Annie Donovan,
President & CEO
President’s Letter
In August of 2022, I was humbled and delighted to be welcomed with open arms as the next President & CEO of Raza Development Fund.
It is an honor to be entrusted with the legacy of Tommy Espinoza. He believed deeply in the power of community and built a high performing CDFI to advance Latino and other under resourced communities.
In November of 2022, we celebrated the remarkable legacy of RDF, paying tribute to our co-Founders Raul Yzaguirre, Tommy Espinoza, Mark Van Brunt, and outgoing members of the Board of Directors. These leaders helped turn a small loan fund, the Hope Fund, into the largest Latino-serving CDFI in the country.
I proudly stand on their shoulders to continue to grow the impact and scale of RDF.
This Annual Report reflects that even in a year of leadership transition, RDF delivered results for communities in the form of financing for high quality education, health care, affordable housing and entrepreneurship. We launched the Growing Diverse Housing Developers J. Tommy Espinoza Fellowship. Named in Tom’s honor, and with generous funding from the Wells Fargo Foundation, the fellowship invests in the growth of Latino and Black led housing developers, creating a more inclusive housing ecosystem.
I am eager to work closely with UnidosUS, its affiliates, and our RDF partners and investors to advance economic opportunity for Latino and other under resourced communities. Our team is ready for the next level of growth, and I’m excited to work with them to unleash the power, potential and promise of Latino and other under-resourced communities across the United States.
Annie Donovan, President & CEO
OVERVIEW
It starts with a Home.
Access to affordable housing is the key to reducing intergenerational poverty and increasing economic mobility. Economists have unequivocally found that children living in stable, affordable homes are more likely to thrive in school and have greater opportunities to learn inside and outside the classroom. In his testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, Raj Chetty, Professor of Economics at Harvard University, stated “we must continue to deploy our resources towards increasing options for low- and middle- income families living in areas currently offering high levels of opportunity, and simultaneously to maintain and expand high-quality housing options and community development efforts in areas that currently offer lower levels of opportunity.” Research shows that access to affordable and attainable housing has a direct correlation with other social outcomes including healthcare, education, and economic mobility.
Fiscal Year 2022 was a year of innovation and groundbreaking for RDF’s strategic focus on affordable housing. We received two significant grant awards that allowed our team to think more deeply about how we could advance housing affordability for Latino and low-income communities in more impactful ways. The Capital Magnet Fund Award, from the U.S. Treasury’s CDFI will allow us to reach families with a deeper level of Area Median Income thereby increasing affordability. A grant from Wells Fargo enabled us to launched the Growing Diverse Housing Developers J. Tommy Espinoza Fellowship to empower and strengthen affordable housing developers of color that are revitalizing neighborhoods in low-income communities.
By investing in developers of color, RDF is not only ensuring an increase in supply of attainable units but also building capacity of leaders in real estate development that in turn are rebuilding neighborhoods, creating access to resources in addition to housing.
In addition to our focus on affordable housing, in 2022, RDF provided financing to entities across 13 states and Puerto Rico in pursuit of bettering social drivers of health for Latino and underserved communities. RDF financed projects that created quality education for 1,479 students, spearheaded economic mobility for 66 small business owners of color, financed access to quality healthcare to facilities that provide annual care for 22,000 patients, helped construct or preserve 2,569 affordable units of housing, financed social services organizations that serve 14,570 individuals annually, and helped create 196 jobs and maintain 322 jobs through our New Market Tax Credit Program.
Explore more of RDF’s impactful journey through 2022.
