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What Does Finance for the People Look Like?

NonProfit Quarterly

Image Credit: AndreyPopov on iStock The seeds of a financial system that works for the public are already all around us, from credit unions and loan funds to community bonds and Green Banks. The Bank of Rochester is poised to lead the way, demonstrating whats possible when governments put public money to work for the public good.

Finance 136
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How Nonprofits Can Leverage Their Financial Relationships to Advance Justice

NonProfit Quarterly

Image credit: Getty Images on Unsplash Consider a food bank discovering that its operating reserves are in banks that finance industrial agriculture, the very system contributing to food insecurity and displacing small community farms. The answers lie in finances transformative potential to drive systemic change.

Finance 117
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How to Advance BIPOC Empowerment in the Renewable Energy Industry

NonProfit Quarterly

Typically, a one-megawatt solar array can power at least 400 homes for a year at a cost of about $4 million—making this cost-prohibitive to most community developers. What are some practical strategies for building local capacity and breaking a colonial mindset around community energy production?

Energy 131
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How Limited Equity Co-ops Can Sustain Affordable Homeownership

NonProfit Quarterly

The Launch of Limited Equity Cooperatives The LEC is a tool developed to extend access to homeownership to low- and moderate-income buyers. The movement gained momentum with the support of government programs like Mitchell-Lama , which aimed to provide affordable housing through a public-private partnership.

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How Guarantees Can Advance Community Development and Racial Equity

NonProfit Quarterly

While many foundations screen their endowment investments based on environmental, social, and governance factors, only a few optimize their investment strategies for mission impact. While common in some sectors like housing finance, these guarantees have typically been issued by public entities, not by philanthropy.

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Medical Ship Docks in Sierra Leone for Free Surgeries and Training

NonProfit Quarterly

In August 2024, the Global Mercy, the world’s largest civilian hospital ship, docked at the port of Freetown for a 10-month field service to provide surgical operations and educational training by invitation of the government of Sierra Leone. Mercy Ships is not the only medical NGO that offers medical care by boat, but it is one the largest.

Medical 114
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Impact over Equity: How the Feds Reinforced Inequality in Community Finance

NonProfit Quarterly

Cliff Rosenthal was the executive director of the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions (now called Inclusiv ) from 1983 until 2012. The federation is a national association of credit unions largely run and owned by people of color serving low-income and primarily BIPOC communities. I did not expect to lose.

Finance 107