Recently, NC3 has been reflecting on scale, inspired by this Harvard Business Review article about the role of entrepreneurship in revitalizing local economies. After an eight-year comparative investigation of two small-business incubators in Detroit, the authors determined that the businesses that grew “deeply and slowly rather than broadly and quickly” remained within their communities and ultimately contributed more to local revitalization than the businesses that scaled up quickly. 

We share the HBR authors’ belief that local enterprises can succeed if they “repurpose and recombine resources that are already available,” rather than seeking funding from external sources with misaligned priorities. But how can we apply these lessons to our work of building a community capital ecosystem? Our vision is big: to democratize our financial systems that are currently extremely unfair and undemocratic. How can we localize our national movement and build upon the resources we know already exist? 

To answer these questions, we have emphasized listening and uplifting the local power within our community. Read on for more information about our recent work and opportunities to engage.

Are you in the process of creating a Community Investment Fund (CIF) or other community capital project? NC3 is conducting a Listening Tour of new projects in our orbit. We are hoping to learn about your project’s development and current needs. As an organization dedicated to advancing the community capital movement, we want to stay as informed as possible about the state of the field and tailor our programming to the needs of practitioners like you.

If you’re interested in participating in the Listening Tour and sharing your experience, sign up for a 30-minute meeting here.

In the fall, NC3 released our Community Investment Fund (CIF) Toolkit to the public at no charge on our website at nc3now.org/toolkit. We want to remind our community of this resource, in case you missed our previous announcements. 

The CIF Toolkit is a collection of resources to help you develop your own community investment fund. The Toolkit includes explainer videos and downloadable worksheets to get you started, including a Team Builder Matrix, Investment Thesis Worksheet, Fund Calculator, Operating Structure Checklist, and Financial Modeling Guidelines. The Toolkit acts as a complement to “Chapter 2: Steps to Create a Community Investment Fund” of the CIF Handbook.

NC3 member Mission Driven Finance has been hard at work reimagining equitable financing for the future of work. Their Employee Ownership Catalyst Fund, co-launched with Project Equity, is an evergreen debt fund offering flexible financing to owners seeking an employee-ownership exit. Lauren Grattan of Mission Driven Finance explains, “Our investors see employee ownership as a powerful tool to close the racial wealth gap and create a more equitable world.” Read more here. 

Mission Driven Finance’s Freedom100 Fund has also been recognized as a unique development in the impact investing field. The Freedom100 Fund is an impact investment that posts bonds for immigrants held in U.S. detention centers. With bail-bond loans often ​unavailable or exorbitantly priced for this group of people, the fund allows immigrants to await their asylum trials outside of a detention center, while remaining with their friends and family. Read more here.

NC3 members can submit news about their organizational or personal community capital projects via this form, and we will share it in upcoming newsletters. If you’re interested in this benefit, please consider signing up for membership here.

This month, NC3 Board Member Bill Huston, in partnership with Rutgers Center for Urban Entrepreneurship & Economic Development, participated in a webinar that aimed to support Black and Latinx entrepreneurs to build their own successful investment crowdfunding campaigns. If you weren’t able to make it, you can access the recording here (Passcode: vy&99TAw).