Melissa Stallings of Momentus Capital Wins “Diversity in Business” Award From the Washington Business Journal

Ms. Stallings launched the Housing Equity Accelerator Fellowship and led the Equitable Development Initiative and Entrepreneurs of Color Fund in the D.C. area, helping diverse developers and small business owners receive pivotal financing, training and mentorship.

MARCH 22, 2024 (Arlington, VA/San Diego, CA) – Melissa Stallings — the Director of Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) Initiatives for the Momentus Capital branded family of organizations — has been honored by the Washington Business Journal in the publication’s annual “Diversity in Business” awards.

These awards recognize the entrepreneurial drive, creativity and success of the recipients. The honorees were judged based on their professional accomplishments, community leadership and philanthropy.

Ms. Stallings joined Momentus Capital at the start of 2022 and has made a significant impact with her work over these past two years. She leads programs that help diverse entrepreneurs overcome barriers caused by systemic racism to grow their businesses, close the wealth gap, and create more affordable housing, jobs, and other opportunities for the communities they serve.

“These are entrepreneurs who don’t often have easy access to capital compared to their counterparts,” Ms. Stallings said. “Through a number of resources, including flexible capital, technical assistance, educational programming, and by helping them expand their network, we’re hopefully leveling the playing field for them.”

Momentus Capital’s resources have included three signature programs that support diverse small business owners and real estate developers in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia — the Housing Equity Accelerator Fellowship, Equitable Development Initiative, and Entrepreneurs of Color Fund.

The Housing Equity Accelerator Fellowship, funded by Amazon, is a two-year program for real estate developers in the Washington Metropolitan region. Ms. Stallings launched and led the first cohort of 15 real estate developers from 2022-2023, providing training, mentorship, and a total of $4 million in predevelopment grants with $26.7 million in leveraged capital from Momentus Capital that went directly to diverse real estate developers who are building and preserving affordable housing in the region. The program will return in 2024 for its second cohort. Ms. Stallings also runs the D.C. area Equitable Development Initiative, which similarly supports emerging diverse developers with training, mentorship, and pathways to financing.

Diversifying the local real estate industry also helps protect the diverse communities of the greater D.C. area, where so much of the development often is led by large corporations or legacy developers, which don’t necessarily build with longtime residents in mind. In contrast, diverse developers not only resemble their communities, but they represent them as well.In addition, Ms. Stallings led the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund, which forged new pathways to entrepreneurship in the region’s underserved communities by pairing low-cost capital with business advisory services to help entrepreneurs of color start and grow businesses, create jobs, and build wealth. The initiative was funded by JPMorgan Chase, managed in the D.C. area by the Momentus Capital branded family, and also involved partner institutions and nonprofits Washington Area Community Investment Fund, Latino Economic Development Center, City First Enterprises, and the Coalition For Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development. From 2019 through 2023, it provided more than $44 million in loans, created or retained approximately 900 jobs, and also featured technical assistance to more than 1,700 small businesses.

“From day one, Melissa has focused on the perspectives and needs of our partners in the community, listening first to inform the design of our programs and products in the region,” said Lauren Counts, senior director and head of national programs for Momentus Capital. “It is thanks to our local leaders working collaboratively with our partners that we have been able to grow the capital and expand the services we are providing to entrepreneurs across the region.”

For Ms. Stallings, a native Washingtonian who grew up in the District’s Bloomingdale neighborhood, her professional focus comes out of a sense of responsibility.

“I’m paying it forward by supporting people who are achieving their dreams, the same way that people helped me with mine,”Ms. Stallings said. “I grew up in a neighborhood that was not the safest nor heavily resourced. My family sacrificed to provide opportunities for me, refusing to allow my circumstances to define who I was and who I would later become.”

This is the latest recognition for the Momentus Capital branded family of organizations:

• The Washington Business Journal honored Momentus Capital President and CEO Ellis Carr on its “Power 100” list in 2023. Mr. Carr was also recognized in 2022 by the Washington Business Journal as the Nonprofit Leader of the Year, and was named by Fast Company to that publication’s 14th annual list of the Most Creative People in Business.
• The NonProfit Times named Capital Impact Partners and CDC Small Business Finance as two of the best nonprofits to work for in 2023.
• Team member Miriam Torres Baltys received the Financial Services Champion of the Year” award from the SBA’s San Diego District Office in its 2023 National Small Business Week Awards.
• Team member Aaron Gougis won a “Leaders in Diversity” award from the Dallas Business Journal in 2023.
• Chief Human Resources Officer Kimberly Dorsett was named one of DCA Live’s 2023 HR Leaders of the Year.
• Momentus Capital was nominated to the Washington Business Journal’s Inno on Fire awards in 2022 for helping to fuel the region’s economy.
• CDC Small Business Finance finished Fiscal Year 2022 as the foremost SBA 504 and Community Advantage lender in the United States.
• CDC Small Business Finance also was named the top SBA Community Advantage lender in the Fresno (Calif.) District, and the Community Advantage lender of the year and a Top 10 lender of the year in the SBA’s Michigan District.
• Team members Ken Rosenthal and Stacey Sanchez received two top honors from Coleman Report in 2022 as the leading banking publication’s SBA Business Development Officers of the Year.