Shoutout to Connect Capital member and CEO of Lift to Rise, Heather Vaikona; 2024 Fulcrum Fellow and Executive Director of SV@Home, Regina Celestin Williams; 2019-20 Fulcrum Fellow and 2022-23 Field Catalyst, Elizabeth Wampler for your contributions to this wonderful and insightful event!

Were you unable to attend this year? Check out the conference recordings here >> https://bit.ly/44BSZeR

Throwback moment! A few weeks back, consultant Gretchen Beesing of was touring the Queen City Housing Cooperative in Denver. Gretchen continues to explore cutting edge shared ownership work around the country, working to understand how the Capital Absorption Framework could help connect and catalyze these vital frameworks at the system level. Learn more: https://centerforcommunityinvestment.org/resource/exploring-community-land-ownership-executive-summary/ Center for Community Wealth Building

from Rudy Espinoza, Fulcrum Fellow alumnus 2017-18 and one of our 2024-25 Field Catalysts!

Small business are often the first to feel the effects of gentrification. Across the state, they face the threat of substantial rent hikes.

In 2024, Inclusive Action for the City and allies are rallying behind the Senate Bill 1103 (SB1103) which strives to protect and keep small businesses and nonprofits from being pushed out of their communities.

To learn more about and stay up to date with check out this link here >> https://bit.ly/3QkPVxy

Newman’s Own Foundation is announcing up to $1M in grants available over two years through the Food Justice for Kids Prize! They are funding nonprofits, public schools, and tribes advancing food justice for children in the U.S.

Learn more and apply here >> https://bit.ly/4ajTPhY


Applications close on Tuesday, June 11th, 2024!

Leaders in the Center for Community Investment practitioner network are focused on creating an ecosystem where community-led initiatives can succeed. They build capacity among local stakeholders and communities to effectively utilize and amplify capital, driving forward their key objectives.

This , we are incredibly excited to dig into the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's selections for $20 billion in grant awards from the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF)! The awards, made under the National Clean Investment Fund and Clean Communities Investment Accelerator, aim to establish a national clean financing network.

Read more about the GGRF here >> https://bit.ly/4aKmLjD and check out Impact Alpha’s latest article, “EPA’s new partners plot a $27 billion path to a US green bank” here >> https://bit.ly/4b4Vick which envisions how these funds will roll out to top coalitions, such as Power Forward, Climate United, and the Coalition for Green Capital, and eventually, to communities in need.

May is just around the corner and we are excited to see alumna, Amy Chung (2019-20) and Tom de Simone from our team at the upcoming Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) from Tuesday, May 7th to Thursday, May 9th!

The Mission Investors Exchange National Conference is highly anticipated among philanthropic impact investors. It provides a dynamic and interactive environment for participants to foster partnerships, engage in impactful investments, exchange investment opportunities, network with prominent figures in the field, and influence the trajectory of the impact investing landscape.

Learn more about MIE's agenda and register here > https://bit.ly/3Q3BcXV

MIE's 2024 National Conference [[{"fid":"2375","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","alignment":"","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false,"external_url":""},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"7":{"format":

Check out the latest blog from our Fulcrum Fellow alumna, Eliisa Frazier (2022-23), Director of Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF), and Kimberly Latimer-Nelligan, LIIF President!

As a member of the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), LIFF has launched a Black Developer Capital Initiative (BDCI) to foster equitable practices and make flexible, low-cost financing for Black developers.

Read more on how LIIF aims to accelerate progress towards equitable lending practices and make racial equity the standard in CDFI lending here > https://bit.ly/4cPeI6y

And while you’re at it, dive into Eliisa Frazier's blog post here > https://bit.ly/3RXPedA for CCI this past January! A certainly captivating read, Frazier's blog offers profound insights into how the BDCI addresses the significant barriers posed by a lack of language that accurately reflects the expertise and accomplishments of BIPOC developers by lending programs

Catch our team and our very own Omar Carrillo Tinajero this Sunday at the American Planning Association (APA) Conference in Minneapolis! https://bit.ly/4aLEnLs

Allapattah, like other BIPOC-majority areas, is faced with linked challenges: climate change drives interest in higher ground while rising rents and development displace families. Despite worsening conditions, Miami's leaders strive to uphold Allapattah's essence and affordability, a battle predating the pandemic.

