Economic Equity Strengthens Our Community
KZCF understands that eliminating economic disparities for our community members is one way to establish a thriving Kalamazoo County. As a subset of our larger Investment team’s work, our Impact Investing projects provide us an opportunity, not only to help fund, but to partner with community members to bring their transformational community-focused projects to life. By doing this, we ensure that along with our grantmaking work, we are funneling dollars back into our community in a series of ways that benefit our community members:
- Providing low-cost financing to support affordable housing development
- Partnering with local lenders and investors to provide capital to small business owners and entrepreneurs
- Financing infrastructure to increase nonprofit organizations’ abilities to serve the community
BIPOC Entrepreneurs Face Unique, Systemic Barriers
Black, Indigenous and people of color face a range of challenges that can hinder their ability to start, grow and sustain businesses. Access to capital, networking and mentorship gaps, and social and cultural barriers, for example, make entrepreneurship an even harder uphill battle.
Robust, Dedicated Support for Investment Loan Recipients in Kalamazoo County
Although KZCF began distributing Impact Investment Loans in 2020, we did not have the internal infrastructure required to provide consistent and comprehensive support to our community members. As part of our commitment to be a trusted partner for residents of Kalamazoo County who are leading the way in establishing new and exciting equity-focused programs, we knew we needed to evolve.
In 2023, a new Investment team was established under the leadership of our chief investments officer, Josh Sledge, to ensure dedicated capacity for our investments work and our Impact Investing projects.
Here is what our dedicated team is poised to deliver:
- Continued track record of successful investment management to ensure KZCF funds sustain their support for the community
- Growth of Impact Investments in projects and partnerships that build infrastructure and wealth in the County
- Deeper engagement with donors, financial institutions and community partners to invest collectively in Kalamazoo’s success
New Partnership and Innovative Pilot Program Taking Flight
KZCF has agreed to partner with Room 35, an entrepreneur support organization offering training programs and business consulting to entrepreneurs in Kalamazoo County, and Old National Bank to help bring their Access to Capital program to life. This unique and exciting pilot program will provide five Black and Hispanic general contractors with $50,000 lines of credit to help grow their businesses. In addition, participants will also receive coaching on how to use their lines of credit effectively.
The pilot program, which will launch in 2024, has the potential to scale and establish a model for how KZCF can work with traditional financial institutions to make Impact Investments in the future.
A Message from Our Team
“Part of the excitement of this project is that it allows us to explore new and sustainable ways to help more BIPOC community members create generational wealth, which benefits everyone in Kalamazoo County. Impact Investing is one of the most incredible tools we possess as a community foundation, and we are now in a position at KZCF to begin to maximize our use of it.” — Josh Sledge, Chief Investment Officer
