OFN Announces CCIA Program Launch 

 OFN’s initial program details and pre-application requirements are available now.    

Read time: 3 minutes

It’s official.  

OFN’s Clean Community Investment Accelerator (CCIA) program will launch on October 10! 

We are proud to launch this program with a pilot round of capitalization and technical assistance funding as well as our Nascent Climate Lender Training. 

The success of this federal initiative was placed on the shoulders of community lenders. This was the fullest recognition of the fact that in order to leave no community behind, community lenders are needed. 

OFN’s strategy is to be member-forward. We will test and learn to ensure a great member experience. We will build member climate lending capacity with tailored resources and programming. We will help our members participate in CCIA by de-mystifying the process with timely information, guidance, support, and other tools.  

OFN held a launch webinar last week, and we reviewed many of these topics, including: 

• The purpose of OFN’s CCIA program and launch strategy 
• Program eligibility requirements 
• Program timeline 
• Pilot application process details (funding and training) 
• Associated tools and resources for prospective applicants and sub-awardees 

Our launch involves a pilot round of capitalization and technical assistance funding for a limited cohort of OFN member applicants this fall (Not an OFN member? Join here). Based on that testing and learning, we will refine the application process for the first full application period in early 2025. Members who are not ready for climate funding now — but are ready to level-up their capacity — may apply for our Nascent Climate Lender Training pilot, a six-month program to accelerate your organization’s journey to becoming an emerging climate lender.  

Over the coming year, our strategy is to test, learn, build, scale, and support. 

The pilot round is an important part of that. It will lay the foundation for capital deployment and training over this six-year program. 

We encourage all members and stakeholders to review our webinar materials and additional support materials below: 

• CCIA launch webinar recording 
• CCIA launch webinar slide deck 
• CCIA project eligibility summary 
• Climate Lending Practitioner Resource Library (requires FREE CDFI Connect account) 

If you need to catch up, please watch our CCIA 101 webinar. 

Our work to finance a clean and just energy transition is ramping up, and we remain inspired by a future where American families will enjoy lower energy costs, cleaner air, good jobs, and revitalized communities. We look forward to sharing more about our progress as we continue our rollout.  

We are working to anticipate and respond to your questions. Please check our program FAQs regularly for updates or visit climate.ofn.org.  

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Tags: Green or Climate Finance, Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, OFN Membership