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Where finance meets impact.
How Gloria Dickerson is Inspiring the Mississippi Delta Community To Make Their Dreams a Reality
Gloria Dickerson wants to change the way people think. It’s no easy task, particularly when it comes to encouraging low-income communities to dream bigger than the world they know. However, Gloria Dickerson is no stranger to adversity. Gloria was born into an impoverished family of sharecroppers in Drew, Mississippi. She was one of 13 children,…
Change Makers Interview: Janine Firpo
Janine Firpo is an author and speaker who spent more than 20 years in executive roles at Hewlett-Packard, the World Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and more. She is a values-aligned investor in companies that make the world a better place and is passionate about teaching women to learn how to invest their…
5 Crucial Differences Between CDFIs and Traditional Banks
There are many American communities that are underserved by the traditional banking industry. Low-income and minority communities typically experience the most lack of access to quality financial products and services. According to a 2018 FDIC survey, 22 percent of households are underbanked or unbanked. This means that these individuals have no formal relationship with a…
Change Makers Interview: Deborah Frieze
Deborah Frieze is an author, activist, and serial entrepreneur committed to the redistribution of wealth and reparations through finance. In 2001, Deborah left her job as a high-tech executive disillusioned by a corporate culture that cared more about short-term results than community. She became the co-president of The Berkana Institute, a nonprofit that strives to…
How Vanessa Silva – Culinary Artistas, is Recreating Her Recipe For Success During a Global Pandemic
Vanessa Silva has always been comfortable in the kitchen. As an introverted child growing up in Brazil, food was how she preferred to communicate. Cooking became Vanessa’s love language, and by the time she was 10 years old, she was quite fluent in that love language, preparing special dishes for her parents’ dinner guests and…
Meet Dr. Nola Veazie, the Entrepreneuring Veteran Who’s Growing Her Business – V-solutions consulting, around Mental Health and Addiction
Nola Veazie grew up in Panama with the belief that she could do anything she set her mind to. Nola’s mother, who raised her children on her own, encouraged all of her children to dream big; however, when Nola was 16, she realized that the opportunities she wanted for herself didn’t exist in her home…
Meet Christine Uwimbabazi, The Entrepreneuring Immigrant Behind The Wheel of Prime Care Transportation
When Christine Uwimbabazi came to the United States from her home country of Rwanda in 2000, she didn’t plan to open a small business. Instead, she came for college. Christine enrolled at LaRoche University, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Six years later, she married Reverien Mfizi, one of her classmates. The two had gone to the same…
How a PPP Loan From a Low-Income Designated Credit Union Gave This Bay Area Nonprofit The Promise of a Brighter Tomorrow
Barbara McCullough knows a thing or two about nonprofit management. She’s been the CEO at Brighter Beginnings, a nonprofit created in 1984 to respond to the needs of families in resource-poor neighborhoods across Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, for nearly 24 years. With that level of experience comes the understanding that government funding is anything…
Why CDFIs Often Create Better Lending Outcomes for Small Businesses
Small businesses that need financing often find themselves at a crossroads: apply for a traditional bank loan that’s difficult to get but has lower-interest rates or an online loan that’s quickly approved but can end up being inordinately more expensive in the long run. But some business owners don’t realize that there’s an additional option:…
Ebony Harris, The Entrepreneur Putting Children — And Parents — In Good Hands
Ebony Harris has a special way with children — it’s a gift. She thought about pursuing a career as a pediatric nurse, but that didn’t appeal to her entrepreneurial spirit. Instead, in 2015, set her sights on opening a childcare center, where she could educate, support, and influence kids. Her and her husband, John, had…