COMMUNITY IMPACT BY INVESTMENT AREAS
Small Business:
Small Business Transactions
Total Loan Amount
Total Leveraged
- TOTAL LOAN AMOUNT
- TOTAL LEVERAGED
Affordable Housing:
Total housing units
Total Loan Amount
Total Leveraged
- TOTAL LOAN AMOUNT
- TOTAL LEVERAGED
Healthcare:
Patients served
Total Loan Amount
Total Leveraged
- TOTAL LOAN AMOUNT
- TOTAL LEVERAGED
Social Services:
Individuals impacted
Total Loan Amount
Total Leveraged
- TOTAL LOAN AMOUNT
- TOTAL LEVERAGED
Education:
Students served
Total Loan Amount
Total Leveraged
- TOTAL LOAN AMOUNT
- TOTAL LEVERAGED
FISCAL YEAR 2022 TOTAL:
Total Loan Amount
Total Leveraged
IMPACT DATA HIGHLIGHTS
FY22 Data:
Total Transactions Closed
Total Loan Amount
FY22 Growing Diverse Housing Developers (GDHD):
Total Transactions
Total Grant Amount
FY22 New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC):
Total Transactions
Total Loan Amount
FISCAL YEAR 2022 IMPACT:
Jobs Created
Jobs Maintained
Individuals Served
Students Served
Patients Served
"I deeply believe that if we remove the barriers that prevent the Latino community from reaching its full potential, we will have a transformative and positive impact that will benefit everyone."
Omar Carrera
CEO of Canal Alliance
CASE STUDIES
EDUCATION
Kenilworth Science and Technology Charter School
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Construction & Mini Perm Loan
Community Impact:
Over 750 Low-Income Students Served Annually
Raza Development Fund collaborated with Woodforest National Bank to create an exclusive lending program focused on bridge financing of new or expanding facilities for existing charter school operators within Woodforest’s 17 state footprint. Learn more about this collaboration on the RDF Blog.
The Kenilworth Science and Technology Charter School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana was the first to participate in this joint financing program with a $5.4 M loan.
Kenilworth is a well-established charter school operator serving a primarily low-income minority student population of 6th – 8th graders. It currently serves 381 students. However, Kenilworth is expanding its community reach and building on its proven educational model to serve 756 K-8 grade students. In a partnership with Building Hope Real Estate, and thanks to RDF and Woodforest financing, the school is building a new facility to accommodate this growth. The brand-new state-of-the-art facility will open for the 2023-2024 school year.
HOUSING
Comité de Bien Estar
*UnidosUS Affiliate & a Growing Diverse Housing Developers J. Tommy Espinoza Fellow*
San Luis, AZ
RE Secured Site Development Loan
Community Impact:
184 Units of Affordable / Attainable Housing
Raza Development Fund values longstanding relationships with its clients and partners. Comité de Bien Estar, Inc, was one of RDF’s first clients and is currently a fellow of RDF’s inaugural Growing Diverse Housing Developers J. Tommy Espinoza Fellowship.
Comité de Bien Estar is a UnidosUS Affiliate non-profit founded by farm workers in 1977, with a mission to enhance the economic and social well-being of its community through its cooperative, land and housing development model, related lending, and social services. This seasoned non-profit responds to the local community needs in the border town of San Luis, Arizona providing direct support Latino and immigrant families.
Through RDF’s Affiliate Support Program, RDF provided $7,550,000 in financing to support the development of Comité’s latest subdivision, Bienestar Estates 12. This project will include 183-units of affordable / attainable housing, including 34-lots specifically reserved for low-income families utilizing USDA’s Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity program.
COMMUNITY FACILITIES/HEALTHCARE
Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic
Portland, Oregon
New Markets Tax Credit
Community Impact:
An additional 12,850 patients to be served annually
Raza Development Fund provided $13.5MM New Markets Tax Credit allocation to Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic (YVFWC), a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), for the construction of a new 36,000 sq ft facility in Portland, Oregon. The project will serve as a new medical and dental clinic providing a full range of primary and specialty healthcare services with 32 exam rooms and 9 dental chairs/suites.
This community-based non-profit provides affordable, accessible high-quality primary care services in Eastern Washington and Northern Oregon to improve the quality of life for farm workers, the underserved and others as they work to strengthen the health of their communities. Currently, 75% of a total of 178,357 unique patients seen annually by YVFWC’s are either uninsured or covered by Medicaid.
With the new facility, YVFWC seeks to expand its services to low-income residents and increase access to quality care, anticipating to serve an additional 12,850 patients. The clinic will also create over 100 new jobs.
