Community Development Financial Institutions

Diverse Community Capital

Building the capacity of CDFIs to support small businesses

The 2020 submission period is now closed. Continue to monitor this site, as well as other industry networks, for program updates.

Program components

  • Capacity Building grants. The purpose of this grant funding is to build CDFI capacity (capital, resources, and knowledge) with flexible grant capital to increase and strengthen lending and technical assistance offerings to diverse small businesses.
  • Activator grants. The purpose of this grant funding is to support CDFIs working on and ready to make active or implement or expand a strategy with the potential for industry or market replication.
  • Social Capital. All awardees will be offered Social Capital activities through Opportunity Finance Network (OFN). Social Capital may include mentorship programs, an online learning community, and other collaborative efforts.

Funding for Capacity Building and Activator grants will be provided by the Wells Fargo Foundation. Community Lending and Investment may also offer programs providing additional funding opportunities.

Awardees

Congratulations to our DCC program recipients. See our full list of awardees below, and  read OFN’s CDFI awardee spotlight series that highlight an innovative program or service they’ve provided.

2015

Program Launch

  • Black Business Investment Fund Florida (BBIF) (Orlando, FL)
  • Hope Enterprise Corporate (Jackson, MS)
  • Main Street Launch (Oakland, CA)

2016

Round one

  • Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs, Inc. (ACE) (Atlanta, GA)
  • Ascent Funding (Portland, OR)
  • Bridgeway Capital Inc. (Pittsburgh, PA)
  • Carolina Small Business Development Fund (Raleigh, NC)
  • Community Investment Corporation (CIC) (Chicago, IL)
  • CommunityWorks (Greenville, SC)
  • Craft3 (Ilwaco, WA)
  • ECDC Enterprise Development Group (Arlington, VA)
  • Forward Community Investments, Inc. (Madison, WI)
  • Metropolitan Economic Development Association (Meda) (Minneapolis, MN)
  • Montana & Idaho CDC (Missoula, MT)
  • Natural Capital Investment Fund, Inc. (NCIF) (Shepherdstown, WV)
  • Pacific Community Ventures (Oakland, CA)
  • Pathway Lending (Nashville, TN)
  • WWBIC, The Wisconsin Women's Business Initiative Corporation (Milwaukee, WI)

Round two

  • Accion serving Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas (Albuquerque, NM)
  • California FarmLink (Aptos, CA)
  • Community First Fund (Lancaster, PA)
  • Four Bands Community Fund (Eagle Butte, SD)
  • Fresno CDFI (Fresno, CA)
  • Justine PETERSEN (St. Louis, MO)
  • Northwest Native Development Fund (Nespelem, WA)
  • PIDC Regional Development Corporation (Philadelphia, PA)
  • Self-Help Ventures Fund (Durham, NC)
  • Tampa Bay Black Business Investment Fund (Tampa, FL)
  • VEDC (Van Nuys, CA)
  • WomenVenture (Minneapolis, MN)

2017

Round three

  • Accion Chicago (Chicago, IL)
  • Accion serving Imperial, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties (CA)
  • African Development Center (ADC) (Minneapolis, MN)
  • Business Center for New Americans (New York, NY)
  • Coastal Enterprises Inc. (Brunswick, ME)
  • Latino Economic Development Center LEDC (DC & Baltimore, MD)
  • Local Enterprise Assistance Fund LEAF (Brookline, MA)
  • Micro Enterprise Services of Oregon MESO (Portland, OR)
  • Nebraska Enterprise Fund (Oakland, NE)
  • Northern Initiatives (Marquette, MI)
  • Opportunity Fund (San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles, CA)
  • PathStone Enterprise Center (Rochester, NY)
  • Prestamos CDFI, a subsidiary of Chicanos Por La Causa (Phoenix, AZ)
  • Working Solutions (San Francisco Bay Area, CA)

Round four

  • Accion East (New York, NY)
  • AmPac Tri-State CDC (Grand Terrace, CA) 
  • Cooperative Business Assistance Corporation (CBAC) (Camden, NJ) 
  • Economic and Community Development Institute (EDCI) (Columbus, OH) 
  • Initiative Foundation (St. Cloud, MN) 
  • LiftFund (San Antonio, TX) 
  • Pacific Coast Regional Small Business Development Corporation (Los Angeles, CA) 
  • San Diego Region Small Business CDC (San Diego, CA) 
  • South Carolina Community Loan Fund (Charleston, SC) 
  • Southern Bancorp Community Partners (Little Rock, AR) 
  • UCEDC (Cranford, NJ) 
  • Ventures (Seattle, WA)

2018

Round five

  • BOC Capital Corp. (Brooklyn, NY) 
  • California Capital Financial Development Corporation (Sacramento, CA) 
  • Cooperative Development Fund of CDS for Shared Capital’s Cooperative Equity Initiative (St. Paul, MN) 
  • Cooperative Fund of New England (serving New England) 
  • Entrepreneur Fund (Duluth, MN) 
  • First American Capital Corporation (West Allis, WI) 
  • Hartford Community Loan Fund (Hartford, CT) 
  • Local Initiatives Support Corporation (serving Los Angeles, CA) 
  • Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA) (San Francisco, CA) 
  • Mountain BizWorks (Asheville, NC) 
  • New Jersey Community Capital (New Brunswick, NJ) 
  • PeopleFund (Austin, TX) 
  • Rainier Valley Community Development Fund (Seattle, WA)

