Mission Driven Finance™

Thank you Multifamily Impact Council and Rachel Mavrothalasitis for inviting us to speak at the Information Management Network (IMN) ESG & Decarbonizing Real Estate Forum (Summer). Our Co-founder & Chief Community Officer Lauren Grattan talked about Care Access Real Estate (CARE) in front of other real estate practitioners as part of the Spotlight Series: “Addressing the “S” in ESG.” We are grateful to connect with champions of this work. ✨ Thank you to co-panelists Alan Sneider with Primestor Development, David Repka with Bison Financial Group LLC, and Zachary Flora with Center for Active Design. #childcare #childcarerealestate #realestateinvestmenttrust #REIT #childcareREIT #commercialrealestate #socialimpact #impactinvesting #ESG #IMNevents #sustainability #affordablehousing #housing #intergenerationalwealth

Meet Stratia Skincare, a new portfolio company in our expanded place-based Advance California strategy. ✨ 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗬 𝗗𝗢 🧴 Founded by Alli Reed in 2016, Los Angeles-based Stratia Skincare focuses on creating “obsessively researched” skincare products using science-backed ingredients and formulations. The company is named after the “stratum” prefix in the Latin scientific names for the five layers of the epidermis, the outermost layer of our skin. “Stratum” itself means a layer of something. As the name origin suggests, Alli has a science background. A former chemistry student, Alli didn’t experiment with her own skincare and makeup routine until her 20s. “I was a tomboy growing up,” she said. After a brief career in other fields, Alli became interested in “how skin works biologically, how skincare is formulated, and the interaction between the two.” Alli’s experimentation with skincare is quite literal; she started creating formulas in her kitchen. “I set up a little mobile chem lab and started reverse engineering my favorite skincare products, the way you might take a radio apart and put it back together and see how it works,” Alli shared. “The formulas worked really well for me, and they worked really well for anyone I shared it with. So I decided to launch a Shopify store on the side.” After spending eight hours at her full-time job, Alli would come home and spend another eight fulfilling Shopify orders, eventually realizing it was time to quit the day job. 𝗪𝗛𝗬 𝗪𝗘 𝗜𝗡𝗩𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗗 💰 Prior to Stratia, Alli had never run a company or worked in the beauty industry, so it’s understandable she calls her journey into entrepreneurship “so scary” and “like jumping off a cliff.” She did, however, find early fans. Stratia became viral organically, relying on word of mouth on Reddit and Instagram rather than paid advertising in its first three years. For those looking to launch their passion project into a full-time gig, Alli shared, “Don’t be afraid to build your network and ask for help. I had to reinvent the wheel unnecessarily so many times.” Alli’s network now includes Elliot Begoun of The Intertwine Group (TIG Brands), who referred her to Mission Driven Finance™. Capital from the place-based Advance California loan fund is meant to cover working capital such as payroll, cost of raw goods, and packaging, and to refinance more expensive debt. As of this writing, the company’s workforce is majority women and BIPOC. The company pays above minimum wage and offers employees an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), fully paid health insurance, 401(k) contributions, and 12-week parental leave. Community Reinvestment Fund, USA, a partner in our new Advance California loan program, participated in this investment. #impactinvesting #placebasedinvesting #socialimpact #workforceimpact #inclusiveeconomy

We can't wait to share incredible milestones across multiple strategies with our subscribers. ✨ Sign up to be the first to get stories about small businesses, nonprofits, and investors using finance as a tool for change. 👉 http://eepurl.com/deNFUL 👈 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. #impactinvesting #socialimpactstories #socialimpact #financestories #financeforgood #businessforgood #certifiedBcorp #socialimpactfinance #socialfinance #communityfinance

If you are attending the Information Management Network (IMN) ESG & Decarbonizing Real Estate Forum (Summer) tomorrow, say hi to our Co-founder & Chief Community Officer Lauren Grattan, who will be speaking on the panel, “Addressing the ‘S’ in ESG,” specifically highlighting the social impact goals of Care Access Real Estate (CARE) 🏡 #REIT #childcareREIT #realestate #careeconomy #childcarerealestate #impactinvesting #socialpurposerealestate #socialimpact #ESGrealestate

Amazing to see this progress from IIE.VC ✨ Included in this work is the Indigenous Futures Fund that we announced at The White House earlier this year. 👏