SMALL BUSINESS/SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Unión Pochteca, LLC.,
Phoenix, AZ
Term Loan
Community Impact:
35 local small businesses
Unión Pochteca, LLC., is a local co-op of 35, all Latino food truck vendors in operation for well over 20 years in Phoenix. It was formed in 2000 under the leadership of Salvador Reza, a grassroots organizer and community activist. Unión Pochteca enables these street vendors to operate by managing the City of Phoenix’s vendor ordinances under one entity.
Raza Development Fund provided $420,000 in term loan financing to Unión Pochteca to finalize capital improvements with needed electrical repairs. This infrastructure is critical to ensuring the co-op can continue to provide a safe and legal space for the operations of the co-ops 35 businesses.
Growing Diverse Housing Developers:
Our 1st J. Tommy Espinoza Fellowship Cohort
Developing Community Health & Wellbeing
Raza Development Fund strives to create better opportunities for Latino and underserved communities. To us, this means not only economically but an overall quality of life.
That’s why we prioritize our investments in housing.
We know access to affordable housing is critical to increasing economic stability and mobility.
But it takes more than quick solutions. We believe it’s imperative to connect and listen to the community to fully understand its needs.
We are proud to work with housing developers who represent the communities they work in and have an intimate knowledge of the space, culture and societal dynamics of the area. This way, together, we can carefully consider where our investments will have the most impact, and how the project can function most effectively to transform neighborhoods.
“We wanted to make sure that we were going to focus on transforming our communities for the better. … A lot of times gentrification happens, they’re transformed, but it’s not always for the better of the people that live there. And being from San Antonio, this is my neighborhood, these are my people. We can get development to happen in a positive way by San Antonio people that live here.”
Julissa Carielo
DreamOn Co-Founder and GDHD Fellow.
We are incredibly grateful to have investing partners
who share our beliefs and embrace the idea of developing and strengthening their own communities from within.
Creating Growing Diverse Housing Developers
Wells Fargo knows that this means providing funding support to housing developers of color – to close disparity gaps created by historic and systemic barriers.
“We want to increase racial equity in real estate development, ultimately creating a more inclusive housing ecosystem,” said Bill Daley, vice chairman of Public Affairs at Wells Fargo. “One stark reality is that people of color are significantly underfunded and underrepresented in the real estate industry.”
As a valued partner, Wells Fargo reached out to RDF with a $10 million grant opportunity to create a program that would strengthen diverse housing developers across the country.
“It’s critical that we become leaders in the housing development world. There are not enough BIPOC leaders in the housing industry, in San Diego, in California and the country, and this opportunity really begins to open those doors for us to be able to build those leaders,” says Arnulfo Manriquez, President & CEO for MAAC and a J. Tommy Espinoza Fellow. “I think it’s important when the population that we serve is being served by leaders that represent the community.”
RDF Fellowship
We quickly connected with the Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA) to help us design a professional development program to support the growth of housing developers of color. In June 2022, we launched the J. Tommy Espinoza Fellowship, a signature component of Wells Fargo Foundation’s Growing Diverse Housing Developers program.
The fellowship is comprised of 12 developers of color, including UnidosUS affiliates and other non-profits, who are already building and preserving multifamily rental housing and for-sale development projects across the country.
Throughout the program, each fellow will complete an affordable housing project with an average assumed project size of 50 units. RDF provides funds from the Wells Fargo grant to support these projects and therefore supports the overall growth of the participant’s organizations.
“When we heard that Wells Fargo was going to provide some funding for us to be able to use to get these projects started earlier, that to us, is music to our ears, because we want to create that impact sooner,” Julissa Carielo, DreamOn Co-Founder and J. Tommy Espinoza Fellow says.
Each fellow has been paired with an RDF mentor to provide guidance and advice to support the organization’s operational growth. The fellows receive access to capital and mentoring and convene at least quarterly for learning sessions provided by RDF and the CDFA.
Our Fellows at Work
Our 12 fellows, and their respective organizations, were selected because they proved they were dedicated to listening and understanding the needs of their communities. We are excited to see the powerful impacts they will make to improve quality of life for Latino and underserved families.
