2009 marked an amazing achievement in a journey to serve Hispanic and low income families - the 10th Anniversary of Raza Development Fund. In 1998, the National Council of La Raza was looking to set up a stronger community development model to support its Affiliates in developing projects which impacted Hispanic families; so it created Partnerships of Hope (The Hope Fund). As a result of this effort, Raza Development Fund was established in 1999 as a lending organization specifically for community development, becoming the first national Hispanic Community Development Financial Institution certified by the U.S. Treasury.

These 10 years of investing in the Hispanic community and our country mean that RDF, in a small way, shares in the education of children in charter schools, a family enjoying a meal in their affordable home, a grandparent being provided health care or a baby receiving pediatric health care in a state-of-the-art health center.

In many ways, the RDF journey also reflects the Hispanic journey - spanning over two hundred years of blood, sweat, tears and joy of building up our great country for their families. We now carry out this tradition of building up our country as we move forward into the next decade, investing capital, providing financial solutions for community development, and partnering with organizations serving Hispanic families. RDF is committed to growing a strong financial institution and investing in the Hispanic community with the spirit of “loving our neighbor as ourselves”, especially in these difficult economic times.

Today RDF is over $100 million in total assets, it ranks top 5% of all CDFIs in capitalization and annual production; it has provided capital to over 125 Latino serving entities, which have received technical assistance and loans in excess of $120 million that in-turn have leveraged more than $680 million in private capital for projects serving low income families and individuals.