A Great Start to a Great New Year
A Great Start to a Great New Year
On January 11, BCNA celebrated the New Year with a gala Sri Lankan lunch prepared by BCNA client, chef Raj Perera and his wife Nishani at their excellent restaurant, the Banana Leaf.
The celebration also marked BCNA’s third anniversary as an autonomous non-profit and an opportunity to honor our outgoing Board President Dan 
Delehanty, Vice President of Community Development Banking at Capital One.
We were joined by our new Board Chair, Harriet Joynes, CFO at the Support Center for Non Profit Management, founding Board Member Peter Brest, CFO at Met Council for Jewish Poverty, and Board Member Jill Kelly, Citi Community Development Deputy Regional Director for New York & Connecticut.
It was a chance to enjoy ourselves with good friends but also to reflect on what BCNA has been able to accomplish since our transition from a department at NYANA, our parent organization, to an independent and relevant economic development entity. We have:
- Disbursed 546 microloans for a total of $2,398,450 ( $8,547,650 since 1998)
- Created approximately 125 full time & 45 part time jobs
- Assisted 1675 businesses with one-on-one counseling and/ or business workshops
- Enrolled 156 families & 155 individuals in BCNA’s Individual Development Account Program for Refugees
- Disbursed $546,246 in match funds
We were also happy that several of our strategic partners and advisors could join us, including: Foulis Peacock of Immpreneur.com; Chuck Roberts of Durobi; Sean Basinski of the Street Vendor’s Project; Ted Berger of New York Creates; Karen Seiger, author of Markets of New York City; Bahar Eratac of the Fund for the City of New York; and Mary Lynn Halland of Consulting Resources.
We could not have achieved what we have without the help of everyone who joined us as well as many other generous Board Members, advisers, and supporters.
Here’s to a prosperous and successful year!
