FUND CI conducted research to identify the best practices of CDFIs that are recognized as being ahead of the curve in fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion both internally and externally. The purpose is to share both innovative and replicable practices for use by other CDFIs in advancing their own diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces.
Resource Category: Minorities
Inequity in Small Business Lending
Better-qualified black and Hispanic testers who shopped for small business loans at Los Angeles area bank branches were treated worse than less qualified white testers, a new study found.
The study, from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), also found steep declines in government-backed lending to black business owners between 2008 and 2016.
Latino Economic Well-Being in CA
In this report, we provide an up-to-date overview of the current economic conditions for Latinos, focused on the four key relating factors of income distribution, education, housing, and entrepreneurship. The report establishes a baseline of data that can be used to measure Latino economic progress over time. We also introduce the Latino Economic Index (LEI) that provides a visual data snapshot of Latino economic well-being at the regional and community level in California. With this index, we explore geographic hot spots of opportunity and identify areas that call for the most urgent investment and policy outcomes.
Small Businesses after The Great Recession
Small businesses are essential to the economic infrastructure of both lower-income and higher-income neighborhoods. In this report, we compare small business performance in lower-income vs higher-income areas. Findings offer some directions for growing small businesses in LMI and ethnic/minority neighborhoods.
The Future of Banking
This report is based on research findings from focus groups and interviews. The focus groups were conducted with LMI individuals in Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Diego, and the interviews were done with policy experts, regulators and representatives from the financial services sector. In sharing their experiences with the financial system, we have identified common challenges encountered by LMI consumers of color, and offer recommendations to address on-going barriers to financial inclusion.
Entrepreneurship in Communities of Color
This guide gives ecosystem builders and local developers an overview of key concepts and general recommendations on how to use entrepreneurship ecosystem building to develop high-growth entrepreneurship in communities of color. The information in this guide was compiled through conversations with industry leaders, prior research and current ecosystem builders who have designed and led successful inclusive ecosystem building strategies in communities of color.
Small Business, Big Dreams
Small Business, Big Dreams profiles nine National CAPACD members that serve AAPI small business clients in low-income communities across the country. The work of these community-based organizations is critical to maintaining and promoting the vitality of AAPI neighborhoods. This report provides a more nuanced narrative about the challenges to wealth building through entrepreneurship in low-income AAPI communities.
Shaping Small Business Lending Policy
With limited financial sophistication, entrepreneurial consumers approach the financial marketplace more like retail financial consumers than like business customers. However, an assumption of both legislators and regulators is that business borrowers are more financially savvy than consumer borrowers and thus do not require protections that are as broad reaching. This gap between marketplace policy protections and the lived reality of the vast majority of small business entrepreneurs sets the stage for entrepreneurial consumers to fall through the regulatory cracks, creating the potential for exploitation and abuse. This situation may be exacerbated for minority entrepreneurs, who belong to protected classes that generally are more vulnerable to exploitation in marketplaces, including the small business lending marketplace. This article details the current status of the policy gap relative to minority entrepreneurial consumers and presents a matched-pair mystery shopping study to demonstrate the critical need for reliable, primary data to inform regulatory agencies as they work to implement appropriate protections to ensure equal access to credit across the small business lending marketplace.
2019 Prosperity Now Scorecard
The Prosperity Now Scorecard is a comprehensive resource for data on household financial health, racial economic inequality and policy recommendations to help put everyone in our country on a path to prosperity.
Lending in Underserved Markets
The contribution and importance of small businesses to the nation’s economy is well-researched and understood; for minority-owned small businesses, the impact and significance are even greater. Not only do minority-owned small businesses help drive job creation, raise wages, and elevate better standards of living, they also offer a critical pathway for Black and Hispanic populations to close the racial wealth gap. An increase in entrepreneurship among people of color can create income for both entrepreneurs and the people of color who work at the businesses. Yet, starting a new firm or growing an established business requires capital, and Black and Hispanic businesses have higher barriers to accessing capital.