As we approach the end of the year, the Mission Driven Finance team is thrilled for how far we’ve come and where we’re going in 2023.
Letters from Lauren: December 2022
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Letters from Lauren: October/November 2022
October saw a good chunk of our team traveling for conferences and connecting with our community in person.
5 things to know about impact-based loans
If your business is too big for microfinance and SBA loan but too small for traditional banks, our impact-based loans can fill the gap.
Access Youth Academy — Where Are They Now?
Three years ago, a $12M project was designed to transform the lives of the youth in Southeast San Diego with Access Youth Academy.
Letters from Lauren: September/October 2022
In the last few months, four strategies with client-partners made the first investments into the community, we welcomed new partnerships and portfolio companies, and the second cohort of community finance fellows graduated.
What is a fund?
We sat down with our Chief Legal Officer Joe Pileri to learn about fund basics and what a fund is in the context of impact investing and Mission Driven Finance.
Letters from Lauren: August 2022
This quarter marks a huge milestone in Mission Driven Finance’s history—we have now flowed over $50 million in “assets into community” (AIC) across more than 100 loan transactions!
Mission Driven Finance has flowed more than $50 million in assets into the community!
Our team is celebrating a huge milestone: We’ve flowed over $50 million in assets into the community as of July 31, 2022!
Letters from Lauren: July 2022
No summer slowdown here, we are seeing tons of activity across our various funds.
Letters from Lauren: June/July 2022
We’re welcoming summer, (safe) gathering, and new fund launches with our partners—and still mourning that the long battles against COVID-19 and systemic bias continue.
Letters from Lauren: May/June 2022
Reflecting on Memorial Day and the second anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, it’s easy to feel like we’re treading water as a society. But we believe in the power of freedom dreams and radical imagination to continue building a future that works for all.
Innovative real estate that is a win for the local economy and the environment
Hilltop Crossing, a new development in San Diego, not only creates middle-income housing but also engages diverse subcontractors and includes energy-efficient features.
Letters from Lauren: April/May 2022
Reflecting on Memorial Day and the second anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, it’s easy to feel like we’re treading water as a society. But we believe in the power of freedom dreams and radical imagination to continue building a future that works for all.
Letters from Lauren: February/March 2022
I was honored to join The Brookings Institution for a panel discussion on the state of Black businesses in America in partnership with the Path to 15|55 initiative. The panel amplified a new Brookings report taking a regional lens on Black business ecosystems.
Construction begins on Hilltop Encanto attainable housing project
The successful exit of the pre-development loan means construction has started! The first phase is scheduled to be completed in 2022.
SOCAP21 Panel on Catalytic Capital & Intersectional Equity
Through their portfolios, WES Mariam Assefa Fund, Impact America Fund, and Mission Driven Finance demonstrate how funders and investors can provide mission-driven organizations with flexible funding to innovate and scale up solutions that build more inclusive economies where everyone can contribute and thrive.
Ownership Matters highlights Mission Driven Finance
This conversation took place between Elias Crim of Ownership Matters—a biweekly newsletter for the founders and funders of the emerging solidarity economy—and Mission Driven Finance’s co-founder and CEO, David Lynn, and Lauren Grattan, co-founder and Chief Community Officer.
Fifty by Fifty Employee Ownership News: Employee Ownership Catalyst Fund Preserves Local Businesses and Jobs
Project Equity and Mission Driven Finance announced on Labor Day the launch of the Employee Ownership Catalyst Fund, an evergreen debt fund that will offer flexible financing to businesses preparing for—or executing—an employee ownership transition. The fund targets businesses across the U.S. with 25 to 100-plus employees, particularly those employing frontline, low-wage workers and workers of color.
