Blog

What a night! Recap and photos from Opportunity Fund's Taste of Microfinance Los Angeles 2018

Posted on May 12, 2018 by Jacqueline Heinrich

What a night! Last week, over two hundred and fifty friends, donors and supporters gathered to celebrate entrepreneurship and Opportunity Fund's investments and community in Southern California. The incredible night featured food prepared by our talented chef entrepreneurs, all of whom received a microloan to expand their business. Thank you to all who joined us!

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Let's Celebrate our Favorite Moms - Happy Mother's Day!

Posted on May 11, 2018 by Jacqueline Heinrich

This Mother's Day, we celebrate all of the mothers in the Opportunity Fund community. They are not just entrepreneurs, employees, donors, and staff, but also doing so much to support their families.

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Meet Annie, owner of Lucky Nails

Posted on Apr 26, 2018 by Jacqueline Heinrich

Annie opened Lucky Nails, a nail salon in San Francisco, to make a better life for herself and her family. Owning a small business has changed Annie's life, allowing her to buy a house, send her children to college, and provide for her family and her employees in ways that she never would have imagined.

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Opportunity Fund and Accion in the U.S. Release Small Business Lending Impact Study

Posted on Apr 26, 2018 by Jenna Boyer

What does a loan mean to a small business owner? Mission-based lenders deploy loan capital in pursuit of a greater purpose – to build a more inclusive economy where opportunity and the entrepreneurial spirit can still reach the promise of an American Dream. So, are we achieving it? Accion in the U.S. and Opportunity Fund came together in pursuit of an answer this question. With generous lead support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and JPMorgan Chase & Co., and support from S&P Global, in 2015 we launched a first-of-its-kind national longitudinal study evaluating the impact of mission-based small business loans in the United States. Today, we are excited to release the study’s key findings and final report.

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Opportunity Fund Welcomes New Board and Leadership Council Members

Posted on Mar 30, 2018 by Caitlin McShane

Opportunity Fund is excited to welcome new members to our Board of Directors and Leadership Council! Todd Baker and Dickson Chu have been elected to the Board of Directors, and Susan Ehrlich and Jennifer Tescher join the Leadership Council. “I am thrilled to see Susan, Jennifer, Todd, and Dickson — incredible leaders in the financial services industry—join Opportunity Fund’s leadership,” said Opportunity Fund CEO Luz Urrutia. “These individuals not only bring exceptional experience across areas where Opportunity Fund is focused on growth, but also the resolve to serve our clients and communities in more ways than we ever have before, helping us not only dream bigger but also take bigger actions to achieve our strategic goals.”

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March Spotlight: We're Open for Business in San Diego!

Posted on Mar 28, 2018 by Jacqueline Heinrich

Opportunity Fund’s expansion isn’t just national, we are also expanding our reach to new areas of California. Opportunity Fund began in the Bay Area in 1994, opened an office in Los Angeles in 2012, and last year, placed loan officers in Sacramento, Fresno, and San Diego - serving clients like Javier, owner of San Diego's premier Colombian restaurant.

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EntrepreneurTracker results are in!

Posted on Mar 20, 2018 by Jenna Boyer

Opportunity Fund is proud to participate in the EntrepreneurTracker Outcomes Survey to measure outcomes of our work. The survey is authored and managed by FIELD at The Aspen Institute, the preeminent research institution on the US microenterprise industry. Our 2017 survey results are in!

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Opportunity Fund's Impact - 2017 Recap and Looking Ahead

Posted on Mar 07, 2018 by Jacqueline Heinrich

In March, we wrapped up our Impact Meetings in Orange County, following Impact Meetings in San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Los Angeles. It was inspiring to connect with our Opportunity Fund community of supporters, partners, staff, and clients throughout the state and reflect on our 2017 impact together. Revisit the slides from the 2018 Impact Meeting here, or RSVP for our virtual Impact Meeting via webinar on Friday, March 23.

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Social, Economic, and Environmental Impact: Opportunity Fund's New Markets Tax Credits Program Helps Realize Blue Creek Project on Yurok Tribal Land

Posted on Feb 28, 2018 by Jacqueline Heinrich

After a 10-year effort the Yurok Tribe, Western Rivers Conservancy, Opportunity Fund, and U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation, a division of U.S. Bank, successfully create a salmon sanctuary to protect the cold-water lifeline of the Klamath River. Opportunity Fund's support of the project will help create or retain over 500 jobs for Yurok Tribe members.

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Opportunity Fund Receives $40 Million New Markets Tax Credit Allocation Benefiting Low-Income Communities

Posted on Feb 23, 2018 by Jacqueline Heinrich

Opportunity Fund is pleased to announce it was awarded a new $40 million allocation under the U.S. Treasury Department's New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program. Opportunity Fund leverages federal tax credits to invest in high-impact community projects that advance economic well-being across communities. A total of $3.5 billion in NMTC allocations were recently awarded to 73 organizations nationwide through a highly competitive application process.

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