By Terry Simonette, outgoing President & CEO
As I think about my 32 years with Capital Impact Partners, I am overwhelmed when I consider the thousands of stakeholders that have made contributions to our work of helping people and communities across the country reach their highest potential.
This army of people and organizations, all part of the ongoing and thriving community development finance sector, includes partners who have worked shoulder-to-shoulder with us; investors whose capital participation helped us stand up a strategy that continues to generate high impact outcomes; foundations whose contributions increase our capacity and enable transactions that otherwise would not be possible; and our many board members whose selfless contribution of their time and talent helped to guide us in our endeavor. In my mind, they are our real heroes.
And finally, let me single out our hundreds of staff members. These tireless individuals have dedicated their commitment and leadership to our industry. They have breathed life into our collective vision of creating a nation of communities built on a foundation of equity, opportunity and inclusiveness.
The more than 1,000 Community Development Financial Institutions in the country come in all shapes and sizes. Capital Impact Partners holds a unique niche because of our unusual beginnings with a credit culture and track record that has been built on financial rigor and discipline. We hold a continuing commitment to the cooperatives and other forms of democratic ownership and all that they achieve for their stakeholders. We have an ongoing appetite for and investment in innovations that have certainly driven our organization to excel and also provided important leadership and impetus for our industry.
I count myself exceptionally fortunate to have been part of this group of people across the country who continues to stand up for social justice and who imagines a world that enables all of us to succeed. I certainly will be farther back in the ranks of this army in the future, but for sure, I will continue to be a proud member of this movement and support it in every way that I can.
Thank you for the opportunity to know and work with all of you. It has meant more to me than you can imagine.
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