Opportunity Finance Network and Kresge Foundation Partner on Fellowship to Drive Innovation in Climate Finance

Industry leader Joe Evans, seconded from Kresge Foundation, brings wealth of climate, social impact, and philanthropic expertise.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), the nation's leading network and intermediary focused on community development investment, announced during Climate Week NYC a partnership with the Kresge Foundation to drive innovation in climate finance. Joe Evans, Social investment Officer for The Kresge Foundation's Environment Program, is joining OFN as Senior Executive Fellow for Climate Finance.

"Delivering on the promise of generational investments like the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator (CCIA) will require innovative climate finance strategies," said Amber Bell, OFN Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer, and lead on climate programs. "Joe's deep expertise in climate finance, and experience working with low-income and disadvantaged communities to deliver impact, will be a great asset to OFN and the community development finance industry as we mobilize financing to address the climate crisis and create opportunity in underserved communities."

"I am thrilled to join the nation's leading network of community-focused intermediary lenders," said Joe Evans. "Having watched and supported OFN's growth and development over the last 25 years, it is an honor to join them more directly in this role. Together, we will ensure that Justice40 communities reap the benefits of the new federal investments in ways that make meaningful differences in the lives of residents of those communities."

The Senior Executive Fellow will have a key advisory role in developing OFN's climate strategy to drive community development through long-term, sustainable climate finance. Evans will help identify and implement solutions to increase the efficiency of the mission-driven climate finance system.

"We are excited to partner with OFN on this fellowship," said Aaron Seybert, Managing Director, Social Investment Practice at The Kresge Foundation. "Kresge's commitment to expanding opportunity and equity in cities drives our investment in climate justice. OFN's program to help low-income residents and business owners save on energy bills, create quality jobs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and build resilience will foster healthier and happier communities that face the most severe impacts of climate change."

At Kresge, Evans has spent more than a decade managing and originating social investments with the last four years aimed at ensuring that communities of color and low-wealth communities can keep pace with more affluent areas in the transition to a cleaner future. Previously, Evans worked in CDFI lending.

The fellowship will further position OFN as a leader in delivering opportunity in underinvested urban, rural, and Native communities nationwide. OFN is seeking mission-aligned leaders to join its team – learn more about current opportunities and submit your application today.

About Opportunity Finance Network

Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) is the nation's leading network and intermediary focused on community development investment, managing over $1 billion in total assets and a membership of nearly 450 community development financial institutions (CDFIs), which includes community development loan funds, credit unions, green banks, banks, minority depository institutions, and venture capital funds. Our network of CDFIs works to ensure communities underserved 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 nearly 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 over $100 billion in financing, helping to create or maintain more than 3 million jobs, start or expand more than 850,000 businesses and microenterprises, and support the development or rehabilitation of nearly 2.4 million housing units and more than 14,000 community facility projects.

SOURCE Opportunity Finance Network