As part of our 3C Miami team, leaders from Miami Homes for All, The Allappattah Collaborative, CDC, and a multi-sector team are working to devise custom approaches to these issues. By building a pipeline of small building preservation projects, they are creating wealth for citizens and creating a pathway to success for small developers.

Our panel, featuring Mileyka Burgos, Annie Lord, and Lisa M. Martinez, with Omar Carrillo Tinajero as moderator, will showcase our innovative agreements, offering a model for tackling housing and climate crises nationwide.

Help bring Center for Community Investment (CCI) to the stage this upcoming Fall 2024!

This year, CCI is aiming to take the SOCAP Open stage with our session, “Democratizing Capital: The New Horizon for Community Development,” submitted by our very own, Zev Alexander.

SOCAP Open, hosted by SOCAP Global, offers individuals and organizations the chance to showcase innovative ideas, delve into impactful solutions, and open conversations about pressing issues on the SOCAP stage.

The current state of community development is at a crucial juncture, marked by an excessive reliance on market-driven approaches that prioritize financial gain over community needs. This has led to a neglect of community-centered solutions and a reinforcement of market conservatism.

The workshop, led by David Fukuzawa and Nancy Andrews, encourages leaders to examine their own paradigms, goals, and institutional practices, urging them to embrace radical patience and flexible support to drive meaningful change in the community development ecosystem.

But, we need your help! Vote for CCI here >> https://bit.ly/3VMwd1d now until April 14th.

SOCAP Open - SOCAP Global The SOCAP community is primed to participate in and scale up initiatives to solve our world’s biggest challenges. Partner with SOCAP to gain recognition as a transformative brand.

Green lending in the US has predominantly favored higher-income, white borrowers, leaving communities most affected by the climate crisis underinvested in resilience and green energy projects.

To combat this, community development financial institutions (CDFIs) are stepping up by prioritizing loans for green energy initiatives for underserved communities, supported by federal funding like the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF).

Similarly, philanthropy-backed initiatives like the Community Investment Guarantee Pool (CIGP) are bridging the gap, encouraging lenders to finance projects in underserved areas. These guarantees mitigate risks, making lenders more likely to invest in climate solutions.

While still in its early stages, initiatives like CIGP are unlocking significant capital for community-based green energy projects.

Check out how Jim Baek and Aaron Seybert prioritize equitable access to capital to effectively address the climate crisis here >> https://bit.ly/3vAie46

How loan guarantees can amplify federal ‘green bank’ funds - ImpactAlpha The Community Investment Guarantee Pool, or CIGP, leverages philanthropic balance sheets to guarantee loans for small businesses, affordable housing, and climate financing in communities of low wealth.

Congratulations to Damon Burns, Fulcrum Fellow 2017-18 and CEO of Finance New Orleans, in announcing the recent launch of the Resilient New Orleans Innovation Challenge alongside Mark Chambers, vice president of partnerships at Elemental Excelerator!

This collaboration, fueled by a mutual dedication to incorporating cutting-edge climate technologies into cost-effective and sustainable housing options, welcomes entrepreneurs, community members, public agencies, and housing developers to participate in crafting eco-friendly homes tailored to New Orleans. These homes will not only meet the city's needs but also set examples for forthcoming projects.

Burns also adds, “By leveraging green financial strategies and cutting-edge technologies, the Resilient New Orleans Innovation Challenge is a significant step towards building a cleaner, greener and more vibrant future for our community.”

Applications for the Resilient New Orleans Innovation Challenge went live this past March! For more information, check out Finance New Orleans’ newsletter here >> https://bit.ly/49kysfh