February always feels too short to me, erratic weather aside. There’s a renewed urgency leading up to spring, especially poignant with Lunar New Year and Black History Month.
I was honored to join The Brookings Institution for a panel discussion on the state of Black businesses in America in partnership with the Path to 15|55 initiative. The panel amplified a new Brookings report taking a regional lens on Black business ecosystems. Catch the recap here.
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Though our team continues to expand across the country, we are still passionate about our home base of San Diego and our flagship fund Advance. We recently launched the Advance Advisory Committee with 10 regional business owners and community leaders. They are enthusiastic about helping us flow capital to underserved and overlooked communities and create more inclusive economic opportunity. Meet them here!
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Also rooted in place, we’re thrilled to share Child Care Next Door, a short video that we produced with support from the National Children’s Facilities Network about the importance of family child care homes. The dire lack of available child care in this country requires all the tools in the proverbial toolbox. Check out our innovative, inclusive approach of investing in homes, and let us know what you think!
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Lastly, this little month of February brought a big change as our founding Chief Financial Officer Nancy A. O’Leary rides off into her well-deserved retirement. We are so fortunate that Nancy helped us build an incredible back office—and trained 3+ teammates to follow in her footsteps. Unlike many CFO stereotypes, Nancy embodied our core value of humor, and I’m infinitely grateful for it and for her.
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Be well and take care of one another,
Lauren Grattan
Co-founder & Chief Community Officer
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Check the jobs page and follow us on social media for the latest openings.
Help us spread the word! 📢
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📢 We're Seeking a WordPress Expert
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We welcome assistance in making sure our website is in great shape for our visitors! Scope of work includes but is not limited to website accessibility, maintenance on our site in Divi theme, and troubleshooting as needed.
Please share or fill out this form. We are accepting bids through Friday, March 11.
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Do you know any tenacious small businesses and nonprofits that are doing great things but need capital?
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We’ve got good news for you: As a way to thank the community champions who introduce us to impact-driven organizations that we haven’t met yet, we want to share not only our gratitude but also a referral bonus of $250 (upon disbursement of capital to the referred borrower).
If this sounds like you or someone you know, become a champion and reach out to us!
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We invest in impactful small businesses and nonprofits, including—but not limited to—those supporting immigrants, refugees, and survivors of trafficking, businesses transitioning to an employee-ownership model, and entities advancing regenerative agriculture.
- Options for loans, revenue-based financing, or equity
- Islamic financing available
- Flexible payment schedules
- No personal credit scores required
- No personal guarantees required
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