Opportunity Finance
Opportunity finance refers to socially responsible investing by an institution in an organization or group of individuals. Usage of the term The Opportunity Finance Network, a Philadelphia-based national umbrella group of 213 community development financial institution (CDFIs) founded in 1995, defines the term as "a category of financing that helps people and communities just outside the margins of conventional, mainstream finance join the economic mainstream—and helps the economic mainstream enter emerging opportunity markets." It is closely related to microfinance, but tends to occur on a larger scale and be more explicitly concerned with social benefit. The concept of opportunity finance has gained increased traction in recent years, both from political movements and economic necessity. The current economic climate in the United States has raised the demand for creative financing even for established businesses, as traditional bank loans for nonprofits and small busin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Socially Responsible Investing
Socially responsible investing (SRI), social investment, sustainable socially conscious, "green" or ethical investing, is any investment strategy which seeks to consider both financial return and social/environmental good to bring about social change regarded as positive by proponents. Socially responsible investments often constitute a small percentage of total funds invested by corporations and are riddled with obstacles. Recently, it has also become known as " sustainable investing" or "responsible investing". There is also a subset of SRI known as "impact investing", devoted to the conscious creation of social impact through investment. In general, socially responsible investors encourage corporate practices that they believe promote environmental stewardship, consumer protection, human rights, and racial or gender diversity. Some SRIs avoid investing in businesses perceived to have negative social effects such as alcohol, tobacco, fast food, gambling, pornography, weapo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Opportunity Finance Network
Opportunity may refer to: Places * Opportunity, Montana, an unincorporated community, United States * Opportunity, Nebraska, an unincorporated community, United States * Opportunity, Washington, a former census-designated place, United States * 39382 Opportunity, an asteroid Arts, entertainment, and media Music * "Opportunity" (Pete Murray song), 2006 * "Opportunity", a song by The Charlatans * "Opportunity", a song from ''Annie'' * "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)", a song by Pet Shop Boys Other uses in arts, entertainment, and media * ''Opportunity'' (film), a 1918 film * '' Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life'', a literary periodical of the Harlem Renaissance * ''The Opportunity'', a 17th-century play Finance * Opportunity International, a microfinance network that lends to the working poor * Opportunity NYC, a 2007–2012 experimental conditional cash transfer program in New York City Other uses * ''Opportunity'' (rover), a robotic rover on Mars * Business oppo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Community Development Financial Institution
A community development financial institution (US) or community development finance institution (UK) - abbreviated in both cases to CDFI - is a financial institution that provides credit and financial services to underserved markets and populations, primarily in the USA but also in the UK. A CDFI may be a community development bank, a community development credit union (CDCU), a community development loan fund (CDLF), a community development venture capital fund (CDVC), a microenterprise development loan fund, or a community development corporation. CDFIs are certified by the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, which provides funds to CDFIs through a variety of programs. The CDFI Fund and the legal concept of CDFIs were established by the ''Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994.'' Broadly speaking, a CDFI is defined as a financial institution that: has a primary mission of community deve ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Microfinance
Microfinance is a category of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings and checking accounts; microinsurance; and payment systems, among other services. Microfinance services are designed to reach excluded customers, usually poorer population segments, possibly socially marginalized, or geographically more isolated, and to help them become self-sufficient.Christen, Robert Peck Christen; Rosenberg, Richard; Jayadeva, Veena. ''Financial institutions with a double-bottom line: Implications for the future of microfinance''. CGAP, Occasional Papers series, July 2004, pp. 2–3. ID Ghana is an example of a microfinance institution. Microfinance initially had a limited definition: the provision of microloans to poor entrepreneurs and small businesses lacking access to credit. The two main mechanisms for the delive ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Creative Financing
Creative may refer to: *Creativity, phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is created * "Creative" (song), a 2008 song by Leon Jackson * Creative class, a proposed socioeconomic class * Creative destruction, an economic term * Creative director, an occupation * Creative industries, exchange of finance for rights in intellectual properties * Creative nonfiction, a literary genre * Creative writing, an original, non-technical writing or composition * Creative Commons, an organization that deals with public copyright issues * Creative Labs, a brand owned by Creative Technology * Creative Technology Creative Technology Ltd. is a Singaporean multinational technology company headquartered with overseas offices in Shanghai, Tokyo, Dublin, and Silicon Valley (where in the US it is known as Creative Labs). The principal activities of the compa ..., Singapore-based manufacturer of computer products See also * Creativity (other) {{disambiguation ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Community Development Financial Institution
A community development financial institution (US) or community development finance institution (UK) - abbreviated in both cases to CDFI - is a financial institution that provides credit and financial services to underserved markets and populations, primarily in the USA but also in the UK. A CDFI may be a community development bank, a community development credit union (CDCU), a community development loan fund (CDLF), a community development venture capital fund (CDVC), a microenterprise development loan fund, or a community development corporation. CDFIs are certified by the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, which provides funds to CDFIs through a variety of programs. The CDFI Fund and the legal concept of CDFIs were established by the ''Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994.'' Broadly speaking, a CDFI is defined as a financial institution that: has a primary mission of community deve ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Actis Capital
