Our Mission

Accompany Capital creates a pathway to prosperity for New York area immigrant, refugee, and underserved entrepreneurs, supporting them as they launch and grow their businesses with access to affordable credit, financial education, and training in technology and best business practices.

At Accompany Capital, we believe in the energy, productivity and impact contributed by entrepreneurs who have come to New York to launch new lives and new businesses. For more than 20 years, we have provided strategic financial and capacity-building services developed with a focus on the needs of immigrants and refugees. We understand the challenges involved in starting and running a business, establishing credit, and navigating through rules and regulations, while learning to adapt to a new country and culture. We work individually with each client, in their own language whenever possible, providing them with not only the capital they need, but also the caring support and guidance that have become synonymous with who we are.

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CORE VALUES

At Accompany Capital, we value the trust our clients place in us as we support – and join them – on their financial journeys. Here are the principles at the core of what we do every day, to help us earn, and keep that trust.

Clients First – We are passionately committed to each individual client’s success: our financial and support services were developed – and evolve – to best benefit the needs of immigrants, refugees, and clients.

Equal Opportunity – We believe that every American, no matter where they’re from, deserves an opportunity to achieve financial self-sufficiency through equal access to capital, financial education, and services.

Inclusivity – We welcome, understand, and support clients from all cultures, languages and backgrounds because we ourselves bring a wealth of diverse cultures, experiences, and perspectives.

Integrity – We hold ourselves to the highest professional and ethical standards and value the trust we’ve earned from clients, partners, colleagues, and funders.

Relevancy – We constantly seek and develop new creative solutions for our clients’ evolving needs, fine-tuning of our services and processes by implementing new approaches, best practices, and new technology.

OUR TEAM

Accompany Capital is about people. Many of us were born in foreign countries ourselves so we understand the challenges that many of our clients face. We speak 14 different languages and dialects which allows us give our clients the personal, one-on-one counseling and support they deserve, as well as access to the resources they need to succeed and thrive.

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Our History

Founded in 1997 as the Business Center for New Americans, Accompany Capital was originally part of the New York Association for New Americans, an organization created in 1949 to resettle World War II refugees.

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NYANA, which was the largest refugee and immigrant services agency in the U.S., assisting more than 500,000 immigrants from 145 countries achieve economic self-sufficiency and social integration, closed in 2009, after resettling the last of the WWII refugees. But BCNA – which was created with a grant from the American Express Foundation to provide advice to refugees who were interested in starting a business – continued and has grown steadily over the years.

In our first year of operation, we made three loans, totaling $30,000 dollars. As of June 2024, we have now made 5,009 loans, totaling more than $65.6 million dollars and over 1,700 refugees have participated in our Individual Development Account (IDA) Program, investing more than $24 million dollars from savings, matching funds and loans for education, home ownership and small businesses.

From inception we offered important financial literacy workshops to our clients but in 2007 we expanded our offerings to include workshops in business skills and marketing, including via new digital and smartphone platforms and technologies.

In 2012, we added a second office in Jackson Heights, to serve the thriving small business community in Queens and we have more than doubled our staff to expand our ability to serve clients in every borough.

And in 2020 we became Accompany Capital to reflect our promise to our clients: that we not only provide capital for starting and growing small businesses, we are with them every step of the way on their financial journey.

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Our Team

Yanki Tshering's Photo'

Yanki Tshering

Executive Director
[email protected]
Languages: English, Tibetan and Nepali
Jessica Martin's Photo'

Jessica Martin

Director of Portfolio Management and Investor Relations
[email protected]
Calvin Fletcher's Photo'

Calvin Fletcher

Manager of Refugee Program & Loan Officer
[email protected]
Francess Smith's Photo'

Francess Smith

Asset Development Specialist
[email protected]
Languages: English, French, Creole
Tshering Gurung's Photo'

Tshering Gurung

Director of Business Development and Training
[email protected]
Languages: English, Nepali, Hindi, Nyeshang and Tibetan
Maria Paulino's Photo'

Maria Paulino

Director of Small Business Lending, Director of Women's Entrepreneurship Program
[email protected]
Languages: English and Spanish
Zachariah Logan's Photo'

Zachariah Logan

Loan Officer
[email protected]
Languages: English and African dialects of Liberian Coloqua, Bassa and Kru
Roberto Evans's Photo'

Roberto Evans

Data Specialist/Credit Bureau Alliance Master Trainer
[email protected]
Languages: English, Spanish and French
Paula Libreros's Photo'

Paula Libreros

Loss Mitigation Officer and M/WBE Certification Specialist
[email protected]
Languages: English and Spanish
Jason Kohl's Photo'

