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How Elevation Community Land Trust is Taking Affordable Housing to New Heights across Colorado
Stefka Czarnecki Fanchi has always been a big believer in homeownership. Both of her parents were teachers; however, her dad “built” every house Stefka’s family ever lived in, whether that meant physically building the structure or making improvements to what was already built. According to Stefka, she has lots of childhood memories as a kid…
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Meet Tawnya Dee Sanford, The Formerly Homeless, Big-Hearted Entrepreneur Behind The Little Engine Learning Center
If you ask Tawnya Dee Sanford what her secret is to running a successful business, she’ll tell you that she’s willing to give people a chance. After all, she wouldn’t be where she is today — as a person and as an entrepreneur — if it weren’t for the chances that people gave to her.…
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How A CDFI is Helping Knox County Homeless Coalition Address Affordable Housing in Midcoast Maine
When Steph Primm left the for-profit world and moved to Maine, she wanted to do something more meaningful than help other people make money. Although she’d grown up in the New York metro area going to summer camp in Maine, it wasn’t until she moved to “The Pine Tree State” after a successful career in…
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Meet Cheri Witt-Brown, the ‘Accidental Entrepreneur’ Leading a Habitat for Humanity Affiliate to New Heights
For as long as Cheri Witt-Brown can remember, she’s known her way around a residential construction site. Her father owned a home-building and real estate company, and Cheri landed her first construction job — albeit picking up nails — when she was just three years old. She was paid a penny per nail for her…
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How a Business Resiliency Course Helped Michea Rahman, an Entrepreneurial Speech Pathologist, Take Her Business to New Heights
Since Michea Rahman was a child, she always knew that she wanted to one day work with children. She idolized teachers, adored Sesame Street, and, unsurprisingly, grew up to become a middle school arts educator in her hometown of Houston, Texas. One day, a fellow teacher asked Michea if she’d be willing to work with…
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Meet Julia Sleeper-Whiting, Whose Undergraduate Volunteerism Became a Nonprofit Dedicated to Youth Empowerment
When Julia Sleeper-Whiting moved to Lewiston, Maine to attend Bates College, she never could have imagined that she’d be a small business owner in the community more than 15 years later — and not as a veterinarian, which she originally planned to become as a first-year undergraduate student. Julia intended to specialize in animal care,…
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How Gloria Dickerson is Inspiring the Mississippi Delta Community To Make Their Dreams a Reality
Gloria Dickerson wants to change the way people think. It’s no easy task, particularly when it comes to encouraging low-income communities to dream bigger than the world they know. However, Gloria Dickerson is no stranger to adversity. Gloria was born into an impoverished family of sharecroppers in Drew, Mississippi. She was one of 13 children,…
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Change Makers Interview: Janine Firpo
Janine Firpo is an author and speaker who spent more than 20 years in executive roles at Hewlett-Packard, the World Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and more. She is a values-aligned investor in companies that make the world a better place and is passionate about teaching women to learn how to invest their…
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5 Crucial Differences Between CDFIs and Traditional Banks
There are many American communities that are underserved by the traditional banking industry. Low-income and minority communities typically experience the most lack of access to quality financial products and services. According to a 2018 FDIC survey, 22 percent of households are underbanked or unbanked. This means that these individuals have no formal relationship with a…
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Change Makers Interview: Deborah Frieze
Deborah Frieze is an author, activist, and serial entrepreneur committed to the redistribution of wealth and reparations through finance. In 2001, Deborah left her job as a high-tech executive disillusioned by a corporate culture that cared more about short-term results than community. She became the co-president of The Berkana Institute, a nonprofit that strives to…
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