Ernesto Fonseca, The Elemental Group – Phoenix, Arizona
“The representation of developers of color across the country is less than dismal. Through the GDHD fellowship, RDF is providing us with the gift and opportunity to build a real estate development company that can bring more representation of people of color and different and innovative projects to the real estate industry. I am proud to be part of this fellowship and ready to work to make a difference.” – Ernesto Fonseca, Chief Executive Officer, The Elemental Group
Palmira Ramirez, Comité de Bien Estar – San Luis, Arizona
“El compromiso de crear bienestar para nuestras familias Latinas, va más allá de solo contruir casas. Es construir casas con dignidad y un entorno que promueva oportunidades para un futuro sólido para todos. Gracias RDF y GDHD por su apoyo!” – Palmira Ramirez, Chief Financial Officer for Comite de Bien Estar.
Arnulfo Manriquez, MAAC Project – Chula Vista, California
“This Growing Diverse Housing Developers fellowship is a clear example of why they (RDF) stand out for organizations like MAAC,” shared Arnulfo Manriquez, President & CEO for MAAC.
Metropolitan Area Advisory Committee on Anti-Poverty (MAAC) helps individuals and families in San Diego create the life they want and deserve. In addition to housing development, MAAC focuses on economic development programs like electric vehicle access that provides a low-interest vehicle financing and electric ownership education to help individuals save money while protecting the environment.
Aubra Levine, Unity Council – Oakland, California
The Unity Council builds vibrant communities where everyone can work, learn, and thrive. The Unity Council created a national model for transit-oriented development in the early 2000s with the construction of Fruitvale Transit Village bringing an array of public spaces and retail storefronts adjacent to the Fruitvale BART station. Transit-oriented developments like this make it convenient for residents to enjoy living in a community with easy access to work and other necessities. The organization has since added Casa Sueños, affordable rental housing, and a Fruitvale Public Market, a small business incubator, to Fruitvale Village.
Fred Sotelo, ValCom Development – Santa Fe Springs, California
“The GDHD fellowship is providing valuable opportunities for Latino developers to be at the table and not only grow and expand our businesses but bring important value to our communities.” – Fred Sotelo, Co-Founder ValCom Development
Omar Carrera, Canal Alliance – San Rafael California
Canal Alliance advocates for an inclusive community and believes everyone has the right to achieve their dreams. In addition to affordable housing, this nonprofit provides Marin County’s immigrant community with language skills, education, legal advice, as well as career and social services to help the families they serve succeed. In doing so, Omar and the organization’s leadership champion community solutions like free admission to county parks to expand access to a beautiful environment and recreational activities.
Gregorio “Goyo” Ortiz, Casa Familiar – San Yisdro, California
Casa Familiar enhances quality of life of low-income families to create healthy and sustainable communities through affordable housing, advocacy, social services, education, arts and culture and economic development. This organization works within the fourth largest international land crossing in the world resulting in pollution from heavy vehicle traffic. To that end, Casa was the first organization to install air quality monitors in strategic areas around San Yisdro to capture data on how this port of entry is affecting the local environment and health of the community.
“It’s incredibly encouraging to be sharing with other diverse developers who have a similar goal in mind, strategies on how to improve our communities. To hear how others who started from the ground up, and experienced the growing pains that we are now, and are now on an upward trajectory is very empowering!” – Gregorio “Goyo” Ortiz, Community Development Choreographer, Casa Familiar
Justin Llata, Visionary Home Builders – Stockton, California
With a founding mission to build affordable farmworker housing, Visionary Home Builders develops structures with a family’s quality of life in mind by incorporating access to necessities like a grocery store and free daycare and early childhood learning conveniently within the housing complex.
“Exposing fellows to new ways of thinking on how to structure deals, other types of financing and programs. This new knowledge base ultimately impacts how much we can get done for our communities.” – Justin Llata, Chief Real Estate Development & Financial Officer, Visionary Home Builders
Darren Smith, Smith & Henry – Delray Beach, Florida
“What we need to do as a community, collectively is to figure out how to do more! Figure out a way to address the affordable housing crisis for our elderly and families. We must come together. This is the challenge I put before you!” – Darren Smith, Principal, Smith & Henry Affordable Group, Inc.
