As we celebrated our ninth birthday, we paused to appreciate both our journey and the vibrant community we’ve built together. Here are two events = opportunities to connect with community. Join us!
Letters from Lauren: April 2025
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All posts by Wilda Wong
Wilda is the senior manager of marketing & communications at Mission Driven Finance. When not talking about impact investing, she enjoys attending film festivals (virtually + in person) and tasting creative ice cream and gelato flavor combinations. Learn more about Wilda here.
Investing in the Care Economy, May 15, 2025
Care isn’t just a social necessity that touches all of us at some point in our lives—it’s a massive investment opportunity. Join us as we unpack the state of the care economy and investment opportunities reshaping how we think about care, capital, and community impact.
Trading at the Bay, April 30, 2025
Join us on Wednesday, April 30, at the Intertribal Friendship House in Oakland, CA, for a day of connection and knowledge sharing. The day includes: ✨ Direct access to capital providers ✨ How to get the right type of funding for your business ✨ Connecting with other Native entrepreneurs over breakfast and lunch (catered by Wahpepah’s Kitchen).
Where to find the MDF team this 2025 spring conference season
Many of our team are on the spring conference circuit. If you see us, be sure to say hi!
Mission Driven Finance selected as an ImpactAssets 50™ 2025 Manager
For the sixth year in a row, Mission Driven Finance is selected for the ImpactAssets IA 50 list, a list of private debt and equity impact investing fund managers representing a broad range of geographies and impact areas of focus.
Milken Institute 2025 Finance Forum
Mission Driven Finance® Co-founder and Chief Community Officer Lauren Grattan spoke on a panel at the Milken Institute 2025 Finance Forum with Samantha Berg (Next Street), Kim Folsom (Founders First Capital Partners), and Shaolee Sen (JPMorganChase)—moderated by Troy Duffie—about meeting small business owners where they are at, providing right-sized support at the right time.
Anthem Blue Cross Foundation Inaugural Impact Investment to Benefit California Schools and Students
Anthem Blue Cross Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Anthem Blue Cross of California, announced a $300,000 inaugural impact investment loan to Burlingame-based Psyched Services. Facilitated by impact asset manager, Mission Driven Finance, this funding will support Psyched Services as the organization works to provide vital mental health services to 380 schools in California, directly benefiting more than 3,200 children and families across the Golden State.
Partnership results in first deal for Indigenous Futures Fund and Cheyenne and Arapaho CDC
The Indigenous Futures Fund—part of the Initiative for Inclusive Entrepreneurship (IIE)—and the Cheyenne and Arapaho Community Development Corporation (CACDC)—a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) serving Native entrepreneurs—partnered on a first deal for both. Both entities, launched in 2024, disbursed capital to Commercial Furniture Refinishers, a small business owned by Cheyenne and Arapaho citizen Marshall Franklin.
Unlocking Tribal economic growth: Sara Barbour and Lauren Grattan on how the Initiative for Inclusive Entrepreneurship is supporting self-determination
In this conversation between Sara Barbour, the executive director of The Alliance CDFI—a Native community development financial institution chartered under the Yurok Tribe—and Lauren Grattan, the co-founder and chief community officer of Mission Driven Finance®, we explore how Tribal SSBCI funds and the Indigenous Futures Fund are unlocking opportunities in Native communities.
Letters from Lauren: December 2024
Mission Driven Finance is entering a new era—we are at an exciting inflection point on the path to mobilizing $1 billion of assets into community and cannot wait to fill you in with more details in the new year.
Care Access Real Estate® celebrates 20 homes for child care providers
Care Access Real Estate® (CARE) has acquired its 20th property! This means 20 thoughtfully renovated child care hubs in neighborhoods, 20 houses for child care providers to live in with their families, 20 stable locations for women entrepreneurs to grow a child care business, and 244 more slots of quality child care.
Asset Funders Network webinar: Investing in Home-Based Childcare Entrepreneurs to Stabilize Their Businesses, Expand Childcare, and Build Wealth Through Homeownership
Asset Funders Network held a webinar about innovative work happening to address asset building for home-based childcare entrepreneurs. The panel explored main barriers these entrepreneurs are facing; ways groups are attempting to remove those barriers; policy opportunities to create systemic change; and ways philanthropy can be supportive.
Investing in Impact Podcast: Bridging Capital Gaps for Local Economies
In this episode of Investing in Impact, Grant Trahant speaks with David Lynn on how Mission Driven Finance focuses on closing capital gaps and catalyzing economic opportunities in underserved communities.
Letters from Lauren: October 2024
Launching an investment fund is expensive and time-consuming; especially for first-time fund managers who don’t come from communities where wealth has historically been concentrated. Inspired by our experiences bringing new funds to market and supporting aspiring managers, we devised a solution called MDF Capital Partners, designed to alleviate common fundraising challenges that impact funds and projects face, particularly gaps in proof, size, and timing.
New Advance Advisory Committee members help us expand impact across California
These statewide community champions ensure the flow of Advance California capital to underinvested entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders.
New $10 Million Fund Designed to Accelerate Capital Flow to Impact Fund Managers
To make it easier for impact fund managers to bring forward innovative impact investment strategies, Mission Driven Finance® launched MDF Capital Partners, a national, diversified private credit portfolio aimed at moving capital to historically underinvested communities.
Where to find the MDF team this 2024 conference season
Many of our team will be on the fall conference circuit again. If you see us, be sure to say hi!
Letters from Lauren: July 2024
Our team has had the privilege of presenting at roughly 20 convenings this year on topics as varied as public-private investment, access to capital for small businesses, investing in Indigenous economic development, innovative legal structures to activate philanthropic capital, financing community climate infrastructure, and the future of the care economy. This is what co-creating an inclusive economy looks like!
