W9: Community Development
🛎 Weekly Summary
Join this week for our session exploring CDFIs and how they can be used for community impact.
The session focused on Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and their role in providing fair and responsible financing to underserved communities. Practitioners from various organizations discussed their experiences and strategies in financing cooperative businesses, supporting tribal communities, and managing the unique challenges of CDFIs. The speakers also highlighted the importance of advocacy, resilience, and adaptability in the face of political and economic changes, and encouraged further engagement and resource sharing.
Week 9: Community Development and Impact Investing
What You Need to Do:
🗣️ Community Call - Starting on your Peer Projects
You can use this week's community call space to meet other Fellows and start a Peer Project with. Or if you know your project already use the time to work with your team and establish how you will use the month of April to work together.
Please be sure to check out the Peer Action April page for all the updates you'll need and helpful information to get started.
Be sure to check out our Breakout Room instructions so you can work efficiently with your group in a smaller space.
And make sure to the Miro board to add your project and find others to join your idea. https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVLeqSa9o=/
This space is part of the "Self Directed Fun" series we've hosted. Where you and your cohort direct the conversation and learning. We'll have some directions for you to open and close breakout rooms and some content for you to review, and these spaces are completely there for you to connect and learn together.
Here are the details about the month ahead:
Peer Action April!Recap - During the Fellowship Community Call #8 - Self-Directed Hangout #4, participants engaged in discussions centered around project organization, exploring diverse project ideas on the Miro board, and navigating technical challenges. Stephen introduced the self-directed nature of the session and connected members for future collaborations, while Sally and Joanna facilitated discussions on project formation and clarified group dynamics. Participants expressed interests in various initiatives, including ESG valuation, DAFs/CDFIs, and regional challenges like food security. The meeting concluded with an agreement to formalize new project groups and actionable items assigned to individuals for follow-up, ensuring a pathway for collaboration and project development in the coming weeks.
🪛 Skill Session - Investing in Communities
Join us for an overview of the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) industry in the U.S. The nearly 1,400 CDFIs are lenders that provide fair, responsible financing and services to rural, urban, Native, and other communities that mainstream finance does not traditionally reach. In addition to the big picture of what CDFIs are and the unique role they play in the U.S. financial ecosystem, we'll get specific about the work of couple of CDFIs in the northeast:
Cooperative Fund of the Northeast, a community loan fund that supports cooperative businesses, housing, and grocery stores.
Opportunity Finance Network, the leading national network of CDFIs and a financial intermediary. OFN increases capital flow, strengthens CDFIs, and amplifies the voice of the CDFI
Four Directions Development Corporation, Native CDFI in Maine serving the Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot — through education and investment
More About the Speakers
Micha Josephy, Executive Director, Cooperative Fund of the Northeast
As Executive Director, Micha is responsible for executive leadership, program development, capitalization, and operations. He first joined CFNE in 2010 as a Program Manager, helping raise grant and loan capital, managing compliance reporting, and new program development. Micha first joined the co-op movement as an Oberlin Student Cooperative Association member and later coordinated the development of Boston Community Cooperative’s first housing co-op. He has a background in nonprofit financial management and community organizing, and holds a BA in environmental studies from Oberlin College and an MS in Community Economic Development from Southern New Hampshire University. He has also participated in the Opportunity Finance Network’s leadership training program.
Josie Shagwert, Capitalization Manager, Cooperative Fund of the Northeast
In her role as Capitalization Manager Josie supports CFNE’s investor and donor management, cultivation, and relations as well as resource mobilization, including investments, charitable donations, and grants. For over 20 years Josie has specialized in strengthening the operational and financial capacity of organizations with a social, economic, or racial justice mission. Her previous roles include Director of Development for an environmental justice organization in Worcester, MA, and Executive Director for a worker and immigrant justice organization in Central Falls, RI. In 2019 she returned to the U.S. after five years in the Middle East serving as Director of Development for a Syrian-led peace building and women’s empowerment organization.
