Mission-driven
Background
History
Human Interest Compounded Daily.
Born in 1985 as the Delaware Valley Community Reinvestment Fund, Reinvestment Fund has flourished to become a national leader in community finance and policy analysis. We were established with a vision to exceed the scope of traditional community development organizations by leveraging our lending with insights from data and research to deliver financial and social returns.
Firmly anchored in those principles, we have a team of more than 80, three offices, and more than three billion dollars that we’ve moved into neighborhoods to create homes that are affordable, good schools for children, access to healthy food for families, and thriving businesses.
Our Founding
Our founding director, Jeremy Nowak led the organization at a time when the idea of a financial institution dedicated to providing financing in support of wealth creation was new. The idea of investments that provided both financial and social returns was just beginning to take shape. In many ways, Reinvestment Fund was a grand experiment.
A prolific writer and thinker, Jeremy created an institution that united schoolteachers and executives with faith-based organizations, philanthropy, banks and government to invest in communities. He championed a mission that aimed to give every family the opportunity to get a quality education for their children, safe homes and strong neighborhoods, good care and nutritious food to be healthy, and economic mobility. And in that pursuit, he helped build the foundation for an entire sector devoted to opportunity finance.
Learn more about Jeremy Nowak and the initiatives that were created to honor his legacy.
Remembering Jeremy Nowak
Our Industry
Reinvestment Fund is certified by the United States Department of the Treasury as a Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI). CDFIs are private financial institutions that have a goal of expanding economic opportunity in low-income communities by providing access to financial products and services.
CDFIs can be banks, credit unions, loan funds, microloan funds, or venture capital providers. They finance affordable homes, small businesses, health care, schools and community facilities. Through investment, CDFI strive to foster economic opportunity and revitalize neighborhoods.
To learn more about CDFIs, visit the CDFI Fund or the Opportunity Finance Network.