Jeffery Bridges, Opa-Locka CDC – Miami, Florida
“The knowledge base, access to subject-matter experts and peer relationship building opportunities provided by the GDHD fellowship are invaluable tools for advancement in housing development.” – Jeffrey Bridges, Chief Financial Officer, Opa-Locka CDC
Alyssa Flores, Madhouse Development – Austin, Texas
“For me, and for my dad who founded Madhouse, this is about families. Families deserve quality and respect. Families deserve to have the foundation of a dignified home.” – Alyssa Flores, Development Associate for Madhouse
Julissa Carielo, DreamOn Group – San Antonio, Texas
Julissa Carielo co-founded DreamOn Development Company in San Antonio to “build things that matter,” including mixed-use housing projects that also bring jobs, businesses, and services to underutilized areas.
SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORT
Latino businesses face both challenges and opportunities post pandemic. The 2022 State of Latino Entrepreneurship explains how Latino owned businesses are outpacing the growth rate of White-owned businesses and are recovering from the pandemic expanding their customer base. Contrarily, even though Latino-owned businesses are 50% more likely to request financing than White-owned businesses and that Latino businesses seeking loans from national banks have stronger business metrics than White-owned business, Latino-owned businesses still have lower approval rates for loans over $50,000.
CDFIs, including Raza Development Fund, are filling in the gap of access to low-cost flexible capital to Latino and under-resourced entrepreneurs.
RDF recently completed a 12-month program in support of Wells Fargo’s Open (OFB) for Business Grant Program. RDF’s OFB program was launched as a continuation of the Fund’s response to the COVID 19 Pandemic. Wells Fargo awarded RDF a $3.5 million award as part of its Open for Business program to support the Fund’s existing pilot approach in small business lending that was launched late in 2019.
As a result of this award, RDF was able to provide access to affordable, flexible financing to Latino and BIPOC-owned small businesses post- pandemic beyond our COVID 19 Hope Fund grants and technical assistance and PPP lending.
RDF’s OFB approach, similarly, was designed to maximize trust as a factor of success for service and product delivery needed by business owners. RDF leveraged its unique relationship to UnidosUS and their affiliate base to formally incorporate a select group of five, non-profit community-based organizations to deploy funds in their local markets – Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (Phoenix, AZ), Hacienda CDC (Portland, OR), Enterprising Latinas (Tampa, FL), Maestro Entrepreneurship Center (San Antonio, TX), and Northeast Ohio Hispanic Center for Economic Development (Cleveland, OH).
Together, we provided culturally competent direct lending services by applying an alternative approach to small business credit.
FINANCIALS
RDF has a distinguished Board of Directors comprised of national leaders and experts in their respective fields, dedicated to supporting and advancing their communities throughout the U.S.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
EXECUTIVE LEARDERSHIP
Management Team
DEPARTMENT DIRECTORS
INVESTORS
Founding Investors
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Bank of America
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Citi Foundation
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State Farm Insurance Companies
Investing Lending Partners
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Alliance Bank
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Ally Bank
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BBVA Compass
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Charles Schwab
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Charter Communications
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Federal Financing Bank (CDFI Bond Guarantee Program)
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Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco
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JP Morgan Chase
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Northern Trust
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PNC Bank
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U.S. Bank
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Wells Fargo
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Woodforest Bank
Bondholders-Minimum $200K
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Health Care Service Corporation – Asset Management
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One Oak Capital Management
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Impax Asset Management
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Parkway Advisors
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Bluefin Trading
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STI Investment Associates
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Anico Investments
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Catholic Order of Foresters
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MTR Municipal Strategies
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Wells Capital Management
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Montecito Bank and Trust
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Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company of Michigan
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American National Registered Investment Advisor
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Conning Asset Management
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Catholic Ladies of Columbia
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Wellington Management Company
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BMO Asset Management
