On this page:

• About the New York Coalition of CDFIs
• 2013 New York Coalition of CDFIs Statewide Conference
• NYCDFI Impact & Outreach Materials
• What is a CDFI?
• Benefits of CDFI Investments
• Coalition Steering Committee
• 2012 Conference Recap and Presentations
• Join Now!
• More Information

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About the New York Coalition of CDFIs

In 1986, the Federation first introduced the idea of a “New York Corporation for Community Banking.” By 1990, we translated and expanded this concept into the “National Neighborhood Banking Corporation.” With support from our community development colleagues, the Federation co-founded what became the national Coalition of Community Development Financial Institutions. This coalition, made up by leaders from CDCUs, loan funds, micro-finance groups, venture capital funds, and community banks, pressed successfully for the establishment of the federal Community development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994.

With this national success under our belt, the Federation established the New York Coalition of CDFIs in 1995. This coalition, which has been solely staffed and operated by the Federation was instrumental in advocating for the creation of a CDFI grant program through New York's Division of Minority and Women's Business and the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) . 

While successful in extending between $1 and $1.5 million annually to New York CDFIs to support minority and women-owned small businesses, the program fell short of our full vision: establishing a full-scale state-level CDFI Fund to build institutional capital for the more than 100 CDFIs operating throughout New York, in much the same way that the federal fund has done nationally.

In 2006 the tide changed, and the Coalition brought the Senate leadership together with the New York State Banking Department and the Empire State Development Corporation to craft a bill that would house a state CDFI Fund. Unfortunately, that bill passed too late in the 2006 session for reconciliation with a version passed by the Assembly, but in 2007, through the Coalition's advocacy, identical legislation creating the framework for a New York State CDFI Fund was introduced in the State Senate and Assembly. Those bills passed both chambers with strong bi-partisan support, and on July 3, 2007, Governor Eliot Spitzer signed the bills as Chapter 186 of the laws of 2007.

With a New York CDFI Fund enshrined in statute, the Coalition has focused on securing state funding to support the full range of activities that CDFIs engage in.

The goals of the New York Coalition of CDFIs include:

• Securing a yearly appropriation of $15 million to the New York CDFI Fund
• Maintaining a separate appropriation of $1.5 million to ESDC's Minority and Women's Business Lending CDFI grant program
• Raising the visibility of CDFIs within New York State's economic development agenda

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2013 New York Coalition of CDFIs Statewide Conference

September 30 - October 1, 2013 | Albany Marriott | Albany, NY

CDFIs: Partnering to Build New York State Communities

Registrations are now open! Stay tuned for more information on this year's conference. http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?llr=ktshzucab&oeidk=a07e7c8d6ll14675a85

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NYCDFI Impact & Outreach Materials

• NY Coalition of CDFIs 1-pager
• NY CDFIs June 2012 Impact Study
• Leverage Potential of New York CDFIs

Find Your State Legislators

To search for you Senator, go to: http://www.nysenate.gov/?openform.

To search for your Assembly Member, go to: http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/.

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What is a "CDFI"?

CDFIs are financial institutions with a special mission of serving underserved communities and people of modest means. CDFIs include regulated institutions such as community development credit unions and community development banks, and non-regulated institutions such as community development housing funds, community loan finds, venture capital funds and micro-lenders.

CDFIs provide a unique range of affordable financial products and services in economically distressed target markets, such as mortgage financing for low-income and first-time homebuyers and not-for-profit developers, flexible underwriting and risk capital for needed community facilities, and commercial loans and investments to small start-up or expanding businesses in low-income urban and rural areas. CDFIs specialize in making the types of loans that large banks cannot or will not make, either because they lack presence in low-income communities or because borrowers do not conform to conventional underwriting criteria.

CDFIs fight predatory lending by providing consumer education and affordable financing to assist individual borrowers out of the mounting loan principal and accumulated interest that generally exceeds what they can afford. CDFIs help low-income individuals build assets, manage debt, and obtain financing to become productive stakeholders in the economy. They serve the people most often neglected by mainstream financial institutions; 70% of CDFI clients are low-income, 76% are minorities, and 58% are women. Just like traditional lenders, CDFIs rely on the repayment of their loans to ensure the long term viability of their organizations. Because CDFIs tend to be high-touch, they don't just provide funding without also providing support. An important component of the CDFI model is that many provide extensive technical assistance and form long-term relationships with their borrowers. Thanks in part to theit relationships with borrowers, CDFIs have traditionally had very low rates of delinquencies and charge-offs.

