No summer slowdown here, we are seeing tons of activity across our various funds.
Letters from Lauren: July 2022
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All posts by Lauren Grattan
Lauren co-founded Mission Driven Finance and is our chief community officer. She loves strategy, inclusive opportunity, co-creating, maps, hiking, and cheese. Learn more about Lauren here.
Letters from Lauren: June/July 2022
We’re welcoming summer, (safe) gathering, and new fund launches with our partners—and still mourning that the long battles against COVID-19 and systemic bias continue.
Letters from Lauren: May/June 2022
Reflecting on Memorial Day and the second anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, it’s easy to feel like we’re treading water as a society. But we believe in the power of freedom dreams and radical imagination to continue building a future that works for all.
Letters from Lauren: April/May 2022
Reflecting on Memorial Day and the second anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, it’s easy to feel like we’re treading water as a society. But we believe in the power of freedom dreams and radical imagination to continue building a future that works for all.
Letters from Lauren: March/April 2022
After two years of being selected for the ImpactAssets IA 50 Emerging Impact Manager list (in 2020 and 2021—an honor in itself!), this year we moved to the big kids’ table on the IA 50 Fund Manager list as we surpassed three years of track record and $25M in assets under management.
Letters from Lauren: February/March 2022
I was honored to join The Brookings Institution for a panel discussion on the state of Black businesses in America in partnership with the Path to 15|55 initiative. The panel amplified a new Brookings report taking a regional lens on Black business ecosystems.
COVID-19 letter to borrowers
We’re sharing with you—our community—the same message for small businesses and nonprofits that we provided to our active borrowers. During this challenging time, stay true to your values and support each other. None of us will come out of this unchanged. See our COVID-19 resources for small businesses and nonprofits.
Making funding accessible in the Asian Pacific Islander (API) community
ABASD and Mission Driven Finance are excited to launch the AdvanceAPI Fund and provide flexible capital for San Diego small businesses and nonprofits with an API heartbeat.
Introducing the Community Finance Fellowship
Diversity is a strength, a great reducer of blindspots, and our industry has been woefully not diverse. This lack of diversity in finance perpetuates unequal access to capital and opportunity.
B Corp: Best for the World honoree
A year ago, we were certified as a B Corporation. This month we were named as one of the Best For The World for our incredible customers—the changemaking companies we support. We rank in the top 10% of all 3,000+ B Corps around the world for the positive impact we make together with our customers!
Insights From Innovators—interview with Cutting Edge Capital
Cutting Edge Capital spoke with Mission Driven Finance Co-founders Lauren Grattan and David Lynn to talk about our mission, and how our community-first perspective guides us to find investment opportunities.
SPECTRUM reflections on expanding the impact economy
Mission Driven Finance Co-founder Lauren Grattan reflects on building an inclusive, expansive economy after attending SOCAP’s SPECTRUM conference.
Thoughts from the road: Small business drives strong communities across the country
David and Lauren spent National Small Business Week on the road in New York; Columbus, Ohio; and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They spoke with stakeholders from different walks of life who all recognize the transformative power of small business from varied angles.
Optimistic about Opportunity Zones in San Diego
While Opportunity Zones have the potential for the biggest wave of gentrification and displacement we’ve ever seen, we’re optimistic about San Diego.
Collaborative approach unlocks $12M project transforming youth lives
Mission Driven Finance, Civic San Diego, and a local foundation unlock $12MM for nonprofit Access Youth Academy’s facility in Southeast San Diego.
How to align with Islamic financing principles to create economic opportunity
Mission Driven Finance provides culturally sensitive bridge financing to Somali Family Service of San Diego in accordance with Islamic financing principles.
Legacy Arts: Intentional impact investing
We were delighted to share with Legacy Arts Magazine how impact investing can support wealth managers, financial planners, and advisors to offer their clients new strategies to craft a legacy with meaning.
Our thoughts on San Diego’s Business Incentive Program
Yesterday, colleagues from Business For Good San Diego and I gave public testimony at the Economic Development & Intergovernmental Relations Committee (ED&IR) of the San Diego City Council as they reviewed proposed updates to the City's Business Incentive...
