Many of our team are on the spring conference circuit. If you see us, be sure to say hi!
Where to find the MDF team this 2025 spring conference season
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News & insights
Check out the latest
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.
Podcast: Using Impact Investment to Build Community with David Lynn
In this podcast, Jenny Kassan and Michelle Thimesch talk with David Lynn about the origins of Mission Driven Finance and how he thinks about place-based investing.
Mission Driven Finance selected as an ImpactAssets 50™ 2022 Manager
The impact investing industry’s first publicly available, searchable resource of fund managers zeroes in on some of the industry’s most impactful managers.
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.
Equitable homeownership: Reducing the wealth gap through shared ownership models
Laura Kohn joins this Purpose webinar to discuss the power of shared ownership in building community wealth.
Meet the members of new committee supporting integrity of flagship fund
Meet the ten regional community champions ensuring the flow of Advance Strategy capital to underserved and overlooked communities.
New advisory committee ensures money flows to San Diego small businesses & nonprofits
The Advance Advisory Committee collaborates with Mission Driven Finance to flow capital more equitably to small businesses and nonprofits.
Mission Driven Finance participates in Brookings panel on the state of Black businesses
Learn about the current environment for Black-owned businesses and how to reimagine systems in order to create opportunities for capital and community connections.
![[Video] Child Care Next Door: Investing in Homes as Child Care Infrastructure](https://www.missiondrivenfinance.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/CARE-video-providers-800x500.jpg)
[Video] Child Care Next Door: Investing in Homes as Child Care Infrastructure
Three family child care providers share their stories in a video produced by Mission Driven Finance in partnership with the National Children’s Facilities Network.
MDF’s Laura Olivas invited to join B Corporation BIPOC Leadership Team 2022
“Laura’s mission is to design and scale solutions that drive economic development and dismantle racist and inequitable systems. She is committed to ensuring that communities of color are not only beneficiaries but also driving solutions.”
Lauren Grattan is Named Immigration Advocate by Business for Good
Lauren Grattan was named Immigration Advocate at Business for Good San Diego’s 2021 Awards for her efforts to advance an inclusive economy.
Construction begins on Hilltop Encanto attainable housing project
The successful exit of the pre-development loan means construction has started! The first phase is scheduled to be completed in 2022.
SOCAP21 Panel on Catalytic Capital & Intersectional Equity
Through their portfolios, WES Mariam Assefa Fund, Impact America Fund, and Mission Driven Finance demonstrate how funders and investors can provide mission-driven organizations with flexible funding to innovate and scale up solutions that build more inclusive economies where everyone can contribute and thrive.
Growing like wildflowers
Earlier this year we shared some exciting and bittersweet team changes. Now that we are heading into the final quarter of the year, we want to share more about how our team is growing.
What’s a B Corp and why become one? Mission Driven Finance shares insights.
“Impact is a team sport and we all have a role to play, for-profit businesses included,” says Chief Community Officer Lauren Grattan. “B Corps embrace the idea that doing good is good business.”
Ownership Matters highlights Mission Driven Finance
This conversation took place between Elias Crim of Ownership Matters—a biweekly newsletter for the founders and funders of the emerging solidarity economy—and Mission Driven Finance’s co-founder and CEO, David Lynn, and Lauren Grattan, co-founder and Chief Community Officer.
What we learned while recruiting for the 2021 Community Finance Fellowship
This year, we opened the fellowship application to candidates nationwide. We received applications from 13 states, Washington, DC, and even one from another country!
Fifty by Fifty Employee Ownership News: Employee Ownership Catalyst Fund Preserves Local Businesses and Jobs
Project Equity and Mission Driven Finance announced on Labor Day the launch of the Employee Ownership Catalyst Fund, an evergreen debt fund that will offer flexible financing to businesses preparing for—or executing—an employee ownership transition. The fund targets businesses across the U.S. with 25 to 100-plus employees, particularly those employing frontline, low-wage workers and workers of color.
