Capital Impact Partners CEO Ellis Carr and CDC Small Business Finance CEO Kurt Chilcott

Alliance CEOs – Opinion: Equitable revitalization critical to Detroit’s future (Detroit News)

Ellis Carr is now the president and CEO of Capital Impact Partners and CDC Small Business Finance. Kurt Chilcott, formerly president and CEO of CDC Small Business Finance, has transitioned to Board Chair of the combined organization. We invite you to learn more about our new enterprise at www.investedincommunities.org


With a mission to empower equitable community growth, CDC Small Business Finance and Capital Impact Partners recently launched three place-based pilot programs as part of our new alliance. The pilots are in Detroit, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. Metropolitan (D.M.V).  Cross-organizational teams have been engaging with these communities to identify the unique issues of each city.

As part of the alliance’s focus on Detroit, CDC Small Business Finance’s CEO, Kurt Chilcott, and Capital Impact Partners CEO, Ellis Carr recently wrote an op-ed about their holistic approach to community and economic development that was published in The Detroit News.

Students walk down hallway with teacher

In the Face of COVID-19, One Detroit School Meets its Community With the Services It Needs

Since COVID-19 began, times have been incredibly trying for many across the country. Schools and teachers have been particularly hard-hit, having to figure out what education looks like in this new reality. It has been grueling, the hours have been long, and all of this has taken place as teachers and school staff fear for the health and safety of their students, loved ones, and themselves.

When COVID-19 hit, Detroit Achievement Academy (DAA), a Capital Impact Partners borrower, sprung into action for its community. DAA is a public charter school in Detroit, serving the children of its community with a high-quality education. Many of the students experience poverty, which has only been exacerbated during the pandemic. DAA is already known for going above and beyond for its students, teachers, and staff, considering everyone who walks through the doors as part of the school family. As a result, DAA is one of the top performing elementary schools in the city. 

As you will see in this video story by the Today Show, some of DAA’s students and teachers have struggled during the pandemic. Through it all, DAA has done whatever it can to keep their school family physically and mentally healthy, helping to maintain their strong academic performance. In addition to paying rent and utilities for those who needed support, the school also offered an additional $500 to school staff so that they could prioritize their mental health. 

Capital Impact is proud to support and partner with organizations like Detroit Achievement Academy that put mission, family, and community first. Organizations like DAA truly understand that in extraordinary times, we have to offer more in order to give everyone what they need. 

Watch Janelle and Kyle Smitley, DAA’s founder, as they talk about Detroit Achievement Academy and how their school is prioritizing the needs of its community and staff.

Detroit resident riding her bike through the city

How Unequal Investment in Detroit Led to Programmatic Solutions to Affordable Housing: Stay Midtown

By Ashlee Cunningham, Senior Specialist, Housing and Community Development

In Detroit, long-term disinvestment in the city’s neighborhoods has led to unequitable barriers to opportunity. Systemic racism and disenfranchisement limited opportunities for many Detroiters, more than 80 percent of whom are Black. That has kept many people from securing equitable access to safe, affordable housing; starting businesses; and other pathways to wealth building. As Detroit has worked to overcome bankruptcy, investment in the city has compounded these issues by leaving people living with low incomes with little ability to keep up with the pace of growth and gentrification for the neighborhoods they have called home for decades.

CDC Small Business CEO Kurt Chilcott and Capital Impact Partners CEO Ellis Carr

Alliance Video Series – CEO Conversations: Moving Beyond the Status Quo

Ellis Carr is now the president and CEO of Capital Impact Partners and CDC Small Business Finance. Kurt Chilcott, formerly president and CEO of CDC Small Business Finance, has transitioned to Board Chair of the combined organization. We invite you to learn more about our new enterprise at www.investedincommunities.org

 

CDC Small Business Finance and Capital Impact Partners recently announced a new alliance between the two companies.

We recognized that we had a special opportunity to create greater change together than we could individually in the communities we serve and beyond. This is an exciting journey we are embarking on and we want to share how the idea of creating an alliance came about and our vision for the future.

Tune in to the last video of our “CEO Conversations” series, “Moving Beyond the Status Quo.” Listen to CDC Small Business Finance’s CEO, Kurt Chilcott and Capital Impact Partners CEO, Ellis Carr discuss how the alliance will disrupt and to call to question the current operating practices to bring change to communities.

CDC Small Business CEO Kurt Chilcott and Capital Impact Partners CEO Ellis Carr

Alliance Video Series – CEO Conversations: Disrupting the Distribution Channels

Ellis Carr is now the president and CEO of Capital Impact Partners and CDC Small Business Finance. Kurt Chilcott, formerly president and CEO of CDC Small Business Finance, has transitioned to Board Chair of the combined organization. We invite you to learn more about our new enterprise at www.investedincommunities.org

 

CDC Small Business Finance and Capital Impact Partners recently announced a new alliance between the two companies.

We recognized that we had a special opportunity to create greater change together than we could individually in the communities we serve and beyond. This is an exciting journey we are embarking on and we want to share how the idea of creating an alliance came about and our vision for the future.

Check out our 5th episode of our “CEO Conversations” series, “Disrupting the Distribution Channels.” Listen to CDC Small Business Finance’s CEO, Kurt Chilcott and Capital Impact Partners CEO, Ellis Carr discuss the opportunity ahead to disrupt the current distribution channels in order to get more capital to underserved communities.  

A man walks around his community grocery store.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, local independent grocers double down to feed their communities

By Mary Donnell, Program Manager, Michigan Good Food Fund

The grocery business is more competitive than ever. Even in normal times, much of the market share is taken up by the big-box players. But in the face of an unprecedented pandemic, local, independent grocers are focusing more deliberately on serving their communities, going out of their way to provide the goods that customers that they often know by name need. These grocers continue to fill an important niche in the landscape, often serving communities that do not see much investment from national chains with top-notch customer service and a focus on community development and local food. 

Podcast: Everything Co-op Interview about Capital Impact’s 2020 Co-op Innovation Award

By Alison Powers, Cooperative & Community Initiatives Manager

In early 2020, Capital Impact Partners, in partnership with the National Cooperative Bank, awarded a total of $100,000 to three awardees, – ChiFresh Kitchen, The Guild, and the Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative – through its Co-op Innovative Award. Capital Impact’s Co-op Innovative Award aims to increase co-op development in communities with low incomes and/or communities of color. This year, the Co-op Innovation Award focused on organizations educating new audiences on the impact and potential of the cooperative model to disrupt income inequality, steward community ownership, and create strong vibrant places of opportunity.