In this Must Know…
- CAMEO Network at NALCAB Conference
- Join the “Know Your Rights – Immigrant Businesses and ICE” Train-the-Trainer on September 30, 2025
- 2025 MBO State of Independence Study
- Join Microlending Essentials on October 6-10, 2025
- Encourage your clients to complete the Federal Reserve’s 2025 Small Business Credit Survey
- This week’s Goodie Highlight is the news that the CDFI Fund will release a Supplemental Application to the FY25 FA awards TODAY, with a deadline of October 27, 2025.
CAMEO at NALCAB Conference
CAMEO Network CEO, Carolina Martinez, and other staff members were in Nashville last week for the 2025 NALCAB Conference.
Heidi Pickman, VP of Engagement and External Relations, joined MEDA’s Rebeca Patino for Rethinking Small Business Lending Through Community, Character and Trust. They discussed character-based lending as an alternative to the traditional ways of assessing creditworthiness, emphasizing the program’s 97.5% repayment rate and its impact on under-resourced entrepreneurs.
Heidi and Rebecca’s session demonstrated the interest among CDFIs to expand or start their character-based lending programs. For those organizations, the session led by Chief Programs Officer Emily Gasner and CDFI Programs Director Douglas Craven was the perfect follow-up. With MILES Ahead: Building Strong Underwriting Practices for Impact-Driven Microlending, they offered a strong introduction to the essentials of microlending.
Finally, our Sr. Program Manager for the CDFI Shared Services Center, Adriana Williams, participated in the session on Safeguarding Small Business Client Data from Online Threats.
If you want to learn more about any of these topics, reply to this email.
Train-the-Trainer: KYR-Immigrant Businesses & ICE
Join the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of San Francisco for the Train the Trainer webinar “Know Your Rights – Immigrant Businesses and ICE” on September 30, 2025 at 10:00am PT. Designed for California organizations, this session will prepare you to train entrepreneurs and workers on their legal rights during ICE interactions. Gain tools and practice to deliver your own trainings and help protect immigrants in our business community.
State of Independence Study
MBO Partners has released the 2025 State of Independence Study, marking 15 years of tracking the growth of the U.S. independent workforce. The report highlights that independence is now a mainstream career path—chosen by 63% of workers and delivering financial, emotional, and strategic rewards. With 72.9 million independents, rising incomes, growing use of AI, and Gen Z making up 28% of the workforce, independence is here to stay.
The Goodies
CDFI Fund News
- The CDFI Fund is accepting extension requests for the CDFI Certification Application Window 2. The submission deadline is September 30, 2025.
- The CDFI Fund will release a Supplemental Application to the FY25 FA awards TODAY, with a deadline of October 27, 2025.
New Resources
- Read Nonprofit PRO‘s article about the “Legal and Ethical Risks of Using AI in Grant Reporting.”
- Read former CFPB staffer Andrew Green’s recent column in Open Banker, “Algorithmic Fairness in Lending: How Should We Measure Fairness?”
Other Goodies
- Professional Development: Registration for NCRC’s 2026 Just Economy Conference on April 14-15, 2026 in Washington, DC is now open.
- Jobs: TMC Community Capital, Working Solutions, NCRC, and UC Berkeley announced new jobs recently. See who else is hiring!