Possibility Finance Community Gets Most significant Grant in 35-Calendar year Record from Wells Fargo

$25M grant will target racial prosperity gap and persistent poverty by Finance Justice Fund

WASHINGTON, Jun 17, 2021–(Organization WIRE)–Possibility Finance Network (OFN) introduced that Wells Fargo is committing a $25 million grant to its Finance Justice Fund to assist deal with systemic barriers to cash in communities around the nation. Managed by Option Finance Network, the Finance Justice Fund aims to handle the racial wealth gap and persistent poverty by delivering funding by way of group development economical institutions (CDFIs) to Black, Latinx, Native, rural, and other communities with fewer entry to common financial products and services.

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Option Finance Community receives biggest grant in its background from Wells Fargo to help the Finance Justice Fund serving diverse communities. (Graphic: Wells Fargo)

“Wells Fargo’s historic grant contribution sets a precedent for organizations trying to find to make an impression in minimal-profits and underserved communities. CDFIs can offer you the highest impact packages when debt cash is coupled with grants that allow them to establish their ability and web property. This grant implies that CDFIs will be equipped to go further into their communities to serve a lot more people today and neighborhoods,” said Lisa Mensah, president and CEO of OFN.

“Rising small organizations, supporting economical housing developers, and revitalizing financial corridors enrich communities for the extended time period,” claimed Bill Daley, vice chairman of General public Affairs at Wells Fargo. “We’ve prolonged recognized the abilities of CDFIs obtaining engaged OFN via our Varied Neighborhood Funds application and now with our Open for Enterprise Fund. The Finance Justice Fund is a pure evolution of our deep collaboration with OFN and appreciation for the purpose CDFIs participate in in the economic system.”

Purpose of the Finance Justice Fund

CDFIs will acquire awards from the Finance Justice Fund to increase lending and deliver small business advisory support to small organizations. The Wells Fargo grant will help OFN deploy the Finance Justice Fund debt as it catalyzes its extended-term, reduced-expense, flexible funds and accelerates the do the job of OFN member CDFIs in communities of coloration, rural marketplaces, and locations of persistent poverty. OFN envisions that when the Finance Justice Fund achieves its purpose of $1 billion in capital, the fund will support funding close to $420 million for tiny companies, $420 million for very affordable housing, $70 million for client and other money assist, and $90 million for neighborhood services in those people marketplaces.

Wells Fargo investment in CDFIs

Wells Fargo has a record of working with CDFIs and OFN. From 2015 to 2021, Wells Fargo supplied CDFIs who had been expanding their lending to Black, Latinx, and other numerous compact firms with far more than $80 million in credit card debt and much more than $94 million in grant money through the Varied Neighborhood Cash method. This initiative designed cash, know-how, and infrastructure for these CDFIs, strengthening them for the very long phrase and enabling them to mobilize speedier to meet the unanticipated demand from customers from small enterprises for the duration of the pandemic. In addition, the Wells Fargo Next Awards for Opportunity Finance awarded the nation’s most promising CDFIs much more than $76 million from 2007 to 2016.

This $25 million grant is section of Wells Fargo’s Open for Organization Fund, a around $420 million modest company recovery energy. By way of May possibly 31, 2021, the Open up for Business Fund is projected to arrive at roughly 35,000 small companies, helping them retain just about 90,000 work.

About OFN

Possibility Finance Network, the national community of CDFIs, strives to ensure very low-cash flow and other under-resourced communities have entry to economical, accountable fiscal goods and companies. Users of OFN are CDFIs that produce responsible lending to enable reduced-profits communities be part of the financial mainstream. By way of 2019, OFN’s network originated $82.7 billion in funding in rural, city, and Native communities. This financing has helped to build or sustain more than 1,751,000 jobs, start or broaden 448,541 corporations and microenterprises, and help the progress or rehabilitation of additional than 2,148,000 housing units and more than 12,000 local community facility assignments.

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Firm (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified, neighborhood-based mostly economic companies firm with $1.92 trillion in assets. Wells Fargo’s eyesight is to satisfy our customers’ economical needs and assistance them triumph fiscally. Established in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo gives banking, investment, and mortgage loan merchandise and companies, as nicely as purchaser and business finance, by way of 7,200 destinations, much more than 13,000 ATMs, the web (wellsfargo.com) and cellular banking, and has offices in 31 international locations and territories to help clients who carry out business enterprise in the international economic system. Wells Fargo serves one particular in a few homes in the United States. Wells Fargo & Enterprise was ranked No. 30 on Fortune’s 2020 rankings of America’s most significant businesses. News, insights, and views from Wells Fargo are also out there at Wells Fargo Tales.

Additional information and facts could be found at www.wellsfargo.com | Twitter: @WellsFargo.

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Contacts

Courtney Holsworth, (989) 572-8162
[email protected] (OFN)

Kim Erlichson, (201) 463-4243
[email protected]