Four leading Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) were awarded $25,000 each in unrestricted grant prizes at the third annual Wachovia NEXT Awards for Opportunity Finance. The awards program, held at the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) Conference, is one of the nation's largest and most prestigious for responsible lending.

Chosen for their outstanding accomplishments in the categories of Community Impact, Financing, Innovation, and Advocacy, this year's $25,000 awardees exemplify the numerous ways in which CDFIs work to create economic opportunity in underserved markets and the range of low-wealth and low-income people and places they reach.

CDFIs are market-driven, private sector institutions dedicated to meeting the financial needs of disadvantaged and hard-to-serve markets nationwide. They include banks, credit unions, loan funds, and venture capital funds. There are more than 700 CDFIs in the United States.

The four awardees are:

• Citizen Potawatomi Community Development Corporation (CPCDC), Shawnee, Oklahoma for COMMUNITY IMPACT. CPCDC was awarded the Community Impact prize for achieving a high volume of community outcomes, designing and implementing an effective impact tracking system, and regularly using their impact data to enhance their programs.


• Community and Shelter Assistance Corp. dba CASA of Oregon, Newberg, Oregon for ADVOCACY. The Advocacy award recognizes CASA of Oregon's advocacy work on behalf of farm workers and other low-income populations in the state of Oregon.


• Pacific Community Ventures (PCV), San Francisco, California for INNOVATION. PCV received the Innovation award for its work in providing health care access and financial literacy training to business owners and their low/moderate income (LMI) employees, and for providing impact measurement services to other social investors.


• Seedco Financial Services, Inc. (Seedco Financial), New York City for FINANCING. Seedco Financial was selected to receive the Financing award for its post-Hurricanes Katrina and Rita business lending program in Louisiana.

"Each award recipient has blazed an unlikely trail on solid ground against expectations," said Mark Pinsky, president and chief executive officer of the Philadelphia-based OFN, the leading national network of high-performance CDFIs.

"All four of these exceptional CDFIs have proven their ability to transform communities and their readiness to make significant leaps forward," said Michael Rizer, executive vice president for Wachovia, a Wells Fargo Company. "We're proud to continue our long-standing support for the opportunity finance industry with our investment in the Wachovia NEXT Awards for Opportunity Finance, which helps innovative, up-and-coming CDFIs grow and create even more economic opportunity for families and communities through access to credit."

Since 2007, the Wachovia NEXT Awards for Opportunity Finance in partnership with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, has been run by and funded through OFN with support from the Wachovia Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The program recognizes excellence within the CDFI field and is designed to propel high-potential organizations to a next level of growth, success, and staying power.

Opportunity Finance Network

Opportunity Finance Network

Opportunity Finance Network is the leading network of private financial intermediaries that delivers both sound returns and real opportunities for low-wealth people and communities in the U.S. Opportunity Finance Network Members originated more than $12.5 billion in financing in non-conforming urban, rural, and native communities through 2006. This generated or maintained 175,710 jobs; 39,583 businesses; 533,394 housing units; and 5,858 community facility projects. More information is available at www.opportunityfinance.net.

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