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About Us

What We Do & How We Work

 

We all aspire to live in a neighborhood where our families can be healthy, safe, and joyful. Strong, vibrant neighborhoods expand opportunities for the people who live there and build economic prosperity for entire regions.

What We Do

Across the country, many communities, particularly communities of color, face barriers to accessing the fundamental building blocks that create the foundation for families to thrive. Institutional and systemic racism have excluded too many Americans from the resources they need to have a safe place to live, be healthy, and be financially secure. Reinvestment Fund is a mission-driven financial institution committed to making communities work for all people.

As a federally certified community development financial institution (CDFI), we bring financial and analytical tools to partnerships that work to ensure that everyone has access to essential opportunities: affordable places to live, access to nutritious food and health care, schools where their children can flourish, and strong, local businesses that support jobs.

We use data to understand markets, communities, and impediments to opportunity—and how investment and policy decisions can have the most powerful impact. We are part of coalitions that work to shift how entire sectors work to dismantle systems that perpetuate social and economic inequality.

For 35+ years

For 35+ years, we have disrupted inequitable investment practices and driven measurable impact. We bring capital into communities by supporting and partnering with businesses and organizations that are motivated by a common mission—to expand opportunities.

We work in places and sectors underserved by traditional capital sources. We support entrepreneurs and organizations with big ideas, who struggle to get capital because they cannot access generational wealth, or because their track records or project types don’t match the expectations of traditional lenders.

Since our founding, we have put more than $3.2 billion to work for good—investing in projects that are both targeted and transformative. We have worked with scores of policymakers in cities, states, and federal agencies and helped millions of people nationwide access critical services and amenities. By tailoring financing solutions, fostering local partnerships, building coalitions, and informing strategies for tackling systemic injustices, we are charting paths and forging collaborations that catalyze positive, lasting impact.

How We Work

We achieve our mission through the following business lines:

Financing:

We believe finance can and should be an agent of positive change and equitable growth for all communities. We deliver tailored financing that supports development needs and results in investment that benefits underserved communities.

Policy Solutions:

We create research tools and analytics in partnership with investors, policymakers, philanthropists, and community leaders to drive capital and resources towards equitable policies and economic development.


Programs:

Capacity building and capital access programs can help communities better take advantage of opportunities. We design and implement community development tools beyond, and in complement to, our core skillsets of lending and data analysis. The range of resources and services range from technical assistance and grants to the provision of recoverable grants and grant-subsidized debt.

PolicyMap:

Founded at Reinvestment Fund, PolicyMap offers easy-to-use online mapping with data on demographics, real estate, health, jobs and more in communities across the US. From the classroom to the boardroom, thousands of organizations trust PolicyMap to find the right data for their research, market studies, business planning, site selection, grant applications and impact analysis.

 

ReBuild Metro:

We are also associated with ReBuild Metro (formerly known as TRF Development Partners), a real estate development business that Reinvestment Fund founded in 2007 and incubated. It became an independent organization in 2016.

Collaborative Approach

Across the nation, Reinvestment Fund has established partnerships with a range of stakeholders to engage deeply in the places we invest. From city governments to neighborhood organizations, big banks to fellow CDFIs, and national foundations to local leaders, we coordinate impactful partnerships that revitalize communities so that residents can thrive.

We are grateful for the many partners and funders who make our work possible. We are also humbled by the work of our partners: the CDFIs, nonprofits, community organizations, and small businesses working to fuel opportunity so that communities can thrive. Together they have helped us channel capital to projects ranging from new homes and schools to quality jobs and neighborhood businesses that need them.