Round six

  • Valley Small Business Development Corporation (Fresno, CA)
  • Women’s Economic Ventures (Santa Barbara, CA)
  • Colorado Enterprise Fund (Denver, CO)
  • First State Community Loan Fund (Wilmington, DE)
  • City First Enterprises (Washington, D.C.)
  • Washington Area Community Investment Fund (Washington, D.C.)
  • Southwest Georgia United Empowerment Zone (Cordele, GA)
  • Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives Micro Finance Group (Chicago, IL)
  • Maryland Capital Enterprises (Salisbury, MD)
  • Northwest Minnesota Foundation (Bemidji, MN)
  • Native360 Loan Fund (Grand Island, NE)
  • Rural Investment Corporation (Lyons, NE)
  • Excelsior Growth Fund (Albany, NY)
  • Grameen America (New York, NY)
  • The Enterprise Center Capital Corporation (Philadelphia, PA)
  • West Philadelphia Financial Services Institution (Philadelphia, PA)
  • Women’s Opportunities Resource Center (Philadelphia, PA)
  • Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce (Beaufort, SC)
  • BCL of Texas (Austin, TX)

2019

Round seven

  • Accion serving Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas (Albuquerque, NM)
  • Carolina Small Business Development Fund (Raleigh, NC)
  • Community Reinvestment Fund, USA (Minneapolis, MN)
  • Hope Enterprise Corporation (Jackson, MS)
  • Main Street Launch (Oakland, CA)
  • Metropolitan Economic Development Association (Meda) (Minneapolis, MN)
  • Self-Help Ventures Fund (Durham, NC)

Round eight

  • Accion Serving Southern California, (San Diego CA)
  • African Development Center (ADC), (Minneapolis MN)
  • Black Business Investment Fund Florida (BBIF) (Orlando, FL)
  • Business Center for New Americans (New York, NY)
  • California FarmLink (Aptos, CA)
  • Coastal Enterprises Inc. (Brunswick, ME)
  • Community Vision Capital & Consulting (San Francisco, CA)
  • ECDC Enterprise Development Group (Arlington, VA)
  • Finanta (Philadelphia, PA)
  • Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC) (DC, Baltimore, MD, Puerto Rico)
  • Natural Capital Investment Fund, Inc. (NCIF) (Shepherdstown, WV)
  • Nebraska Enterprise Fund (Oakland, NE)
  • Northern Initiatives (Marquette, MI)
  • Pacific Community Ventures (Oakland, CA)
  • Propel Nonprofits (Minneapolis, MN)
  • South Carolina Community Loan Fund (Charleston, SC)
  • Working Solutions (San Francisco Bay Area, CA)
  • WWBIC, The Wisconsin Women's Business Initiative Corporation (Milwaukee, WI)

2020

Round nine

  • Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs, Inc. (ACE) (Atlanta, GA)
  • Community First Fund (Philadelphia, PA)
  • Grameen America (CA and TX)
  • Houston Business Development (Houston, TX)
  • Local Initiatives Support Corporation (Los Angeles, CA and Indianapolis, IN)
  • Opportunity Fund (serving markets across the U.S.)
  • Raza Development Fund (Phoenix, AZ)

Getting started

  • Read the program guidelines (PDF) to learn the full value this program brings and find out if you are an eligible CDFI. CDFIs that meet the specific eligibility criteria can submit an Interest Form for either funding opportunity. CDFIs awarded an Activator Grant or a Capacity Building grant are ineligible for additional DCC awards.
  • Visit the Wells Fargo Works online resource center to learn about the wide range of products, resources, and guidance we offer to small businesses to help them take the next step toward their goals.
  • If you have questions about the program, contact diversecommunitycapital@wellsfargo.com.

Helping small businesses start, stabilize, and grow

Integrated Staffing Solutions

Rolando Borja brings together people in need of work after Hurricane Maria with Midwestern companies seeking employees, thanks to a Wells Fargo program for diverse small businesses.

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Venetian Pet Hospital

Jameka Smith owns successful pet hospital and credits her success in part to having found a community partner in California Capital.

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Something Better Foods, Inc.

Chef GW Chew’s plant-based meat substitutes are going from restaurant to supermarket with support from a Wells Fargo diverse small business program.

See Full Story

Wells Fargo proudly supports more than 150 CDFIs of all sizes across the country. We provide tailored investment and debt strategies to support CDFIs’ efforts in both rural and urban communities to finance affordable housing, community facilities, and small and micro businesses.

  • New Markets Tax Credit program: Equity and debt investments for commercial development in low-income areas, with reduced borrowing costs for non-profits
  • Senior debt: Shorter-term, floating-rate for use as core lending capital by larger CDFIs
  • Structured debt: Layered, special purpose funds sponsored by CDFIs

Our Team

Megan Teare
CDFI Program Manager
megan.g.teare@wellsfargo.com
612-316-0512

Lee Winslett
Director of New Markets Tax Credits
lwinslet@wellsfargo.com
619-699-3037