Mission Driven Finance is an impact investment firm dedicated to building a financial system that ensures good businesses have access to sufficient, affordable capital. Built from the ground up with a single purpose—to make it easy to invest in your community—all our funds and structured products are designed to close financial gaps in order to close opportunity gaps. Mission Driven Finance was launched in 2016 in San Diego, CA and is a Certified B Corporation.
Media kit
Meet the founders
Lauren Grattan is the co-founder & Chief Community Officer of Mission Driven Finance. Lauren’s background in nonprofit development made her eager to activate more capital for social change. Prior to building Mission Driven Finance, she spent nearly 10 years fundraising for a wide variety of nonprofits—from large universities to small, volunteer-run initiatives. Lauren proudly serves on the steering committee of the Inclusive Capital Collective and as a board member of Business for Good San Diego. She is a 2019 Social Venture Circle Innovation Entrepreneur, and an active member of Women Give San Diego, San Diego Social Venture Partners, SD Grantmakers, and SD Impact Investors Network. Lauren is an alumna of Punahou School in Honolulu, and Columbia University in the City of New York.
David Lynn co-founded Mission Driven Finance in 2016 after spending 20 years working in the financial and philanthropic sectors and looking for a way to blend those two worlds. Prior to focusing on impact investing, David specialized in family office investment portfolios including both private investments and risk management through derivatives. Most recently, David has been the investment manager for the Price Group, a charitable foundation. David has long been dedicated to community involvement, serving in a leadership capacity for a variety of nonprofit and philanthropic initiatives, including San Diego Grantmakers, San Diego Impact Investors Network, Education Synergy Alliance, Mission Edge San Diego, San Diego Social Venture Partners, Price Philanthropies Foundation, and San Diego Humane Society.
Press
"A complicated market with slim margins and dire need of reform seems an unlikely place to invest, but that’s exactly the plan for San Diego investment company Mission Driven Finance. With a grant from the San Diego Foundation, the company is exploring potential impact investment models to improve the early child care education system in San Diego, in hopes of developing models that could work across the state."
Next City
"While 'finance' to many might conjure a boring system of transactions — or a dangerous game of capitalist exploitation — to financial activists, investment vehicles are fair game for creative and exciting innovations toward liberation. The Freedom100 Fund aims to release 100 individuals from immigration prison, support them with their cases…and prove that it’s time for the bail and bond system to go."
Forbes.com
"We’re on the brink of a significant shift in the global flow of capital. We believe that philanthropy can do more to catalyze private capital for public good."
ImpactAlpha
"In addition to investing in small community businesses, Mission Driven Finance also helps people looking for small-business loans better understand the technicalities of borrowing money to open or expand businesses."
NPR
Fact sheet
Year founded
2016
Headquarters
San Diego, CA
Founders
Lauren Grattan & David Lynn
Number of employees
17
Team demographics
65% women
59% BIPOC
47% first- or second-generation Americans
Total active borrowers
15
Total alumni borrowers
2
Impact areas
Brand assets