Regulated by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s CDFI Fund, all CDFIs must provide detailed information and reporting on an annual basis to ensure that they continue to meet the original criteria of certification.

Certification as a CDFI means that an organization meets the eligibility requirements established by the U.S. treasury inclusive of the following:

• Registered as a legal entity;
• Have a primary mission of promoting community/economic development;
• Be a financing entity (loan fund, venture capital fund, community development bank or credit union;
• Provide development services and technical assistance (financial literacy, business planning);
• Principally serve one or more eligible target markets (geographical and sector);
• Be accountable to its identified target markets;
• Cannot be a government entity or cannot be controlled by a government entity.

There are more than 81 certified CDFIs in New York with more than $2 billion in affordable loans currently outstanding to thousands of economic and community development projects.

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Benefits of CDFI Fund Investments

Implementation of a NYS CDFI Fund complements the Federal CDFI program by providing required non-federal matching dollars to CDFIs in New York.

This type of investment not only supports the full range of activities CDFIs engage in, but it also helps CDFIs leverage additional resources from foundations and the corporate sector, bringing private and public funds together and multiplying the impact to low- and moderate-income communities across the state.

The Federal CDFI Fund provides critically needed capital to CDFIs across the country. Since inception, it has provided New York CDFIs with:

• $105.3 MM in financing capital
• $1.5 MM in technical assistance grants
• Each dollar invested in CDFIs leverages $27 in private capital investment

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New York Coalition of CDFIs Steering Committee

The steering committee of the New York Coalition of CDFIs is made up of representatives from every sector of CDFI, both Upstate and Downstate, serving urban and rural populations. Steering Committee members serve in a volunteer capacity to help the Coalition set its legislative agenda, conduct outreach to state and local officials, and provide support in organizing Coalition events, such as the yearly Advocacy Days and Statewide Conferences.

Paul Quintero Ashley Wessier ACCION New York New York, NY	Bob Radliff Capital District Community Loan Fund Albany, NY
Charlie Kalthoff ACCORD Corp. Belmont, NY	Kim Jacobs Community Capital Resources Hawthorne, NY
Leni Hochman Alternatives FCU Ithaca, NY	David Raynor Leviticus Alternative Fund Yonkers, NY
Nancy Carin BOC Network New York, NY	Stephanie Devane Nonprofit Finance Fund New York, NY
Jahaira Guerrero ERDA FCU New York, NY	Hubert Van Tol PathStone Rochester, NY
Yanki Tshering Business Center for New Americans New York, NY	Aisha Benson Edwin Hong Seedco New York, NY
Melissa Marquez Genesee FCU Rochester, NY

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2012 New York Coalition of CDFIs Statewide Conference

May 14 - 15, 2012| Hotel Albany | Albany, NY

CDFIs and the New York Economy: Impact Where it Matters Most

We had an outstanding conference with over 100 attendees representing CDFIs from across New York State!

• Chris Leo, Vice President, Office of Community Renewal, HCR on Partnering with CDFIs for Community Change
• Michael Swack of UNH and Founder of the Financial Innovations Roundtable on Building a Strong CDFI Industry - What More Can We Do? 
• Meagan Daly, Deputy Director of Regional Economic Development Councils at Empire State Development Corporation on Engaging with the State's Development Strategy
• Brian McDonald of the CDFI Fund at the US Treasury
• Gary Bell, Attorney General's Westchester Office on Mortgages and Foreclosures
• Kevin McQueen of the New School on Measuring Social Impact
• Elizabeth Isele, Founder, Senior Entrepreneurship Works; and
• CDFI practitioners from across the state

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Join Now!

The Federation launched the New York Coalition of CDFIs nearly a decade ago, and has served as its sponsor ever since. Once again, we’re asking all NY-based CDFIs to join as active members of our Coalition and help support our vital work. Your membership dues helps us cover the cost of staffing the Coalition and organizing our yearly advocacy days and statewide conferences.