We are #hiring a full-time remote Director of Fund Management & Client Services! 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗬 ✅ Are you an analytical wizard excited by the opportunity to manage impact investing fund vehicles? ✅ Do you understand private investments and structured finance, and are familiar with the basics of private funds? ✅ Think you can balance complicated analysis with presenting summary recommendations across a fund’s lifecycle? 👉 https://lnkd.in/gpzMA_kw The person in this role will work primarily with our VP of fund services and senior director of structured finance to manage and onboard funds, and help manage client/partner relationships. This is a director-level role with an annual salary range of $110,000–$132,000 per year, plus company incentives, based on your unique skills and experience. #nowhiring #impactinvesting #financejobs #impactfinancejobs #impactfinance #socialimpactjobs #fundmanagement #clientservices #financialservices #assetmanagement #remotejobs

Meet Susana Cabrera, an entrepreneur and a mother of six with a fluctuating credit score who had difficulty landing conventional financing to open her own business. A state loan guarantee administrator in Oakland, Nor-Cal FDC, and a social impact lender (Mission Driven Finance™) partnered to close the capital gap, allowing Cabrera to achieve her dream. This March, Cabrera opened a franchise store with Everytable, a healthy meal preparation chain based in Los Angeles County. She completed two years of training through Everytable University which provides business training and ownership opportunities to entrepreneurs from marginalized backgrounds while they work as store managers. At the end of the training period, managers can apply through the company’s Social Equity Franchise Fund program to own and operate an Everytable storefront and can take advantage of relatively low-cost loans. “It feels surreal. I worked so hard for this,” Cabrera said. “I feel blessed.” Thank you to The Association of Financial Development Corporations for highlighting this partnership between Nor-Cal FDC, Everytable, and Mission Driven Finance™ to flow capital to aspiring Everytable franchise owners—all without requiring personal guarantees. 💰 #impactinvesting #communitycapital #franchiseownership #sharedownership #smallbusinessloans #smallbusiness

ICYMI, we were at The White House again to discuss the Initiative for Inclusive Entrepreneurship. See Founders First Capital Partners' recap below. As part of this work, Mission Driven Finance™ is engaged in three main strategies: ✨ The Indigenous Futures Fund to speed up the flow of capital to Indigenous entrepreneurs and Tribal enterprises ✨ Missing-middle financing for small businesses & nonprofits through our lending program Advance ✨ Mobilizing private capital alongside the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), offering loans to financial intermediaries #IIE #initiativeforinclusiveentrepreneurship #tribalfinance #tribalenterprise #nativeowned #smallbiz #SSBCI #indigenousfuturesfund

The Initiative for Inclusive Entrepreneurship (IIE) crew is at The White House and U.S. Department of the Treasury again! This week, Stephen Nunes, our VP of Capital Initiatives, joined Casey Pearlman of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians Economic Development Corporation, Heather Fleming of Change Labs, and other partners in Washington, DC to discuss funding for Native entrepreneurs and Tribal enterprises with public sector officials and funders. 🙌 As part of this work, Mission Driven Finance™ is engaged in three main strategies: ✨ The Indigenous Futures Fund to speed up the flow of capital to Indigenous entrepreneurs and Tribal enterprises ✨ Missing-middle financing for small businesses & nonprofits through our lending program Advance ✨ Mobilizing private capital alongside the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), offering loans to financial intermediaries #IIE #initiativeforinclusiveentrepreneurship #tribalfinance #tribalenterprise #nativeowned #smallbiz #SSBCI #indigenousfuturesfund

Congratulations to portfolio company Vested Solutions, LLC for completing the REDF Accelerator, a 5-month capacity-building program for impact-driven entrepreneurs and social enterprises. Founded by the Wyllie-James family in 2015, the company name, Eternal Love (dba Vested Solutions) comes from the family’s beliefs and love for each other. The husband-and-wife team behind this janitorial services company first met due to their shared interests in providing for unhoused people. “We have a soft spot for homeless people, having experienced homelessness ourselves at the beginning of our marriage,” says one of the co-owners. “We are believers; we like to say the company was founded by God, and God’s love is eternal love.” The Wyllie-James family practices this in their hiring and retention practices. They send job listings to homeless shelters and transition homes before posting them online and have hired unhoused people who approach them on the street, getting them new shoes and pants for work. The couple also runs a nonprofit organization called Eternal Love, handing out solar-powered misting fans and food and supplies to those living on the streets. #impactinvesting #inclusiveeconomy #socialenterprise #impactentrepreneur