OFN’s annual Small Business Finance Forum: Capital Meets Purpose

This summer we traveled to the Windy City for the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) Small Business Finance Forum, a gathering for mission-driven small business lenders. Held in Chicago June 12-14, 2024, this event was the forum’s biggest year yet with more than 600 lenders and partners attending. The inspiring program  included 24 breakout sessions, 10 networking sessions, and a tour of CDFI-funded businesses in Chicago’s Pullman neighborhood.

The forum opened with a conversation between OFN’s new president and CEO, Harold Pettigrew Jr., and SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman. More than 20 breakout sessions then focused on small business research, impact, partnerships, product innovations, and public policy, among other topics.

We were particularly pleased to have participated in a timely and important panel – Internships, Outreach, and Indeed: Practical Solutions for Recruiting Diverse Candidates to Your CDFI.

Excellently moderated by Megan Teare, Managing Director of Wells Fargo Community Lending and Investment, and sponsored by the CDFI Women’s Network, the panelists shared their organizational successes and learnings to provide practical approaches for recruiting and retaining diverse candidates and employees.

Panelists included Accompany Capital Executive Director Yanki Tshering; Annika King, Economic Development Program Officer at LISC; Tamara Frye, OFN’s Senior Vice President Human Resources; and Melania DaSilva-Deaver, Principal, Broadview Talent Partners.

King highlighted LISC’s unique internship program, which started with the premise that individuals from within a community are best positioned to make decisions about that community. Drawing students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), it provides them with training and mentorship, then places them at LISC or a CDFI partner. Given that many CDFI staff members do not reflect the communities in which they work, this program helps to bridge that gap by increasing representation and therefore building trust with the  institutions.

Accompany Capital’s Yanki Tshering noted that, given that HR professionals are often the gate keepers to hiring, philanthropists or OFN itself should consider investing in the training of HR professionals from diverse backgrounds, for the CDFI sector. She also mentioned that many of Accompany Capital’s staff members, as immigrants and small business owners themselves, bring lived experience and cultural knowledge to their borrowers.

Tamara Frye added that OFN is currently growing its staff substantially and Frye highlighted a recent exercise to grow staff thoughtfully rather than just adding numbers: departments were tasked with identifying critical skills that were missing and hiring those who could bring these skills. She asked session attendees to consider how they are creating artificial barriers in the hiring process that unnecessarily limit their pool of applicants, such as requiring a college degree instead of experience.

While the CDFI sector, more often than not, attracts people who are dedicated to, and excited about, improving the economic well-being in low to moderate income communities, it is more important than ever to create a healthy pipeline of well-trained candidates who live in and understand the needs of the communities they are serving. To our credit, the sector is challenging itself to do even more to ensure that we have diversity, retain talent, and invest in individuals from the communities.

Melania DaSiva-Deaver also highlighted the strategic use of succession planning to cultivate diverse leadership, engaging stakeholders in decision-making to prepare internal hires for open positions, addressing talent and skill gaps through targeted development or recruitment, fostering a culture of meritocracy rather than tenure-based promotions, and nurturing high performers to develop the next generation of leaders.

With a wide array of speakers, panels and conversations, it was a terrific forum. Maria Paulino summed it up perfectly saying: “We had a great time connecting with colleagues at OFN, meeting new ones, and learning about best practices and new initiatives to support small business owners!”

We all came away with new knowledge and perspectives and a refreshed and inspired commitment to continue to find new ways to support the communities and the clients we serve.