Melissa Stallings honored with “Diversity in Leadership” Award From the Washington Business Journal

Melissa Stallings of Momentus Capital Wins “Diversity in Business” Award From the Washington Business Journal

Written by Capital Impact Partners on . Posted in Personnel, Press Release

Ms. Stallings launched the HEAF program, led the EDI program and the EOCF in the D.C. area, helping community-rooted developers and small business owners receive pivotal financing, training, and mentorship.

MARCH 22, 2024 (Arlington, VA/San Diego, CA) – Melissa Stallings — the Director of Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) Initiatives for the Momentus Capital branded family of organizations — has been honored by the Washington Business Journal in the publication’s annual “Diversity in Business” awards.

These awards recognize the entrepreneurial drive, creativity and success of the recipients. The honorees were judged based on their professional accomplishments, community leadership and philanthropy.

Ms. Stallings joined Momentus Capital at the start of 2022 and has made a significant impact with her work over these past two years. She leads programs that help diverse entrepreneurs overcome barriers caused by systemic racism to grow their businesses, close the wealth gap, and create more affordable housing, jobs, and other opportunities for the communities they serve.

“These are entrepreneurs who don’t often have easy access to capital compared to their counterparts,” Ms. Stallings said. “Through a number of resources, including flexible capital, technical assistance, educational programming, and by helping them expand their network, we’re hopefully leveling the playing field for them.”

Momentus Capital’s resources have included three signature programs that support diverse small business owners and real estate developers in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia — HEAF, EDI, and EOC.

The HEAF program, funded by Amazon, is a two-year program for real estate developers in the Washington Metropolitan region. Ms. Stallings launched and led the first cohort of 15 real estate developers from 2022-2023, providing training, mentorship, and a total of $4 million in predevelopment grants with $26.7 million in leveraged capital from Momentus Capital that went directly to diverse real estate developers who are building and preserving affordable housing in the region. The program will return in 2024 for its second cohort. Ms. Stallings also runs the D.C. area EDI program, which similarly supports emerging developers with training, mentorship, and pathways to financing.

Diversifying the local real estate industry also helps protect the diverse communities of the greater D.C. area, where so much of the development often is led by large corporations or legacy developers, which don’t necessarily build with longtime residents in mind. In contrast, diverse developers not only resemble their communities, but they represent them as well.In addition, Ms. Stallings led the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund, which forged new pathways to entrepreneurship in the region’s underserved communities by pairing low-cost capital with business advisory services to help entrepreneurs of color start and grow businesses, create jobs, and build wealth. The initiative was funded by JPMorgan Chase, managed in the D.C. area by the Momentus Capital branded family, and also involved partner institutions and nonprofits Washington Area Community Investment Fund, Latino Economic Development Center, City First Enterprises, and the Coalition For Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development. From 2019 through 2023, it provided more than $44 million in loans, created or retained approximately 900 jobs, and also featured technical assistance to more than 1,700 small businesses.

“From day one, Melissa has focused on the perspectives and needs of our partners in the community, listening first to inform the design of our programs and products in the region,” said Lauren Counts, senior director and head of national programs for Momentus Capital. “It is thanks to our local leaders working collaboratively with our partners that we have been able to grow the capital and expand the services we are providing to entrepreneurs across the region.”

For Ms. Stallings, a native Washingtonian who grew up in the District’s Bloomingdale neighborhood, her professional focus comes out of a sense of responsibility.

“I’m paying it forward by supporting people who are achieving their dreams, the same way that people helped me with mine,”Ms. Stallings said. “I grew up in a neighborhood that was not the safest nor heavily resourced. My family sacrificed to provide opportunities for me, refusing to allow my circumstances to define who I was and who I would later become.”

This is the latest recognition for the Momentus Capital branded family of organizations:

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About Capital Impact Partners

Capital Impact Partners is transforming how capital and investments flow into communities to provide people access to the capital and opportunities they deserve. We work to champion key issues of equity and social and economic justice by deploying mission-driven financing, capacity-building programs, and impact investing opportunities.

A nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution, Capital Impact has disbursed more than $3 billion since 1982 to create access to critical social services, grow entrepreneurs, and create quality jobs. Capital Impact’s leadership in delivering financial and social impact has resulted in the organization being rated by S&P Global and Fitch, and recognized by Aeris for its performance.

About Momentus Capital

he Momentus Capital branded family of organizations refers to the combined operations of Capital Impact Partners, CDC Small Business Finance, Momentus Direct Capital, Momentus Securities, and Ventures Lending Technologies. While each organization under the Momentus Capital brand still operates as a separate entity, their clients will now have access to more resources and products.

The Momentus Capital branded family of organizations is transforming how capital and investments flow into communities to provide people access to the capital and opportunities they deserve. We are working to reinvent traditional financial systems that have failed to address systemic issues of inequality, economic empowerment, and the widening wealth gap by offering a continuum of financial, knowledge, and social capital to help local leaders build inclusive and equitable communities and create generational wealth. This includes a comprehensive package of loan products, impact investment opportunities, training and business advising programs, and technology services that advance locally-led solutions.

Leveraging 80 years of combined experience, nearly $3 billion in assets, and strong community engagement, we have delivered $23 billion in financing, created and preserved 250,000 jobs, and served 12,000 small businesses and five million people across their history.

With headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, and San Diego, California, Momentus Capital operates nationally with a focus on larger urban areas and cities in Arizona, California, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Texas, and the Washington metro area.

Learn more at momentuscap.org.

Meet Byron Reed, Momentus Capital’s New Senior Vice President of Business Advising

Written by Zeina Heleka on . Posted in Blog, Personnel

Byron Reed recently joined Momentus Capital as the new Senior Vice President of Business Advising. In his commitment to serve borrowers from underestimated communities, he will lead, manage, advise, and provide strategic direction to the team of business advisors who consult with potential and existing small and medium-sized business owners and partners. In this blog, we take some time to get to know more about Byron, his history, and what keeps him committed to building communities of opportunity.

Meet Mindy Christensen, Our New Senior Vice President of Community Development Real Estate

Written by Zeina Heleka on . Posted in Blog, Personnel

Mindy Christensen recently joined Capital Impact as the new Senior VP of Community Development Real Estate. She leads her team to support Capital Impact’s mission to transform how capital and investments flow into communities by facilitating loan transactions for health care centers, charter schools, affordable housing, healthy food projects, and more. Mindy’s passion for finance and community development has spanned almost 20 years, from working with borrowers taking out a $20 loan from a local non-profit lender to borrowers taking out a $1 billion loan from a traditional bank.

In this blog, we take some time to get to know more about Mindy, her history, and what keeps her committed to building communities of opportunity.

Q:  Tell me about your background

Mindy: I’m very proud to have grown up in Iowa. My grandfather was a local farmer who also happened to be my babysitter. My earliest memories are hanging out at the local barbershop with all the farmers, discussing how the price of corn would impact them. My other grandfather and Dad were the local bankers so community lending and borrowing has always been part of my life.

I then moved to Chicago after finishing school at the University of Iowa, and lived there for 10 years working at a regional bank and enjoying everything the Great Lakes has to offer.

In 2012, I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area specifically because I appreciated the sense of community present in the Bay Area.

I have been in finance in one way or another for almost 20 years!

Q: How did you get into lending?

Mindy: When I graduated from college, I was part of a program called “Hawkinson Institute” that helped kids who were interested in finding jobs in finance all across the country. It gave me access to a network I didn’t have growing up in small town Iowa. That was how I got into a banking program in Chicago.

My mother never had the opportunity to go to college so it was important to me that I get a college education and take on every opportunity that I could. For that reason, I think it is so important to me to differentiate between opportunity and capability.  Someone saw capability in me and then gave me the opportunity. It changed the course of my career. 

Q: How do you perceive the role of CDFIs within the financial sector?

Mindy: I have worked in very traditional banking as well as with a nonprofit lender, but I have never worked at a CDFI.

What I am very excited about is that both the organization and the industry as a whole have the unique position of offering grants programs, business advice, sizable balance sheets to grow with organizations on the ground, business advising, and infrastructure around innovation and the policy work required to make industry change. It is a really powerful offering and these coordinated and collaborative resources are needed to truly serve borrowers and offer underestimated communities the continuum of capital they deserve.

Q: Why is it important to offer flexible financing options?

Mindy: Capital Impact subscribes to the idea of a whole person: behind every borrower are the people. Flexible financing is where the magic happens because it recognize that people are whole and it is the systems that need fixing: That person is coming to us whole, with everything they need, and it is our role to build a complete model of offerings around those people and their communities – be it capital, advice, introductions, or more. Flexible financing is also known as  “integrated capital” or “blended capital.” This sort of mindset or approach requires folks traditionally trained in finance to focus on the client and the community first versus focusing on the product or the organization solely. If done correctly, it ensures we do not repeat the extractive patterns of traditional financing. 

Q: How do you think our Community Development Real Estate (CDRE) products enable equitable access to capital and are tools for economic impact amongst underestimated communities?

Mindy: 

I am so excited about the work we’ve already done with the Equitable Development Initiative and the Diversity in Development Fund to provide flexible capital and other non-financial tools in Detroit and Washington metropolitan region. Speed to market and time is a tool of economic justice is something we can lean into when looking at our processes.

The CDRE process lab just rolled out a new approval matrix, has a new prescreen tool, and changed a few of our requirements around equity requirements among other things. Our work in CDRE is focused on continuing to hone our flexible offerings to serve the unique needs of our core geographic areas and perhaps other sectors, and it is also focused on doing so in a time frame that is meaningful to our borrowers and their communities.       

Q: What do you foresee will be the impact of our new enterprise Momentus Capital (joining with sister organization CDC Small Business Finance) in underestimated communities?

Mindy: I believe the coming together of Capital Impact Partners, CDC Small Business Finance, and Ventures Lending Technologies will help us become a geographic powerhouse across the country, enabling us to transform how capital and investments flow into underestimated communities to provide people access to the capital and opportunities they deserve.

I am thrilled at the prospect of helping entrepreneurs and community-based organizations deliver locally-led solutions that support vibrant local economies with good jobs and high-quality social services. 

The continuum of financial, knowledge, and social capital that Momentus Capital will create will support economic mobility, build generational wealth, and build for inclusive and equitable communities.

Q: How do you anticipate your role as SVP of CDRE will contribute to building healthy, inclusive, and equitable communities for borrowers of color?

Mindy: I subscribe to a model of leadership where the first underlying assumption is that this is not about me, that my role exists because of the borrower’s needs (and in turn the community that borrower serves). So when I do my work, when I advocate or take action, I am doing it because I care an incredible amount about the outcome for the borrower and their community.

This is a great opportunity to do what I am most passionate about, to be of service to all of our borrowers and in particular our borrowers who identify as racial or ethnic minorities.

I’ll know we’ve succeeded when our borrowers and the communities we serve continue to talk about the role Momentus Capital has played in the quality of their life or in their communities’ self determination.

Q: One of the things we say is “where others see risk, we see opportunity.” What does that mean for your team’s work?

Mindy: To me, there are two different kinds of risks: real risk and perceived risk. When you have been trained in the traditional world of finance, you tend to view everything as risky. I want to guide my team to unlearn and un-train ourselves to actually be able to view opportunities instead.

It will be a conscious practice to be exercised on a daily basis. Every time we work on behalf of a borrower, we need to ask ourselves questions such as “Why did we make this decision? and “How will it support this borrower and their community to achieve their goals?”

Q: What motivates you to do what you do?

Mindy: I am so excited to work in mission-based lending, to be able to support our community with capital and to see the potential to see projects actually taking shape. It is incredibly rewarding.

My main motivations are supporting my team and in turn supporting our borrowers. I admire our borrowers because they give everything they have to make sure their community is better.

It is very inspiring to see how creative, passionate, talented and smart our communities and borrowers are and to see what happens when you can be a small part of supporting their vision.

Q: What are you most grateful for in your life?

Mindy:  I am super grateful for the opportunity to build and strengthen relationships everyday through work, family & friends. I am so grateful for my partner Marshall, our dog Red, and for being able to live in the beautiful Bay Area and have access to music, culture, mountains and beaches.

Q: What was the last thing that made you smile?

Mindy: Picturing my colleague working on a borrower’s approval listening to Beyonce on full volume.  Now that is joy….please reach out to Monica Magalhaes if you need a deep work playlist or other inspiration for making numbers joyful. 

Learn more about the work of the Momentus Capital family of organizations:

Capital Impact Partners

CDC Small Business Finance

Ventures Lending Technologies

Getting to Know Diane Borradaile, Capital Impact’s New Chief Lending Officer

Written by Michelle Betton on . Posted in Blog, Personnel

Diane Borradaile recently joined Capital Impact as its new Chief Lending Officer. She leads her team to support Capital Impact’s mission to empower communities to break barriers to success by facilitating loan transactions for health care centers, charter schools, affordable housing, healthy food projects, and more. Diane’s commitment to community development has spanned more than 35 years, through lending at both commercial banks and Community Development Financial Institutions.

In this blog, we take some time to get to know more about Diane, her history, and what keeps her committed to building communities of opportunity.