As of July 1, 2021, Ellis Carr is now the president and CEO of Capital Impact Partners and CDC Small Business Finance. Kurt Chilcott, formerly president and CEO of CDC Small Business Finance, is transitioning to Board Chair of both organizations.
In 2020, Kurt Chilcott and Ellis Carr sat down for a video series of conversations about our alliance. You can also watch the whole video series here.
By Ellis Carr, President and CEO
Since 1982, Capital Impact Partners has helped people build communities of opportunity that break barriers to success. We have done that through learning and evolving with a range of investors, donors, community partners, and other Community Development Financial Institutions.Â
As we looked to the future, we saw a tremendous opportunity to do more, give more, and make a bigger difference. With that in mind, more than a year ago, we began conversations with CDC Small Business Finance. Together, we recognized how our similar visions and complementary expertise, services and financing products could create a change that neither of us could accomplish independently.
Today, the need is greater than ever as generations of systemic inequality are magnified by the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on Black and Latinx  communities, as well as the issues raised through the racial justice groundswell. Communities need partners who will help them build power to create the outcomes that they want for themselves and their families.
So, today, we are excited to announce a new alliance between Capital Impact Partners and CDC Small Business Finance.
This new alliance brings:Â
A Bold, Holistic Approach to Drive Change
With a mission to empower equitable community growth, Capital Impact Partners and CDC Small Business Finance are initially collaborating on launching three place-based pilot programs. The pilots will launch in the Los Angeles, Detroit, and Washington, D.C. Metropolitan (DMV) Areas. Cross-organizational teams will actively engage with the communities to identify the problems unique to each city. The pilot programs will be customized to holistically address the recovery and relief needs of community members, small businesses, and organizations that have been devastated by these uncertain times.Â
The locations of the three pilots were intentionally chosen based on the current geographic focus of both organizations, places where we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with communities, understand their needs, and help them drive community-centered strategies to build power.Â
With a mission to empower equitable community growth, Capital Impact Partners and CDC Small Business Finance are initially collaborating on launching three place-based pilot programs.Lessons learned through the initial pilots will inform future efforts to define new approaches to economic and community development to transform the industry and create change.Â
Scalable Solutions
With a shared focus on economic empowerment and equitable wealth creation, CDC Small Business Finance and Capital Impact have the unique ability to deliver a suite of lending products and programs that holistically support communities to be strong, vibrant, and healthy places of opportunity.
The power of collaboration, utilizing the knowledge and expertise unique to each organization, will foster an acceleration of the work necessary to solve for critical needs at scale.
Capital Impact’s core work supports equitable access to critical social services through leadership in mission-driven lending and innovative program development that provides technical assistance and capacity building for community-centered work. We work as a partner and lender so that communities can drive solutions that break down barriers to success and creates community transformation.Â
SBA 504 lending in California, Arizona and Nevada, is CDC Small Business Finance’s flagship program and will continue to be a leader in delivering much needed commercial real estate financing to the small business community. We will also explore opportunities to extend CDC Small Business Finance’s commercial real estate expertise to a broader platform beyond the SBA lending space.
Committed to Change
Through this alliance, Capital Impact and CDC Small Business Finance realize that we can create a change that neither of us could accomplish independently.
Both organizations are driven by their passion to be part of a solution to address the widening racial wealth gap by improving communities’ access to capital. Discussions about how to make a bigger impact began a year ago, however, today the need is greater than ever. Generations of inequality have been brought to the forefront. The long-standing issues that both organizations have been agents of change for are especially magnified by the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on Black and Latinx communities, as well as the issues raised through the current racial justice groundswell.Â
With a laser focus on these systemic issues and a more than 40-year commitment to change, Capital Impact Partners and CDC Small Business Finance are well positioned to drive new programs and resources that can address these issues. Â
A Partner to Communities, Funders, and Investors
The heart of both organizations has always been founded in partnerships and collaboration. Â
Through the alliance, both organizations will continue to partner with states, cities, and communities to further racial and economic justice. Together, we will be able to provide whole-person strategies to influence transformative community change.Â
The organizations have identified the strong need in the marketplace for a conduit for funders and investors to effectively connect capital to communities. By aligning, the organizations will work to be that partner to banks, funders and large institutions in an effort to help them overcome legacy challenges of deploying funds for community impact.
CDC Small Business FinanceÂ
If you are not familiar with CDC Small Business Finance, you can learn more here.
CDC Small Business Finance is the nation’s leading mission-based small business lender, award-winning nonprofit and advocate for entrepreneurs. Over four decades, the organization has helped over 12,000 small business owners access $20.7 billion in financing. CDC Small Business Finance’s small business and commercial real estate loans have also played a critical role in bolstering economic development, and helping to create and preserve more than 209,000 jobs in California, Arizona, and Nevada.Â
We are honored to work alongside CDC Small Business FinanceÂ
We are excited to bring more resources and solutions to our borrowers and our referral and community partners through our new alliance. We all share a common goal to create impact and make a difference. We are excited to create this new path forward and bring holistic change and transformation to the industry, small business owners, and communities. Â
For more about how to engage with us, reach out to us at info@investedincommunities.org.
To learn more about our alliance, read the full press release here.
