Opportunity Finance Network Appoints New Leadership as Chair and Vice Chair for its Board of Directors

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), the nation's leading investment intermediary and network of community development financial institutions (CDFIs) announced that Aisha Benson, President and CEO of Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF), and Henry Jiménez, President and CEO of Propel Nonprofits, were elected to serve, respectively, as Chair and Vice-Chair of the OFN Board of Directors.

"Aisha and Henry are deeply respected trailblazers in community development finance, and their voices have been invaluable on the OFN Board of Directors," said OFN President and CEO Harold Pettigrew. "I welcome their leadership and expertise as ideal partners with an unwavering commitment to our mission and the goal of advancing the community development finance industry." 

OFN Board Chair Aisha Benson is President and CEO of Nonprofit Finance Fund, a nonprofit lender, consultant, and advocate. As a CDFI founded in 1980, NFF contributes to a more equitable world by helping mission-driven organizations adapt, thrive, and drive positive change. Central to its mission, NFF helps community-centered organizations serving people of color and severely distressed communities access the money and resources they need to realize their communities' aspirations.

"CDFIs support economic growth and community well-being in neighborhoods across the country," said NFF President and CEO Aisha Benson. "I am deeply honored to serve as OFN's Board Chair and consider it a privilege to support OFN's leadership and advocacy alongside Henry, Harold, and the entire team as we work to get nonprofits and businesses the resources needed for their communities to thrive."

Benson has served on the OFN Board of Directors since 2019, and serves as a member of the board of directors for the New Markets Tax Credit Coalition, the NY CDFI Coalition, and Pacific Community Ventures, a CDFI and impact investor serving California small businesses and entrepreneurs. Benson succeeds Donna Gambrell, a community development finance pioneer and President and CEO of Appalachian Community Capital, who served on the OFN Board for seven years, including three years as board chair.

OFN Board Vice Chair Henry Jiménez is the President and CEO of Propel Nonprofits, a CDFI that supports nonprofits with capital and capacity building. He has led efforts to build wealth, reimagine cultural corridors, and invest in Latino and immigrant communities. He serves on several local and national boards and is a 2023 Bush Fellow. Jiménez succeeds Betsy Biemann, a leading community finance executive who served on the OFN Board for six years, including four as Vice-Chair.

"I am excited to serve as Vice Chair during this last year of my first board term at OFN," said Propel Nonprofits President and CEO Henry Jimenez. "I ran for the board because I wanted to represent the Midwest, small CDFIs, and agriculture but now I appreciate representing all CDFIs along with my colleagues. I admire how OFN is always making the role of CDFIs relevant at the national level and staying connected to our membership across the country through regional meetings, virtual trainings, and much more. I am also thrilled to support Aisha Benson's leadership in her role as board chair, Harold in his role as CEO, and to foster the board's relationship with our community and members."

In these leadership roles, Benson and Jiménez, whose careers exemplify their commitment to OFN's mission, will help drive the future of community development finance and bring economic opportunity to communities across the country. These appointments build on last year's election of four new leaders to the OFN Board of Directors.

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 more than 470 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 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 $110 billion in financing, helping to create or maintain more than three 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