OFN Announces Inaugural Innovation Council and Capital Solutions Accelerator to Catalyze CDFI Industry Solutions

With support from the MassMutual Foundation and the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, OFN's CDFI Innovation Initiative advances bold solutions to help CDFIs unlock capital, scale innovation, and navigate a changing economy.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), the nation's leading investment intermediary and network of community development financial institutions (CDFIs), marked a key milestone in its CDFI Innovation Initiative, announcing the inaugural CDFI Innovation Council and launch of the first cohort of the CDFI Capital Solutions Accelerator. The CDFI Innovation Initiative, announced in the fall of 2024 at OFN40, is OFN's model for advancing industry solutions through sustained investment and innovation, with the goal of reimagining the structure of community development finance, and developing new tools to deepen impact across the country. The Initiative is made possible through a strategic partnership with the MassMutual Foundation and the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth through their Mastercard Strive program.

"One truth is clear: Our future will be defined by our willingness to innovate and develop new solutions on our own terms. The CDFI Innovation Initiative is a bold, multi-year commitment to create new tools, develop actionable, replicable models, and solutions to address our field's most persistent challenges," said President and CEO Harold Pettigrew. "Over the last two years, CDFIs have faced both historic opportunities and profound challenges. Through it all, our mission has only grown more urgent, more visible, and more viable as a solution to address market failures, which is why we're inviting new and existing partners to join us in advancing solutions that strengthen CDFIs nationwide."

The CDFI Innovation Initiative is powered by three core program areas: an Innovation Council; an Innovation Center; and Innovation Capital that provides blended capital designed to drive high-potential ideas from concept to scale. Together, these program areas create a powerful platform to design, test, and expand solutions that serve the community development finance industry.

Innovation Council

The Innovation Council provides OFN with strategic insights and advice to strengthen CDFIs and help shape industry solutions in four foundational areas: 1) capitalization solutions, 2) financing products, 3) technology and operational efficiency, and 4) data research and analytics. The inaugural Council members include:

• Marcus Berkowitz, Chief Product and Innovation Officer, Grameen America
• Jonathan Brereton, CEO, Scale Link
• Sandy Fernandez, Vice President of Social Impact, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth
• Bulbul Gupta, President and CEO, Pacific Community Ventures
• Julie Mahowald, Chief Financial Officer and Head of Partnerships & Strategy, Housing Trust Silicon Valley
• Liz Roberts, Head of Impact Investing, MassMutual
• Matt Roth, President and CEO, Community Reinvestment Fund
• Aaron Seybert, Managing Director of Social Investments, Kresge Foundation
• Anna Smukowski, Managing Director, Impact Investing, Enterprise Community Loan Fund

"The Innovation Council is a catalyst for the CDFI industry," said Dennis Duquette, President of the MassMutual Foundation. "By bringing together leaders from finance, philanthropy, and community development, the Council will help surface bold ideas and translate them into strategies that strengthen CDFIs and the communities they serve. We are proud to support the Council and the CDFI Innovation Initiative as a whole, and to stand with OFN in ensuring this industry is equipped to meet the future with confidence and creativity."

CDFI Capital Solutions Accelerator

The Capital Solutions Accelerator, launched with assistance from the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, is the first major program activity under the Innovation Center. It is designed to advance industry capitalization solutions that can be adopted or replicated across the industry. The six-month program seeks solutions that unlock new sources and structures of capital, reduce barriers to affordable and flexible long-term funding, and create capitalization models that strengthen mission-driven financing. The Accelerator leads participants through an innovation development and expansion journey, pairing them with technical experts and mentors, creating opportunities for peer learning and collaboration, and connecting participants with funder and investor networks. As a result, OFN will share new services and models to capitalize the CDFI industry.

