It’s been said the key to long-term success is diversifying one’s assets. For most people, this usually means making changes to one’s investment portfolio. For a region, this can involve developing different natural and manmade resources. For an industry, creating various revenue streams can help quell the effect of market forces on any one asset.
For CEF, diversification relates not just to the funding sources for our loan portfolio but how we serve diverse borrowers and communities, recruit and hire passionate staff, and obtain dedicated board members.
Being intentional
At the 30th Annual Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) conference this month in Denver, our community development financial institution (CDFI) industry addressed the importance of diversity, inclusion and equity in our collective work. These values were the impetus for our CDFI-industry 30 years ago and are core to our purpose of achieving equal opportunity and economic justice for all. We were challenged to be intentional about asking ourselves some hard questions:
After the conference, I traveled to Nashville with the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Exchange program. We learned about the similarities between our cities: they are both magnets for millennials, entrepreneurial hubs and economic boomtowns. I was gratified to see that amidst its growing prosperity, Nashville, like Denver, is “being intentional” about inclusion and equity by providing affordable housing, access to health care, and innovative education models so that people of diverse social and economic backgrounds can move upward without being left behind.
Being accountable
CEF is doing our part to incorporate the values of diversity, inclusion and equity more deliberately into our recent strategic plan and day-to-day operations. Internally, our Assistant Director of Lending, Alan Ramirez, was recently promoted to Director. We are working to hire a Commercial Loan Processor/Closer with fluency in Spanish to serve our minority borrowers more effectively. And we continue to partner with community organizations like NEWSED, Mi Casa Resource Center and Latino Chamber of Boulder County to ensure that minority and lower income entrepreneurs have access to our small business financing options.
But we can do more. Last week, we held an all-staff workshop to brainstorm ways to enhance our accountability to these values (click here to see the photo in our online staff album). We look forward to sharing our progress with you in the months to come and encourage your efforts to make our communities more diverse, inclusive and equitable for all.
Warm regards,
Ceyl Prinster
Diversity in action
MIchael Miera said:
Ceyl, I appreciate your words on diversity.
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Success and prosperity for all
Janie Barrera said:
Congratulations on a great year!
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Borrower Buzz: The Crunchy Grocer - Healthy Eating
Shahriar khan said:
Great tips and very easy to understand. This will definitely be very useful for me when I get a chan ...
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Borrower Buzz: The Crunchy Grocer - Healthy Eating
Alisa said:
Here are some other websites with more info: http://livewellcolorado.org/healthy-living
https://www. ...
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Borrower Buzz: The Crunchy Grocer - Healthy Eating
Alisa said:
Thanks Shahriar for your kind comments. The best source for healthy living content would be The Crun ...
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