Posted by:
Steve Dubb
Awards offer snapshots of community wealth building innovation
This summer the nonprofit CFED (formerly, Corporation for Enterprise Development) launched its first class of Innovative Ideas Champions. The program aims to support “ideas and policies, products and practices that will help Americans build wealth, bring about greater social equity, alleviate poverty and lead to a more sustainable economy.” A conference highlighting the efforts of CFED’s first set of Innovators-in-Residence and Innovative Idea Champions will be held at its first annual Innovation Summit on October 29th (Registration costs $190). Some of those recognized are university professors or consultants, but a large number of those recognized hail from community-based organizations. A half dozen of the selected Innovators-in-Residence and Innovative Idea Champions (out of a total 16 so recognized, along with another 20 who are designated as Idea Engineers) are profiled briefly below.
Stacey Epperson is executive director of Frontier Housing, a Kentucky-based community development corporation, has been named as one of four Innovator-in-Residences at CFED. Epperson is aiming to launch a new business distributing high-quality manufactured homes to nonprofits nationwide to serve local customers.
Janie Barrera is executive director of Acción Texas, a community development financial institution (CDFI) and leading micro-lender, which to date has made over 9,500 loans with a total value of over $77 million to small businesses. Barrera is being recognized by CFED for her work “to create a platform for standardization, technology and volume that will significantly boost the capacity of microloan funds to inject capital into microbusinesses.”
Allison Kelly is a Director at Pacific Community Ventures, a community development venture capital fund (another form of CDFI). In her position as Statewide Director of Employee OnRamp Initiatives, Kelly oversees entrepreneurial initiatives in areas such as healthcare, banking, and asset building that create new opportunities for both small businesses and their employees. CFED is recognizing Kelly for her work to combine “employee benefits with negotiating buying power to create a stored value card, making health care more affordable for low-wage workers.”
Ramón León and John Flory both work for Latino Economic Development Center, a nonprofit that has developed cooperatively owned public markets in Minneapolis. León is Founder and Executive Director of the organization, while Flory is Director of Special Projects. Léon and Flory are being recognized for “Creating cooperative markets owned by small business people from the local community that energize communities and create economic vitality and jobs.”
José Quiñonez is executive director of Mission Asset Fund in San Francisco, which employs a cross-sectoral approach to wealth building that combines cooperatives with matched savings accounts, financial education, and other forms of individual wealth building. Quiñonez is being recognized for his work in San Francisco’s Latino community, “Using cultural practices to design financial products that build assets for people not connected to the conventional banking system.”
Henry Red Cloud is head of Lakota Solar Enterprises, a 100-percent tribal owned business that is providing Lakota employees with green collar jobs. Red Cloud is being recognized for, “Creating renewable energy applications that are simple, money-saving and easy to bring to large numbers of underserved households, focusing on Native American communities.”