Jason Kohl

Director of the SBA Community Advantage Program
[email protected]
Tsetan Dekyi's Photo'

Tsetan Dekyi

Coordinator of Operations, Queens office
[email protected]
Languages: English, Hindi, Tibetan
Neeraj Gupta's Photo'

Neeraj Gupta

Senior Loan Officer
[email protected]
Languages: English and Hindi
Cristina Garcia's Photo'

Cristina Garcia

Program Assistant
[email protected]
Languages: English and Spanish
Cheick A. Diallo's Photo'

Cheick A. Diallo

Loan Officer
[email protected]
Languages: English, French, Pular, Sousou, and Malinké
Claire Gohorel's Photo'

Claire Gohorel

Senior Manager of Development and Grants Administration
[email protected]
Michael Merzenin's Photo'

Michael Merzenin

Loan Associate and Lead Management Specialist
[email protected]
Languages: English, Russian

Our Board of Directors

Kwame Marfo's Photo'

Kwame Marfo

Board Chair
Africa Empowerment Fund
Michelle Danso's Photo'

Michelle Danso

Board Secretary
Man Group PLC
Tim Zhakselekov's Photo'

Tim Zhakselekov

Board Treasurer
Customers Bank
Larry Rubenstein's Photo'

Larry Rubenstein

Audit Chair
Rubenstein Advisory, LLC
Peter Brest's Photo'

Peter Brest

Board Member
Housing & Human Services Consultant
Joan Carty's Photo'

Joan Carty

Board Member
Housing and Development Fund, CT
Kate Hao's Photo'

Kate Hao

Board Member
Happy Mango
Victoria Khodosh's Photo'

Victoria Khodosh

Board Member
Management Consultant
Dave Sidhu's Photo'

Dave Sidhu

Board Member
AD Capital
Carolina Simon's Photo'

Carolina Simon

Marketing and Branding Chair
Hudson's Bay Company
Yanki Tshering's Photo'

Yanki Tshering

Board Member
Accompany Capital
Yanki Tshering

Our Annual Reports

2022 Report

  • 204 loans were awarded for a total of $5,994,413, 69% of which went to immigrants and 21% to refugees
  • 756 attendees participated in our 46 online workshops on topics including Quickbooks, Business Taxes, and Digital Marketing
  • 141 jobs were created with our help in a difficult recovery environment and 831 jobs were retained
2021 Report
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2021 Report

  • $13,000,000+ in Covid Relief was secured for small businesses
  • 319 loans were awarded for a total of $7,219,523, 63% of which went to immigrants and 13% to refugees
  • 1,059 businesses received a wide range of technical assistance with best small business practices, pro-bono legal lease assistance, and safe technology for financial transactions
  • 824 attendees participated in our 33 online workshops on topics including Quickbooks, Business Taxes, and Digital Marketing
  • 99 jobs were created with our help in a difficult recovery environment and 1,380 jobs were retained
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2020 Report
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2020 Report

  • 436 loans were awarded, totaling $6,840,617
  • 164 of those loans were PPP loans, totaling $2,091,262
  • 449 micro-business and 6 small business clients received $1,190,781 in debt relief for SBA-funded loans through the CARES Act
  • 26 businesses applied and, with our assistance, qualified for $1,400,000 in SBA disaster relief loans.
  • 874 businesses received a wide range of technical assistance services including developing business reopening plans, business plan development, applying for COVID-relief, connection to pro-bono legal assistance to negotiate with landlords, and instruction using technology safely for financial transactions
  • 824 attendees participated in our 35 workshops and webinars on topics including COVID-19 Relief Funding and Digital Marketing
  • 219 jobs were created with our help and 1,032 jobs were retained
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2019 Report
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2019 Report

  • 338 new microloans were awarded with a total value of $4,641,450. We helped 34 businesses start and 658 businesses expand & strengthen.
  • 34 workshops were provided, serving 501 attendees
  • 821 small businesses received a wide range of technical assistance services including individual coaching, business plan development, connection to expertise, and small group instruction
  • 175 jobs were created and 974 jobs were retained
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2018 Report
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2018 Report

  • 366 new microloans were awarded with a total value of $3,400,017. The average loan was $9,290. We helped 49 businesses start and 623 businesses expand & strengthen.
  • 34 workshops were provided, serving 386 attendees
  • 674 small businesses received a wide range of technical assistance services including individual coaching, business plan development, connection to expertise, and small group instruction
  • 206 jobs were created and 845 jobs were retained
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2017 Report
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2017 Report

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2016 Report
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2016 Report

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2015 Report
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2015 Report

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2014 Report
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2014 Report

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2013 Report
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2013 Report

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2012 Report
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2012 Report

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2011 Report
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2011 Report

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