Opportunity Finance Network Recognizes Outstanding Industry Leadership at OFN42

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Oct 22, 2026, 21:19 ET

The annual Opportunity Honors recognize the leading individuals and organizations in community development finance

NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), the nation's leading investment intermediary and network of community development financial institutions (CDFIs), honored those advancing community development finance and expanding economic opportunity across the country at OFN42, the nation's largest CDFI industry convening.

Industry Awards

The Opportunity Honors celebrate excellence across the CDFI industry, recognizing individuals and organizations who drive capital to communities underserved by mainstream finance.

"What connects this year's honorees is not the geography they serve or the institutions they lead," said OFN President and CEO Harold Pettigrew. "It is a shared belief that communities deserve the tools, capital, and support needed to shape their own futures. We are proud to celebrate leaders whose work continues to strengthen opportunity across the country."

Colorado-based Oweesta Corporation, the longest-standing Native CDFI intermediary, received the Adina Abramowitz Impact Award for Organizational Growth and Change. This award recognizes a CDFI that embodies the principles of transformational growth and change that Abramowitz championed and honors her extraordinary legacy of building CDFIs' capacity for over 30 years. Abramowitz was the managing partner of CDFI Friendly America. Known as a trailblazer in community development, she passed away in 2023. In 2024, OFN honored Abramowitz with the Ned Gramlich Lifetime Achievement Award for Responsible Finance and then created this award in her name to carry on her memory.

OFN also honored Philadelphia Accelerator Fund with the Emerging Growth CDFI Award, which honors a small or emerging CDFI that has demonstrated exceptional growth and service to its community over the last three years.

South Dakota-based Four Bands Community Fund received the second annual Native CDFI Leadership Award, which recognizes a Native CDFI demonstrating strong leadership in advancing economic opportunity in Native communities.

For individuals, Marla Bilonick, President and CEO, National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB), received the Executive Leadership Award, which celebrates an outstanding executive leader within a CDFI who has demonstrated exceptional vision, perseverance, and leadership in driving capital to low-income communities.

Finally, Tate Hill, CEO of Access Plus Capital in California, accepted the Small Business Leader of the Year Award, which honors leaders whose vision and partnerships have driven lasting economic impact, and whose dedication reflects the best of what community development finance can be.

About Opportunity Finance Network

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 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 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 more than $136 billion in cumulative financing, helping to create or maintain nearly 3.8 million jobs, start or expand nearly 1.2 million businesses and microenterprises, and support the development or rehabilitation of nearly 3 million housing units and nearly 16,000 community facility projects.

SOURCE Opportunity Finance Network