Annual Member Meeting Recap
Micro Census is Open
And…Action! – Taking the week off
The Goodies – This week’s highlight is a Connie Evans’ op-ed in Forbes: “Eliminating The CDFI Fund Would Harm Black Entrepreneurship”
Annual Member Meeting Recap
This year’s Annual Member Meeting had it all – wine, song, tears, joy, challenges, and of course, advocacy. We started the morning off with a lovely tribute to Claudia from Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva, the chair of the Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy committee (see photo). The member even made a resolution to honor Claudia’s commitment to small and microbusinesses. During introductions, people spontaneously gave a little personal testimony to her mentorship and leadership. And several of us brave souls sang a song to Claudia to the tune of “Word Up” by the 90’s band CAMEO. I still have the words stuck in my head.
Thank You everybody say
We thank you for your leadership every day
Mic Ro – it’s Claudia’s word
No matter when she says it you know that she’ll be heard
It was a great way to start the day. Next week, I’ll write more about our great panel on the changing face of business assistance and post their slides. Thanks to the following for lending their new ideas and inspiration.
- Bo Ghiradeli, Youth Business USA
- Lindsey Crumbaugh, Samaschool
- Daniel Fernandez, Opportunity Fund
- Rani Kroeger, Uptima Business Bootcamp
- Josh Fegles, Palo Alto Software, maker of LivePlan
After lunch, we honored Tiffany Hoang and Tyrone Botelho of
Circle Up Education and Javier Zamora, owner of
JSM Organics, nominated by Kitchen Table Advisors. And then visits to our legislators where we advocated to include several pieces in the
budget (still under negotiations) and SB 551.
Thanks to the 50+ members who attended and all of those visits to the legislators. This is the real power of Micro!
Micro Census is Open
The microTracker Census is open!
CAMEO partners with FIELD at the Aspen Institute to conduct a census of California’s microbusiness programs using the microTracker platform.
The current national political climate means that it has never been more important to stand up and be counted. CAMEO members that
fill out the Census by
July 14, 2017 will receive $100 toward lunch for their staff.
Email Andrew when you’ve completed your survey for your ‘free lunch’ as well as help on filling out the Census.
You rely on CAMEO to advocate on behalf of the sector. We rely on you for your data. This data fuels our advocacy and supports our members at the state and national level. The better data we have, the stronger our case is, and the easier it is to express the vital role MDOs play in the small business sector.In addition, the Census helps your organization to:
- Organize your data to present to your Board, funders, and supporters. MicroTracker uses standardized data definitions to answer the most common questions people have about your microbusiness program.
- Raise your profile and manage valuable performance metrics from number of microloans disbursed to cost per client. Use this to sharpen and strengthen your program.
- Enjoy a free lunch on CAMEO!
Please
fill out the Census by July 14, 2017 (for your free lunch) and be counted!
And…Action! – Taking the week off
The new section of the
Must Know — And…Action! — is in response to the current political reality that demands that we participate more fully in the state and the federal legislative processes. We urge you to assign a staff person to be responsible for taking action.
The California budget will be finalized next week – so stay tuned!
The Goodies
New opportunities for training, conference information, funding, scholarships, and other information that have crossed our desks since the last
Must Know. I have posted a running tab of current
Industry Goodies on the CAMEO website that lists items that were in past emails. Check it out to make sure you’re not missing anything, like grants whose deadlines are still alive!
CAMEO Open CEO Position: If you know of a visionary leader that can lead CAMEO and who is passionate about the microbusiness sector (and fill Claudia’s big shoes) please forward on the
CAMEO CEO job description and encourage them to apply.
New Report and Webinar: The Center for Financial Security (CFS) and Asset Funders Network (AFN) are ready to share the findings from the F
inancial Coaching Census 2016 (report). Join AFN on June 12, 2017 at 10:00am PT // 1:00pm ET for a live webinar with the author and research team who will host
Insights from the Financial Coaching Field.
Free Webinar: Join CalNonprofits for “What is GrantAdvisor and how do I use it?” on Thursday,
June 15, 2017 at 9:00am PT (30 minutes). If you can’t make it, register and they’ll send you the recording! GrantAdvisor – a Yelp!/TripAdvisor for grantmakers – gives nonprofits and philanthropic colleagues a chance to weigh in on issues such as (for example) how a foundation that focuses on domestic violence is affecting the field, not just whether it accepts unsolicited proposals.
Grant Opportunity: SBA released the
NOFA for the Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs (PRIME). SBA will consider granting awards on two tracks — technical assistance and capacity building. It anticipates issuing approximately 35 awards of $50,000 – $250,000. It’s a great source of funding for training and technical assistance for low-income and minority entrepreneurs. Check out this excellent
Q&A on the grant. The deadline is
June 16, 2017. There are several
other SBA grants also available that have to do with veteran procurement and training, Native American entrepreneurship, technology transfer, and more.
Free Webinar: Please join Opportunity Fund to explore how they forged a cross-sector collaboration with Lending Club, the largest online marketplace, and Craft3, a peer CDFI, to expand access to capital for small businesses. The webinar will discuss challenges they faced and lessons learned in building a first-of-its-kind technology platform to enable this unique referral partnership. Register for “Building Technology for Cross-Sector Collaboration:
A Case Study of FinTech-CDFI Partnership Success” on
Tuesday, June 20, 2017, 12:00-1:00pm (PST)
Professional Conference: Register for Credit Builders Alliance’s
2017 Credit Building Symposium,
June 26-27 in Washington, DC.
Funding Opportunity: OFN announced their
NEXT Fund for Innovation, a pilot that will provide flexible capital in amounts ranging from $500,000 to $2 million to CDFIs with innovative ideas. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis now through
June 30, 2017. The fund is open to all qualifying CDFIs, including non-OFN Members and past NEXT Awards recipients.
Grant Opportunity: The USDA is seeking applications for
technical assistance and training grants in the Community Facilities program. Learn more from the
Federal Register Notice. The deadline is
July 24, 2017.
New Report: SBA Office of Advocacy has a new report – “
Women’s Business Ownership: Data from the 2012 Survey of Business Owners” – that shows the major economic contribution of women-owned businesses, in spite of their average smaller size when compared to male-owned firms.]]>
