Immigrant and New American rights, Racial equity

Blended Capital for Immigration Bonds: Introducing the Freedom100 Fund

  • Posted by Tyana Smith
  • On August 6, 2020
Recently, our co-founder and chief community officer Lauren Grattan and Christina Mansfield, co-founder and co-executive director of Freedom for Immigrants spoke with Morgan Simon to discuss why they launched the Freedom100 Fund—and how it’s a vital tool for investors and activists to join the fight for immigrant freedom. Forbes: While “finance” to many might conjure […]
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Community engagement, Racial equity

I am a White man. I must do more to fight systemic racism.

  • Posted by David Lynn
  • On July 13, 2020
The best anti-racism advice I’ve gotten so far is from my teammate Louise Jordan: Whatever we do, we have to stop recreating the same narrative. Unfortunately, many of the actions we White people take end up reinforcing existing power dynamics and telling the same, false story—that Black people and people of color have inherent risk and problems and that White people must “save” them from themselves. 
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Community engagement, Racial equity, Resources

Support Local Black-owned businesses in San Diego and watch our communities thrive

  • Posted by Tyana Smith
  • On February 20, 2020
The best way to celebrate Black History Month this year? Shop at local Black-owned small businesses. Economic power is the fundamental building block of healthy and thriving communities. With it, communities flourish—with improved health outcomes, educational opportunities, and the accumulation of wealth to support health and happiness for many generations to come.
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Advancing economic opportunity, Community engagement, Investors, News, Racial equity

Making Funding Accessible in the Asian Pacific Islander (API) Community

  • Posted by Lauren Grattan
  • On November 22, 2019
AdvanceAPI: A Partnership with the Asian Business Association of San Diego Doing your taxes. Buying a house. Raising a family. Some things are, by nature, challenging. Entrepreneurs in underestimated communities would also add finding investors and accessing startup capital to this list. As an entrepreneur, sourcing start-up capital can be time-consuming. Add in the factor of […]
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Racial equity, Resources, Team

Storytelling for Change: Going Beyond Diversity to Create Belonging at Work

  • Posted by Tyana Smith
  • On June 13, 2019
Recently, our communications team completed the Storytelling for Change course, a free eight-week online course led by global changemakers +Acumen. We expected to learn strategies to better communicate with the public, but we walked away with so much more than that. We ended up with a stronger understanding of our own personal stories and how […]
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Advancing economic opportunity, Community engagement, Events, News, Racial equity, Team

Thoughts from the Road: Small Business Drives Strong Communities Across the Country

  • Posted by Lauren Grattan
  • On May 23, 2019
David and I spent National Small Business Week on the road in New York; Columbus, Ohio; and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. We spoke with stakeholders from different walks of life who all recognize the transformative power of small business from varied angles. Let me tell you. It was wild. Mental gymnastics at its finest, switching gears […]
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Advancing economic opportunity, Borrowers, Gender equity, Racial equity, Sustainable systems

Supporting African Artisans at Work and Beyond

  • Posted by Tyana Smith
  • On May 16, 2019
In honor of the one-year anniversary of our official launch party, we’re catching up with one of our very first borrowers, All Across Africa. Since our investment in late 2017, All Across Africa has: Employed 400 new artisans. Provided solar lights to their artisans in Rwanda on a lease-to-own model, 37% below market price. This […]
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