Category: Community Partners
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How Freedom First’s Affordable Housing Program Is Taking A Non-Conforming Approach To Homeownership
Allison Wolf got her start in the financial services industry as a college student in 1998, when she took a job as a part-time teller in Long Beach, California. Many things caught Allison’s attention during those formative first few years; however, she found herself particularly entranced by the work of the branch’s loan officers. “It…
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How NYU Federal Credit Union Is Forging Partnerships To Support Their Members
Mira Ness comes from humble beginnings: in her words, she was born into a very big family in a very small town in Kazakhstan. Still, Mira found a way to become the president of one of her country’s biggest banks. However, when she moved to the United States with her American husband, Mira found herself…
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Creating an Impact Framework for Impact-Driven Depository Institutions
Impact-driven banks and credit unions provide vital services to under-resourced communities. However, in CNote’s extensive work with these institutions and community finance overall, we recognized the pressing need for a consistent impact framework for the industry. Existing impact measurement efforts have typically centered around either banks or credit unions or have been limited to CDFI-certified…
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How Kaua’i Federal Credit Union’s Rent Relief Program Has Stabilized Local Small Businesses—And Local Culture
The COVID-19 pandemic turned Chef John Paul Gordon’s life upside down. One day, John Paul was an executive chef catering to Kaua’i’s tourists, the next day, he was unemployed. After more than 20 years of being a chef, John Paul felt like COVID-19 stole his identity away from him overnight. Despite wanting to get back…
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How Indian Land Capital Company Is Strengthening Tribal Sovereignty, One Loan At A Time
Rjay Brunkow, an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, has dedicated his career to economic development within Indian Country. Rjay served as an investment banker for Wells Fargo, focusing on government infrastructure, before serving as Solicitor General for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and chief legal counsel for his own…
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How Freedom First Credit Union Is Leveraging Creative, Character-Based Lending To Approve Community Members For Auto Loans
When Norma Fralin needed a car in 2016, she didn’t know where to go. She’d never felt comfortable navigating dealerships and interacting with used-car salesmen, and because there were uncertainties surrounding her credit, Norma didn’t know what kind of auto loan she’d be able to get. That’s when Norma’s daughter, Catina, told her about Freedom…
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New Covenant Dominion Credit Union’s Small Staff Has Big Dreams For The Bronx—And Beyond
Since New Covenant Dominion Credit Union came to life in 2007, Rachel Macarthy has worn many different hats. She served as one of the credit union’s founding board members, and in 2019, she stepped in as the organization’s acting CEO. Despite becoming the permanent CEO in 2021, Rachel has done everything from working as a…
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How Opportunities Credit Union Is Setting Up Itself—And Its Community—For Financial Success
From a young age, Kate Laud dreamed about someday being a CEO. At Dartmouth, Kate was an English major who liked numbers, and her father encouraged her to aspire to “run something interesting” one day. Although that advice didn’t narrow down Kate’s list of possible career trajectories, over the years, her ambition to eventually lead…
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Revolutionizing sustainable growth: Black-led financial institutions unleash potential with capital access and financial resources
Authored by CNote’s Director of Due Diligence, Julia Phipps In the U.S. much of how we define success can only be achieved with access to sufficient capital. Pursuing an education, providing security and food for your family, and even employment mobility is often limited by an individual’s capital. Inadequate access to capital continues to be…
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How First Southwest Bank Is Helping Community Banks Become Better Banks
In 2013, Kent Curtis had a question to answer. As the president and CEO of First Southwest Bank, he wanted to know which direction to steer the financial institution, which has served the San Luis Valley for more than 100 years. Colorado has three persistent poverty counties, and First Southwest Bank is located in the…
