August 10, 2010 Making Contact, National Radio Project
Half-hour radio program discussing how a tough economy compells people to get creative as entrepreneurs. This 9-minute segment focuses on the role of microenterprise development and the challenges entrepreneurs faces to finance their dreams, a challenge Opportunity Fund is poised to help these small business owners address. This story aired on independent radio stations nationwide, and locally on 94.1 KPFA FM. Featuring Eric Weaver, Opportunity Fund Founder and CEO, discussing our work as a local microlender to support business growth in our communities that, in turns, creates jobs and expands our economy.
Financial adivce from MSN Money reporter Donna Freedman regarding the psychology of financial behavior and the roots of our financial personality. Featuring IDA Savings program alumna, Karla Reyes, describing how the financial education she acquired through the IDA Savings program helped her craft a new financial future for herself as she obtains her college diploma.
Article in Small Business section of The New York Times describing how a tight business credit market brings a boom to the U.S. microlending industry just in time to help many small business owners who are locked out from the traditional credit markets. Featuring Opportunity Fund client and owner of Mandy's Korner, Amanda Keppert, along with Premal Shah of Kiva and Gina Harman of ACCION USA.
The cover of Inc. Magazine's July/August 2010 issue proclaims, "Bring on the Entrepreneurs!" and in this special report the magazine describes the role of microlenders across the nation, including Opportunity Fund, to support small business growth and entrepreneurship throughout the credit crunch.
Overview of U.S. microlending field and its role funding small businesses throughout the credit crunch. This article also appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle. Featuring Opportunity Fund CEO, Eric Weaver, and Opportunity Fund clients Simonida (CEO of Bay Area Medical Academy) and William (Owner of Gentle Parking), plus Elaine Edgcomb of Aspen Institute Microenterprise FIELD prorgram.
Host Cheryl Jennings interviews Opportunity Fund CEO Eric Weaver in studio for an in-depth look at how our microlending helps Bay Area small businesses grow by providing capital and business advice. Simonida Cvejic, Opportunity Fund client and Founder & CEO of Bay Area Medical Academy, is also interviewed and shares her experience as an entrepreneur who used Opportunity Fund loans to finance her business's remarkable growth.
Overview of Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) and U.S. Matched Savings field's role in supporting small businesses to save and invest in their growth. Featuring Opportunity Fund CEO, Eric Weaver, and Opportunity Fund IDA Saver and Owner of Victory Coaching, Vicci Smith, as well as Andrea Levere of CFED and Ben Mangan of EARN.
Article covering the Microfinance USA 2010 conference in San Francisco. Featuring California First Lady Maria Shriver, Opportunity Fund CEO Eric Weaver, and Kiva President Premal Shah.
Teresa Garcia reports on how microlending is helping stimulate economic growth in the Bay Area. Featuring interviews with Opportunity Fund CEO, Eric Weaver, and Opportunity Fund client, Zonia Torres (owner of Shining Star Daycare).
Stephanie Martin, host of KQED Public Radio's California Money, interviews Opportunity Fund client William Ortiz-Cartanega (owner of Gentle Parking) and discusses our newly released "Ripple Effect" report on the macro-economic impact of 15 years (and $10 million) in lending.
Host Michael Krasny interviews Opportunity Fund CEO Eric Weaver, New York Times Bureau Chief Neil MacFarquhar, SVMN Board Member Sean Foote, and Opportunity Fund client and Gentle Parking owner William Ortiz-Cartagena. This program discusses microfinance in the U.S. and abroad.
The Chronicle of Philanthropy hosts Opportunity Fund CEO Eric Weaver for an online discussion regarding our work to improve the economic well-being of working people in the Bay Area by increasing access to financial services. Read the discussion summary and full chat transcript.
Article profiling Opportunity Fund's Small Business and IDA Savings programs to help low-income Bay Area residents plan for the future. Featuring interviews with Opportunity Fund CEO, Eric Weaver, and Opportunity Fund client, Mali Sehrgosha (owner of Express Cuts).
Host Stephanie Martin discusses new EPA air emissions regulations and the struggle of self-employed commercial truck drivers to find capital to retrofit their engines. Featuring interviews with Opportunity Fund CEO Eric Weaver and Opportunity Fund client, Mamdoh Ibrahim (self-employed trucker operating out of the Port of Oakland).
Article profiling the growing role of Community Development Financial Institutions in granting loans to small business owners. Featuring Opportunity Fund client, William Ortiz-Cartagena (owner of Gentle Parking), and an interview with Opportunity Fund CEO, Eric Weaver.
Article addressing increased investment in CDFI's by the federal government and Goldman Sachs. Featuring Opportunity Fund client, William Ortiz-Cartagena(owner of Gentle Parking), and Opportunity Fund CEO, Eric Weaver.
Featuring interviews with Opportunity Fund clients Obdulia Loera (owner of Family Auto Repair), Amato Loma (owner of Village d'Afrique), and Caroll Fife (owner of Shule Vista Academy), with Opportunity Fund CEO, Eric Weaver.
This 'Ripple Effect' study - conducted by independent research firm TXP - aggregates the direct, indirect, and induced economic effects of microfinance in order to calculate the “ripple effect” (or, macroeconomic impact) of Opportunity Fund’s lending on the Bay Area economy.
Key Findings
+ 2:1 Return For every $1 lent to a Bay Area small business, it generates a further $2 in economic activity in our regional economy, spurring new wages, new taxes, and new spending.
+$17 million annually Opportunity Fund's microlending generates $17,231,531 in total annual economic activity in the Bay Area.
2009 InteractiveAnnual Report
We are pleased to announce our 2009 interactive Annual Report. We hope you enjoy the opportunity to review the year with us through an interactive timeline, some short videos, and highlights of our social and financial impact.
The Silicon Valley Community Foundation is pleased to announce the results of our two-year longitudinal study of graduates from the nation’s largest regional IDA program, Assets for All Alliance, operated by Opportunity Fund. In a nutshell, the program’s successful graduates have retained their assets and their healthy financial habits for at least two years after completing the program. They are still in their homes, they continue to save, some have made other investments and many are teaching their children these same good practices.