Sarah Woog, Director of Resource Development, Four Directions Development Corporation
The mission of Four Directions Development Corporation is to improve the social and economic conditions of the Native American tribes in Maine — the Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot — through education and investment in affordable housing, tribal business ventures, and Native entrepreneurship. Team Page.
Sarah Woog is the Director of Resource Development at Four Directions Development Corporation. Four Directions’ mission is to improve the social and economic conditions of the Native American tribes in Maine- the Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot- through education and investment in affordable housing, tribal business ventures, and Native entrepreneurship. Sarah came to Four Directions from a career in education, serving primarily in Wabanaki communities in Maine. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and American Studies from Trinity College in Hartford, CT, and a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from the University of Maine at Orono. She is certified by the Maine Department of Education as a Math Teacher (7-12) and Building Administrator (K-12). She is also certified by the National Center on Education and the Economy as a Leadership Development Facilitator. Sarah lives in Bangor, Maine, with her 13-year-old daughter Madisyn and their dog Sherman. Madisyn, Sherman and enjoy walks around Bangor, the beach in the summer, and sharing their home with family and friends.
Sindhu Lakshmanan - OFN
Sindhu has been with OFN since 2021. She started on OFN’s Investment & Portfolio Management team, underwriting & managing loans to OFN member CDFIs before transitioning to lead OFN’s Development Services in 2023. Prior to OFN, she led originations and portfolio management at Living Cities, a collaborative of philanthropic and financial institutions, sourcing, underwriting, and managing $80MM in impact investments to leverage over an additional $1BN in private and public investment. Sindhu also led Living Cities’ Pay for Success work, structuring some of the nation’s earliest Social Impact Bonds. She has previously worked at The Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program and as a high school English Language Arts teacher for Detroit Public Schools via Teach for America. Sindhu was a recipient of the 2019 Social Responsible Investing (SRI) Conference & Community’s 30 Under 30 Award and holds an MPP from Georgetown University as well as a BA in Political Science from NYU.
Join the breakout rooms to meet our speakers and chat further. Thank you for participating in these and the opportunity to connect with our speakers.
🪛 Skill Session - XXX
See below for the details and relevant resources for this skill session:
📹
🧠 Impact Investing Knowledge
What are CDFIs? Resource from the Opportunity Finance Network
Recommended Resources from the Opportunity Finance Network
Recommended Readings:
🧰 Additional Learning Resources
Biodiversity Finance - UNDP
Do you need to make a stronger business case for biodiversity conservation? Do you want to become more skilled at developing financially sound and politically feasible solutions to conservation and development challenges? Do you need to know how to develop an effective biodiversity finance plan? Do you want access to more tools to assess the policy, institutional, and economic context for biodiversity finance, and to conduct a financial needs assessment to achieve a country’s biodiversity goals? We are offering a FREE self-paced course on Biodiversity Finance.
https://www.learningfornature.org/en/courses/biodiversity-finance/
Languages: English, French, Spanish, Russian
Course type: Self-paced module
Estimated effort: 14 hours/all course requirements
The course will cover the following topics:
Introduction to biodiversity and sustainable development
Introduction to biodiversity finance
Biodiversity finance policy and institutional review
Biodiversity expenditure review
Biodiversity financial needs assessment
Biodiversity finance plan
Implementing the biodiversity finance plan
📅 Related sessions & offerings
Additional opportunities and events will be added here for you to check out:
Quick Links:
📹 Week 9 Recordings & Resources
Community Call 8: XX
📹 Watch Here
📓 Session Slides
🙆♂️ Speaker's Bio - Leon Seefled
Read Bioregional Financial Facilities eBook
Resources from our past session with Leon - Google Drive
Reading Materials
Read or scan the book Bioregional Financing Facilities
Browse Dark Matter Labs website and some of our work to get a feel
Browse Bioregional Weaving Labs website and familiarise yourself with bioregionalism and weaving
Read or scan this article by Ella Hubbard
Check out their recent white paper on develop and Seeding New Capital Accelerators. Accelerating the field of System Financing - Invitation to Co-found: the Nex-Gen Allocators of Capital
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