OFN Finance Justice Fund Welcomes New Partners, Reaches $111 Million in Capital Deployed to More than 40 CDFIs

Caroline Valvardi

May 25, 2022 –

OFN is pleased to announce two longtime OFN partners have joined as new investors in the Finance Justice Fund — the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and PNC.

With support from Finance Justice Fund partners, including Twitter, Wells Fargo, Truist, Focusing Philanthropy, MacArthur Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, JPMorgan Chase, and now the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and PNC, the Finance Justice Fund aims to bring more than $1 billion in long-term, flexible capital to CDFIs to address longstanding disinvestment issues, the racial wealth gap, and persistent poverty nationwide.

OFN congratulates the latest Finance Justice Fund recipients:

Business Consortium Fund provides capital to National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) certified businesses who have been underserved by the greater lending community by enabling them to obtain necessary financing on reasonable terms.
Florida Community Loan Fund is a mission-based nonprofit organization dedicated to improving low-income communities throughout Florida by delivering flexible financing and staff expertise.
The Genesis Fund provides innovative financing by soliciting investment loans from individuals, churches, corporations, and foundations, and then re-lending the money at favorable terms to nonprofit organizations developing affordable housing and community facilities for underserved people and communities throughout Maine and beyond.
Redbud Financial Alternatives, Inc. provides equitable consumer financial products that help clients achieve housing and overall financial stability. Redbud also fosters, facilitates, and promotes economic development among underserved populations by building the financial capability of its community members.

As of April 30, 2022, OFN has closed 42 loans totaling $103.8 million and disbursed 39 grants totaling $7.3 million to our member CDFIs across the country. Visit OFN’s website to see the full list of CDFIs that have received Finance Justice Fund loans and grants to date.

Launched in November 2020, Twitter was the first investor in the Finance Justice Fund with a $100 million debt investment and $1 million grant. In June 2021, Wells Fargo joined as a philanthropic supporter of the Fund with a $25 million grant, followed by an announcement of $23 million committed by Truist, Focusing Philanthropy, MacArthur Foundation, and W.K. Kellogg Foundation. JPMorgan Chase also committed a $20 million debt investment and a $2.4 million grant in 2021.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s new $10 million debt investment and $1 million grant, along with PNC’s new $10 million equity equivalent (EQ2) investment and $10 million debt issuance, mark more than $200 million raised for the Finance Justice Fund to date.

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Corporations and philanthropies interested in investing in the Finance Justice Fund, please contact Beth Lipson, CFO at OFN.

CDFIs interested in learning more about the Finance Justice Fund, visit OFN’s Finance Justice Fund page or contact Lisa Wright, senior vice president of financial services.

Photo: Youth from Young Aspiring Americans for Social and Political Activism (YAASPA) in Denver, CO; supported with funding from Finance Justice Fund recipient DreamSpring