Investors, Resources, Team, Why I invest

How Can We Make Investing in Our Community a Great Investment? Flip the Traditional Finance Model on Its Head.

Posted by Tyana Smith
On July 22, 2019

When we first launched Mission Driven Finance, we developed the Advance Fund with one primary question in mind: how can we make investing in our community a great investment? The answer we found is to reimagine and reinvent finance to put the community’s needs first. We discovered incredible businesses and nonprofits committed to their communities […]

Advancing economic opportunity, Borrowers, Community engagement, News, Why I invest

Developing Community with Creative Capital

Posted by Tyana Smith
On July 18, 2019

How Advance borrower Kris Schlesser Uses Creative Capital to strengthen community When we first met Kris Schlesser, founder of LuckyBolt, he was six years into a quest to make the perfect breakfast burrito easily accessible to professionals on the go. He had been financing the business with high-interest credit cards and microloans. Though he had […]

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 […]