The nonprofit sector is facing its biggest challenge yet responding to a confluence of issues, including the pandemic, social justice, political unrest, and an economy on the brink of recession, hitting underserved communities they serve disproportionately. Most small businesses that began in and have become an integral part of their community face similar challenges. Having to close for periods, with reduced access to capital and needing to adapt to the ongoing crisis, small businesses, like their nonprofit counterparts, cannot merely “go online” or shift their operations in other ways that may allow them to survive. I believe in the community-based …

This last year, 2020, spoke a story about an ever-changing world that can never be taken for granted. RDF’s swift reaction to the worldwide health, economic, and social crisis proved not to be an exception. Last year RDF went through dynamic organization-wide innovations that allowed our team to better pursue our mission of creating financing solutions to create opportunities for low-income and Latino communities around the country. Innovations fit to face the needs of this ever-changing world. One amazing example of these innovations I reference was the COVID-19 Hope Fund, a continuation of our Small Business Initiative that focuses on …

As Community Development practitioners, we see first-hand how the inequities in housing, health, and education impact the communities we serve. The COVID-19 public health crisis has exposed these inequities and shed much-needed light on the disproportionate impacts for the poor and communities of color. According to recent articles by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Affairs, people of color are: at an increased risk for serious illness if they contract COVID-19 due to higher rates of underlying health conditions, such as diabetes, asthma, hypertension, and obesity compared to Whites; more likely to be uninsured and to lack a regular provider …

As a community development financial institution, we deeply value the relationships that we build with our borrowers.  To that end, RDF has staff in a variety of markets, who lead our efforts in identifying local community needs and forming relationships with local borrowers, including UnidosUS affiliates. Our East Coast team has established relationships with developers of affordable housing, charter school facilities, and many other local organizations. Brian Champeau, Director, East Coast Lending   Brian joined RDF in 2004, and lives in Montclair, New Jersey.  He graduated from New York University with an MBA.  Brian is the lead on sourcing and structuring transactions, and he oversees all East Coast Lending activity. He produced development deals with L&M …

Working on the Education Finance Team, I often hear the reoccurring question “Where do we start?” This question always stops me in my tracks because every charter schools’ story begins differently.  Many people will answer “it depends,” but I believe there is a simpler answer than that. Yes, student enrollment, sound financial management, and a rigorous academic program responsive to the community’s needs are all important elements to a successful start-up school; however, when I speak with schools for the first time, I am listening to see if they have the “secret sauce”. There are often undiscussed considerations we at …

It has been three years since Raza Development Fund launched its Pacific Northwest Regional “PNWR” Office located in Seattle, WA. As a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution “CDFI”, RDF provides specialty financing solutions benefiting low-income, Latino families and children throughout the United States. Since the first enacted charter school legislation was passed in Washington State, RDF has been one of the only CDFIs in the nation willing to provide facility financing for charter schools in state, and presently, the only CDFI doing so. As a national CDFI leader that has been supporting quality school choice options for over two decades, …

In the United States, we have freedom of speech guaranteed by our constitution, which allows us to express ourselves freely without the fear of retaliation. How are we able to exercise this right if we continuously get ridiculed for expressing our personal beliefs?     With the upcoming presidential election just around the corner, an outburst of judgment has taken over. People have forgotten we have rights that allow us to believe what we choose to and say what we please. Now, of course, what is said should be respectful. Still, somebody should not be hated for standing for what they believe or think.   When an individual …

Getting ready to go back to school has always been a thrilling experience. Getting all the school supplies needed, meeting new teachers, meeting new students, and the first day of school. It’s like starting a new chapter in your life. The excitement and the nerves are so surreal. Little did we know the school year of 2020-21 would be a year to remember for other reasons. At the beginning of all this madness, I was all for doing online school, until I started. The feeling of being overwhelmed has taken over in the short amount of time school has begun. …