Blog

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

Last week, we wrapped up our fourth and final Impact Meeting 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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Leading through Philanthropy: Words from our Donors and Development Staff

Posted on Feb 21, 2018 by Alma Elizondo-Bailey

The impulse to give back is embedded in us all. The word “philanthropy” is a combination of two ancient Greek words: philos (love) and anthropos (humanity). This translates to “the love of humanity.” Philanthropy has come to mean giving, but this act of kindness is due to an act of love and desire to help others.

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Opportunity Fund Welcomes Michael Rapaport as Senior Vice President of Risk and Operations

Posted on Feb 21, 2018 by Jacqueline Heinrich

Opportunity Fund is excited to welcome Michael Rapaport as Senior Vice President of Risk and Operations. Michael brings 28 years of experience in lending, credit, and financial service operations to Opportunity Fund, as well as expertise in Big Data analytics to drive business performance. Throughout his career, Michael has been a committed advocate of consumer financial education and responsible lending, which guided his transition to the non-profit sector and, specifically, to Opportunity Fund.

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NewsFlash: Opportunity Fund Founder Eric Weaver Receives Jefferson Award for Public Service!

Posted on Feb 16, 2018 by Jacqueline Heinrich

Opportunity Fund was featured on KPIX-5 News CBS San Francisco this week as Founder Eric Weaver received a 2018 Jefferson Award for Public Service in a story that also featured #OpportunityFunded entrepreneur Alicia Villanueva, owner of Alicia's Tamales Los Mayas. The Jefferson Awards recognize "quiet heroes in the community," honoring those who have made significant impact through public service at the national and local level - and Eric has surely done that. Since founding Opportunity Fund in 1994, Eric has led Opportunity Fund to invest $606 million in small businesses, savings programs, and community real estate, helping thousands of underserved people in California and beyond-like Alicia, profiled in last night's broadcast.

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White House Proposes Budget Eliminating Essential CDFI Funding to Small Business Programs

Posted on Feb 13, 2018 by Gabriel Villarreal

On Monday, the White House released its Budget outline for FY2019, to begin on October 1, 2018. As expected, the budget eliminates major funding for the CDFI Fund including essential programs that enable Opportunity Fund and others to deploy capital to underserved business owners across the nation. Last year in the face of a zeroing out of the CDFI Fund by the Trump Administration, Opportunity Fund’s CEO, Luz Urrutia, demonstrated that access to capital for underserved communities is not only necessary, it’s essential. This year we find ourselves in the same position of slashed funding to essential small business programs.

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