Stories

CDFIs

  • Martin Eakes: Income Inequality and Beginning of Self Help

    Martin Eakes is co-founder and CEO of Self Help Credit Union and the Center for Responsible Lending. He holds a law degree from Yale, a master's from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs at Princeton, and a bachelor's degree from Davidson College. A native of North Carolina, Eakes is a nationally recognized expert on development finance and has been honored by the John D. and Catherine...

  • Martin Eakes: Challenging the Status Quo

    Martin Eakes is co-founder and CEO of Self Help Credit Union and the Center for Responsible Lending. He holds a law degree from Yale, a master's from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs at Princeton, and a bachelor's degree from Davidson College. A native of North Carolina, Eakes is a nationally recognized expert on development finance and has been honored by the John D. and Catherine...

  • Preserving the Social Fabric: Southern CDFIs

    A new survey is shining a harsh spotlight on the urgent need for non-predatory financial services in the South. A recent Gallup poll found minority-owned businesses face tougher challenges obtaining loans. The study, commissioned by Wells Fargo, found that 77 percent of black business owners use their own personal cash to finance their businesses, and 47 percent of black-owned businesses are...

    Ines Polonius
  • Investing in the American Dream

    Speaking on the panel, "Social Investing: So What is a CDFI and Why Are They Important to Communities?" at the Southeastern Council of Foundation 's Annual Meeting, Grace Fricks, CEO of ACE Loans told the audience, "The American Dream isn't possible for any of us if it's not possible for low-income people."
    Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) like...
  • Community Development Financial Institutions: A Study on Growth and Sustainability

    The Babcock Foundation occasionally commissions learning papers to increase our board and staff knowledge of various pathways out of poverty, with a focus on the Southeastern United States. This study was released in June 2011 to inform organizational thinking about the challenges and opportunities facing community development financial institutions (CDFIs).

    CDFIs are for-...