The African American Alliance of CDFI CEOs (The “Alliance”) announced today that it has received a two-year $500,000 grant from Capital One to support Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) within its membership that are led by women of color. The funds will support the Alliance’s capacity building and mentorship training programs for its women-led initiative that works to address the racial capital gap that continues to plague the balance sheets of Black-Led CDFIs and the communities they serve.
The Alliance’s women-led initiative addresses the unique capacity building needs of Black women-led CDFIs including synergized technology infrastructure, access to operating capital, executive-level professional development, and strategy exchange. The initiative seeks to strengthen those CDFIs by increasing their capacity to provide technical assistance to clients, hire and train staff to expand outreach and services, have sufficient loan loss reserves, and improve technology to facilitate all processes.
“We’re grateful for the generous support of Capital One for our women-led initiative,” said Lenwood V. Long, Sr., President & CEO of the Alliance. “We want to empower women-led CDFIs within our membership to build the capacity of their organizations and increase capitalization and wealth within their communities. By expanding the women-led initiative with this grant, we’re creating an ecosystem for women-led CDFIs to access support that will lay the groundwork for their success.”
The Alliance is a membership-driven intermediary organization that aims to: build the capacity of member organizations; build bridges to economic stability, well-being, and wealth for Black individuals, families, and communities; and build power in Black communities by challenging and influencing financial sectors to operate more equitably.
“I am excited by our new partnership with The Alliance,” said head of Community Impact and Investment, Kerone Vatel. “Black women-led CDFIs have the trust and knowledge of the community to create transformational change.”
The Alliance is the only organization leveraging Black CDFI CEOs’ decades of expertise, relationships, and intellectual capital to change the odds and the outcomes for Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color (BIPOC) in underserved communities
To learn more about the Alliance, please visit https://aaacdfi.org.
About African American Alliance of CDFI CEOs
The African American Alliance of CDFI CEOs (The Alliance) is a coalition of 56 CEOs of Black-led Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), which include loan funds, credit unions, venture capital firms, and non-profit developers. Since 2018, The Alliance has represented all 50 states and the District of Columbia. As a result, members are uniquely positioned to address issues related to housing and access to capital for African American populations and communities. Learn more about the Alliance and initiatives at www.aaacdfi.org.
About Capital One
Capital One Financial Corporation is headquartered in McLean, Virginia. Its subsidiaries, Capital One, N.A. and Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., offer a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients. We apply the same principles of innovation, collaboration and empowerment in our commitment to our communities across the country that we do in our business. We recognize that helping to build strong and healthy communities – good places to work, good places to do business and good places to raise families – benefits us all and we are proud to support this and other community initiatives.
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