CNote | Impact Investing
Category: Impact Investing
CNote
posted on
April 7, 2026
Building a Scalable Due Diligence Framework for Corporate Deposits
Corporate treasurers are facing a new level of scrutiny over how institutional cash is managed. In the wake of recent instability, treasury teams are expected to demonstrate not just where funds are held, but how counterparty risk is assessed and governed. Exposure limits, institutional health, and governance controls – once reviewed periodically are now under…
Tamra Thetford
posted on
March 26, 2026
Opening Doors to Growth, Financial Confidence, and Community Opportunity through the Amigo Lounge
In communities across Southern California, there is immense potential waiting to be unlocked among young adults finishing their education, parents striving to build stability for their families, and job seekers laying the foundation for long term economic success. Too often, individuals face barriers not because of a lack of motivation but because of limited access…
Tamra Thetford
posted on
February 19, 2026
Why Small Mortgages Matter for Rural Families
In rural communities, the path to affordable homeownership is often blocked by systemic gaps in mortgage finance. Sylvia Rodriguez, a social studies teacher, and her mother, Thelma Saenz, a retiree, experienced these barriers firsthand. Living in Freer, Texas, a town of 2,500 residents in Duval County, Thelma could not afford to live on her own…
Tamra Thetford
posted on
February 4, 2026
Alice’s Place: Investing in Care Economy Leaders
When Patricia Duncan walked into American Pride Bank years ago, she had been turned away by several other lenders. As a female entrepreneur in Macon, Georgia, trying to expand into adult day care services, she couldn’t find anyone who believed in her vision—until she met American Pride banker Rolando Dixon. That initial belief transformed Patricia’s…
Tristan Dyson
posted on
January 27, 2026
Thought Leadership, Impact Investing
Diversification Without Disruption: The Treasury Operating Model Shift Happening Quietly in 2026
As corporate treasury teams navigate the complexities of 2026, a significant shift is occurring in how organizations manage liquidity. While previous years focused on consolidating banking relationships for the sake of simplicity, modern treasury leaders are now prioritizing diversification without disruption. This approach allows for a broader distribution of capital without increasing the administrative burden…
Tamra Thetford
posted on
January 22, 2026
Advancing Our Impact: How CNote Has Deepened Our Understanding of Investor Contribution
When CNote first engaged with Impact Frontiers’ Investor Contribution Pilot program in 2025, we were exploring a crucial but often overlooked aspect of impact investing: How do we know our investments create change that wouldn’t have happened otherwise? Today, I’m excited to share how that initial exploration has evolved into a comprehensive framework that now…
Tristan Dyson
posted on
January 20, 2026
Stability in the Shift: Why Community Banking can be the Anchor for Corporate Treasury
In a financial landscape where headlines often highlight market volatility, corporate treasurers are increasingly focused on the core fundamentals of capital preservation and security. While size is often equated with safety, stability is more often a product of discipline, transparency, and local integration. At CNote, we work with a vetted network of community-driven financial institutions,…
Tamra Thetford
posted on
January 8, 2026
Beyond the Balance Sheet: How Bespoke Group Redefines Impact for its Clients
Research from McKinsey & Company points to historic wealth shifts underway with important implications for impact investors and the underserved communities they support. By 2030, U.S. women are expected to control much of the $30 trillion in Baby Boomer financial assets, recasting who makes wealth decisions and how those decisions are made. As this wealth…
Tristan Dyson
posted on
December 16, 2025
A Safer Cash Play: How Community Banks Diversify, Secure & Protect Corporate Cash
When markets turn volatile, we’ve seen a similar cash management playbook: Pull back.Consolidate cash.Lean harder on the biggest banks. It feels like the responsible thing to do. Big logos, long histories, familiar names, all of it signals “safe” when the headlines are noisy. At the same time, anything labelled impact often gets mentally filed under…
Tamra Thetford
posted on
December 11, 2025
Evolving Capital for an Evolving Field: Why CDFIs Are the Next Frontier for Impact Investing
The community development finance field is moving into a pivotal new chapter. Over the past decade, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) have grown dramatically in scale and sophistication. Once largely small, niche lenders operating on razor-thin margins, many CDFIs today manage nine-figure balance sheets, deploy capital with disciplined underwriting, and report impact outcomes with increasing…