Actis is a global investment firm focused on the private equity, energy, infrastructure, and real estate asset classes. Actis is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI), an investor initiative developed by the UNEP FI and the UN Global Compact. Actis targets consistent superior returns across asset classes over the long-term, bringing financial and social benefits to investors, consumers and communities. It is focused on investments in emerging markets in Africa, China, India, Latin America, and South East Asia. Actis was formed in July 2004, as a spinout of CDC Group plc (formerly the Commonwealth Development Corporation), an organization established by the UK Government in 1948 to invest in developing economies in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. The Actis management team acquired majority ownership of CDC's emerging markets investment platform. History Actis was founded in 2004 as a spinout from CDC Group, the UK's development finance ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Accion USA
The Accion U.S. Network is an American nonprofit microfinance organization headquartered in New York, NY. It is the largest and only nationwide nonprofit microfinance network in the U.S. About The Accion U.S. Network is part of Accion International, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization operating globally, with the mission of giving people the financial tools they need to create or grow healthy businesses. The domestic Accion programs started in Brooklyn, NY, and grew from there to become the first nationwide network microlender. Member Offices In addition to having lending offices in nearly 30 cities, Accion also offers online lending. Its four member offices are: * Accion East * Accion Chicago * Accion New Mexico · Arizona · Colorado * Accion San Diego (now re-named Accessity and serving all of Southern California) Accion offers micro loans and other financial services to low- and moderate-income entrepreneurs in the United States who are typically unable to access bank ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chicago Community Loan Fund
Chicago Community Loan Fund (CCLF) is a certified community development financial institution (CDFI) that provides loans and grants to community development organizations engaged in affordable housing, social service and economic development initiatives in Chicago. Mission & Focus CCLF's mission, as stated on its website, is "to provide low cost, flexible financing to community development organizations... throughout metropolitan Chicago." Its focus is on providing loans to agencies engaged in planning and building affordable housing. It also lends money to other types of community development organizations and organizations that support environmental sustainability, such as Chicago's nonprofit car-sharing program, I-GO, Logan Square Kitchen, a commercial shared-use kitchen and 75-seat event space, and Whistler-Crossing in Riverdale, IL, the first LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) in Illinois. The loan fund is distinguished from traditional banks by its track record ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Grassroots Business Fund
The Grassroots Business Fund is a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC. It has field offices in Kenya, Peru, and India. Their mission is to build and support high-impact enterprises that provide sustainable economic opportunities to thousands of people at the base of the economic pyramid. These enterprises are grassroots business organizations in developing countries that empower large numbers of the poor as producers of income-generating commodities and products, as consumers of affordable goods and services, and as independent entrepreneurs. GBF actively supports enterprises throughout Latin America, Africa, India, and Southeast Asia. History The origins of GBF can be traced back as far as 2000 at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), when Harold Rosen founded the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) department, a joint IFC/World Bank department. In 2004, Mr. Rosen started the Grassroots Business Initiatives (GBI), which aimed to build sustainable, non-financial in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Heifer International
Heifer International (also known as Heifer Project International) is a global nonprofit working to eradicate poverty and hunger through sustainable, values-based holistic community development. Heifer International distributes animals, along with agricultural and values-based training, to families in need around the world as a means of providing self-sufficiency. Recipients must agree to "pass on the gift" by donating animal offspring, as well as sharing the skills and knowledge of animal husbandry and agricultural training with other impoverished families in the community. The organization receives financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, BlackRock, Cargill, Mastercard Foundation, Walmart and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. Based in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, Heifer International started with a shipment of 17 heifers to Puerto Rico in 1944. Origins and history Heifer International started as Heifers for Relief in 1944. Its founder, an Ohio fa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Socially Responsible Investing
Socially responsible investing (SRI), social investment, sustainable socially conscious, "green" or ethical investing, is any investment strategy which seeks to consider both financial return and social/environmental good to bring about social change regarded as positive by proponents. Socially responsible investments often constitute a small percentage of total funds invested by corporations and are riddled with obstacles. Recently, it has also become known as " sustainable investing" or "responsible investing". There is also a subset of SRI known as "impact investing", devoted to the conscious creation of social impact through investment. In general, socially responsible investors encourage corporate practices that they believe promote environmental stewardship, consumer protection, human rights, and racial or gender diversity. Some SRIs avoid investing in businesses perceived to have negative social effects such as alcohol, tobacco, fast food, gambling, pornography, weapo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |