Melissa Stallings of Momentus Capital Wins Award From the Washington Business Journal
Ms. Stallings launched programs in the Washington, 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 with an award by the Washington Business Journal.
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 entrepreneurs 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. “We’re helping them through a number of resources, including flexible capital, technical assistance, educational programming, and expanding their network.”
Momentus Capital’s resources have included three signature programs that support small business owners and real estate developers in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.
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 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.
“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. “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:
- The Washington Business Journal honored Momentus Capital President and CEO Ellis Carr on its “Power 100” list in 2023. Mr. Carr was also recognized in 2022 by the Washington Business Journal as the Nonprofit Leader of the Year, and was named by Fast Company to that publication’s 14th annual list of the Most Creative People in Business.
- The NonProfit Times named Capital Impact Partners and CDC Small Business Finance as two of the best nonprofits to work for in 2023.
- Team member Miriam Torres Baltys received the Financial Services Champion of the Year” award from the SBA’s San Diego District Office in its 2023 National Small Business Week Awards.
- Chief Human Resources Officer Kimberly Dorsett was named one of DCA Live’s 2023 HR Leaders of the Year.
- Momentus Capital was nominated to the Washington Business Journal’s Inno on Fire awards in 2022 for helping to fuel the region’s economy.
- CDC Small Business Finance finished Fiscal Year 2022 as the foremost SBA 504 and Community Advantage lender in the United States.
- CDC Small Business Finance also was named the top SBA Community Advantage lender in the Fresno (Calif.) District, and the Community Advantage lender of the year and a Top 10 lender of the year in the SBA’s Michigan District.
- Team members Ken Rosenthal and Stacey Sanchez received two top honors from Coleman Report in 2022 as the leading banking publication’s SBA Business Development Officers of the Year.
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About Capital Impact Partners
Capital Impact Partners, part of the Momentus Capital branded family of organizations, is transforming how capital and investments flow into communities to provide people with access to the capital and opportunities they deserve. As one of the nation’s leading mission-driven Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), we help build strong communities and create generational wealth by deploying mission-driven financing, capacity-building programs, and impact investing opportunities.
Capital Impact Partners offers flexible financing for catalytic mission-aligned projects in four primary sectors: increasing access to health care, education, affordable housing, and healthy food.
In addition, we manage several multi-year initiatives in key regions to support emerging developers, small business owners, cooperatives, and community health enterprises through training, professional networks, access to experts and mentors, and pathways to grants and loan capital.
Capital Impact Partners has disbursed more than $3 billion since 1982 to create access to critical social services, grow entrepreneurs, and create quality jobs. Capital Impact Partners’ leadership in delivering financial and social impact has resulted in the organization being rated by S&P Global and Fitch Ratings and recognized by Aeris for its performance.
The Momentus Capital branded family of organizations refers to the combined operations of Capital Impact Partners and CDC Small Business Finance, as well as their affiliates, Momentus Direct Capital and Momentus Securities (an SEC-registered broker-dealer, MSRB-registered, FINRA/SIPC member). 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.
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, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Texas, and the Washington D.C. metro area.
Learn more at capitalimpact.org and momentuscap.org.
About Momentus Capital
The Momentus Capital branded family of organizations refers to the combined operations of Capital Impact Partners and CDC Small Business Finance, as well as their affiliates, Momentus Direct Capital, and Momentus Securities (an SEC-registered broker-dealer, MSRB-registered, FINRA/SIPC member). While each organization under the Momentus Capital brand still operates as a separate entity, its clients 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 by offering a continuum of financial, knowledge, and social capital to help entrepreneurs, community-based organizations, and local leaders at every growth stage to build strong communities and create generational wealth.
This includes a comprehensive package of loan products, impact investment opportunities, training and business advising programs, and technology solutions that advance locally-led solutions.
Leveraging more than 80 years of combined experience, more than $3 billion in assets under management, and strong community engagement, the Momentus Capital branded family of organizations has delivered $24 billion in financing, created and preserved 298,000 jobs, and served 14,350 small businesses and 6 million people across our 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, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Texas, and the Washington D.C. metro area.
Learn more at momentuscap.org.