The first cohort will have a focus on reimagining and expanding capitalization strategies for small business lenders. The first cohort and their projects are:

• Ascendus: A graduation capitalization strategy that graduates small business clients of CDFIs to traditional bank lending, spurring refinances from banks and accelerating capitalization for CDFIs.
• Impact Ventures: Integrated capital model that includes equity-like and non-extractive instruments for CDFIs, allowing them to support early-stage, undercapitalized entrepreneurs.
• JUST Community: Real estate investment platform that provides capitalization opportunities for CDFIs, allowing them to support technical assistance for entrepreneurs.
• Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA): Framework to sell CDFI-originated loans to small banks to unlock liquidity and increase capital flow to small businesses.
• Next Street: A mutual insurance company that provides credit enhancement and risk sharing opportunities to make investing in CDFIs more attractive to institutional investors.
• Northern Initiatives: Capital planning and participation lending model that leverages capital from high net-worth individuals, Donor-Advised Funds, and community foundation partners to fund small businesses.
• Prosperity Now: Platform that streamlines data collection to expand access to secondary markets for CDFIs.

As a cornerstone of OFN's 2030 strategic framework, the Initiative offers funders an unparalleled opportunity to help shape the next era of community development finance. By aligning resources with OFN's Solutions Pillars — capital, product expansion, policy, talent, and technology — the Initiative ensures that investments in innovation generate lasting value for the CDFI industry and the millions of people and places it serves. With funder support, the CDFI Innovation Initiative will deliver scalable, field-wide solutions that strengthen the financial infrastructure of communities and create durable advantages for the industry well beyond the five-year horizon.

CDFIs, partners, funders, and investors are invited to participate in this national effort by bringing capital, expertise, and vision to drive new solutions at scale. To learn more about the CDFI Innovation Initiative and opportunities for engagement, or contact Amber Bell, OFN's Chief Programs Officer, at [email protected].

About OFN
Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) is the nation's leading network and intermediary focused on community development investment, managing more than $1 billion in total assets and a membership of nearly 500 community development financial institutions (CDFIs), which include community development loan funds, credit unions, green banks, banks, minority depository institutions, and venture capital funds. Our network of CDFIs works to ensure communities left behind by mainstream finance have access to affordable, responsible financial products and services, with a deep focus on serving rural, urban, and Native communities across the United States. OFN is a trusted investment partner to the public, private, and philanthropic sectors – foundations, corporations, banks, government agencies, and others – and, for more than 40 years, has helped partners invest in communities to catalyze change and create economic opportunities for all.  

Since its founding in 1986, OFN members have originated $124 billion in cumulative financing, helping to create or maintain nearly 3.4 million jobs, start or expand more than 1 million businesses and microenterprises, and support the development or rehabilitation of more than 3 million housing units and more than 15,000 community facility projects. 

About MassMutual Foundation
The MassMutual Foundation, Inc. is a dedicated corporate foundation established by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual). The MassMutual Foundation fuels initiatives that increase financial resilience within communities served by the company and fosters a culture of community engagement for MassMutual's employees as well as affiliated financial professionals. In support of this mission, the Foundation invests in programs that help people access resources needed to earn, protect, and help build their financial capability and thrive. The Foundation also supports community vitality efforts where MassMutual operates. To learn more about the MassMutual Foundation, please visit www.massmutual.com/foundation.

About the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth 
The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth advances equitable and sustainable economic growth and financial inclusion around the world. The Center leverages the company's core assets and competencies, including data insights, expertise, and technology, while administering the philanthropic Mastercard Impact Fund, to produce independent research, scale global programs, and empower a community of thinkers, leaders, and doers on the front lines of inclusive growth. For more information and to receive its latest insights, follow the Center on LinkedIn, Instagram and subscribe to its newsletter.   

About Mastercard Strive
Mastercard Strive is a portfolio of philanthropic programs supported by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and funded by the Mastercard Impact Fund. With programs around the world, Mastercard Strive has reached more than 18 million small businesses to go digital, get capital, and access networks and know-how. Follow Mastercard Strive on LinkedIn and subscribe to its newsletter.

SOURCE Opportunity Finance Network