Lighting the Way for Entrepreneurs: Meet Watchen Harris Bruce, 2025 Inez Long Awardee

June 13, 2025 – 

Watchen Harris Bruce received the 2025 Inez Long Award, which honors an individual who embodies the spirit of longtime CDFI leader Inez Long, exemplifying servant leadership, passion, integrity and steadfast commitment to innovation, excellence and partnership.  

Read time: 8 minutes

The inaugural Inez Long Award for Commitment, Partnership, and Vision, was presented this week at OFN’s annual Small Business Finance Forum (SBFF) in Austin, TX. Inez, who passed in 2024, was the President and CEO of Black Business Investment Fund (BBIF), a former OFN board member, and a longtime community development finance leader and small business advocate. Her leadership was integral in the development of SBFF.

The honorary award was presented to Watchen Harris Bruce, President and CEO of Baltimore Community Lending (BCL). Her work reflects a deep dedication to uplifting others, fostering meaningful collaborations and creating lasting impact in Baltimore and beyond. She is a strong champion and advocate, whose vision is helping plant the seeds of the future of the community development financial institution (CDFI) industry, while tending to the needs of today. 

OFN spoke with Watchen, to learn more about her career journey, how she’s growing the impact of BCL, and her vision for the future of the CDFI industry.

Tell us about your career journey.

I have over 40 years of experience, nationally and internationally, as a financial executive with a deep commitment to and wealth of knowledge in community development finance, economic empowerment, small business lending, and leadership development. Before joining Baltimore Community Lending (BCL), I served as Managing Director/Chief of Party of two USAID-funded projects, “Investing for Business Expansion IBEX” in Liberia, West Africa, and “Liberia Agribusiness Development Activity (LADA).” Additionally, I served as Vice President at several national banks in the U.S., including PNC Bank, Fleet Bank, Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, and JPMorgan Chase, and as a Relationship Manager at NeighborWorks America. My passion has always been to help small business clients access capital and provide business development services to create wealth for themselves and their families. 

What led to your role as President and CEO of Baltimore Community Lending (BCL)?

I was redeployed back to the United States in November 2019 when my USAID-funded project ended. I was offered the role of President and CEO of BCL by the Board of Directors, who were searching for a new leader at the time. This was a holistic opportunity for me to use my diverse banking, finance, international, and local community development finance expertise to scale BCL and rebrand the organization. I started in January 2020 during the pandemic, which was a period of growth and transformation for the organization. Since then, BCL’s assets size has grown from $19 million to $54 million as of March 2025.

What was Inez Long’s lasting impact on the CDFI industry?

I met Inez in 2019 at the OFN Conference in Washington, D.C. She was warm and welcoming. She invited me to join her and the other founders at the African American Alliance of CDFI CEOs meeting. The Alliance was in its initial stages of formation, and I appreciated her inviting me as a new CDFI President and CEO. I hesitated to join, and she said, “You are one of us, as a Black-led CDFI CEO, come and join us.” I will never forget her kind words to me. She became my friend, and I respected her for her vision and willingness to include others. She was a strong advocate for the CDFI industry. She believed in extending opportunities and providing resources to underserved and disadvantaged communities. I had a lot in common with her and I appreciated her passion and love for people.

One of her lasting impacts on the industry was her constant cheerful outlook to raise more New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) for smaller CDFIs and to provide innovative technology for clients’ capacity building and technical assistance. We often discussed how to update the CDFI Fund policies to help smaller CDFIs access NMTCs and other ways we could partner. 

How do partnerships contribute to the impact of your work, and can you share an example of a partnership that advanced BCL’s mission?

I strongly believe in partnership and collaboration to advance our work as CDFIs, because the work is difficult and no one organization can do it alone. We have formed many partnerships with CDCs, foundations, private and public institutions, and other CDFIs. Most recently, we partnered with BBIF to complete the financing of our new 25,000 sq. foot building in downtown Baltimore. The facility will host our new Business Development & Resource Center, a one-stop-shop for comprehensive technical assistance and business development services for businesses at every stage. It’s a wonderful opportunity to partner with my CDFI colleagues at BBIF to close this $12 million project. Our ribbon cutting ceremony is on June 18 and we look forward to celebrating Inez’s vision and legacy. 

What is the biggest opportunity and challenge facing the CDFI industry today, particularly for CDFIs serving small businesses?

The biggest challenge is the lack of affordable capital from the CDFI Fund and other impact investors. The greatest opportunity is the demand in our communities for capital and comprehensive business development services. 

What is your vision for the future of the CDFI industry? 

To continue doing what we do as mission-based lenders: Provide access to capital and business development services to small businesses so they can grow and create wealth in the community. Secondly, we hope to continue working with OFN, the Alliance, and other trade associations to raise capital and advocate for policies that improve the industry for our communities nationally, while educating our stakeholders on the importance of CDFIs. 

Can you tell us about one of the most recent investments that BCL made and the impact it has had on the entrepreneur and community?

We have financed several small businesses that have an enormous impact on the community. There is one client we financed three times when no other lender would – Sekwan Merritt, founder and owner of Lightning Electric, LLC – who sparked a movement with the launch of his business. 

His company, an electrical contracting firm based in Baltimore, does more than wire buildings; it provides possibilities for people often left behind. What truly sets the business apart is its purpose: creating career opportunities for returning citizens and at-risk youth in Baltimore. “We hire the best people, period. A past does not define your potential. We train our team to be sharp, skilled, certified, and expect top-tier work,” says Merritt.

After a 2012 conviction, Merritt decided to pour himself into books on business, electrical codes, and entrepreneurship from behind prison walls. A licensed electrician since 2005, he refined his skills while working as a prison electrician and taking college credits. “That experience lit a fire in me,” he recalls. “We were expanding our minds every day.” 

Upon release in 2017, Merritt launched Lightning Electric. Early challenges did not deter him, instead, they became his fuel. When state licensing laws blocked him from testing his Master Electrician license due to his record, he helped pass a bill to change that. Soon, Lightning Electric began winning contracts, from retail shops to historic churches and government offices. Each project became a steppingstone. 

As Lightning Electric’s reputation grew, so did the size and scope of its contracts. However, fulfilling those contracts required capital that Sekwan did not have access to. Like many returning citizens, his credit took a hit while incarcerated and traditional banks would not take the risk. Then, he was introduced to BCL. As a mission-based CDFI, BCL exists to provide funding based on potential and not just credit scores. Before a single dollar was disbursed, our team worked closely with him through business coaching, helping make him loan-ready, and creating a tailored path to scale the business responsibly and sustainably. This is what BCL describes as Capital Plus.

The story of Lightning Electric found its most defining moment in a project that was both deeply personal and mission-aligned: the construction of the new BCL Headquarters. Lightning Electric was awarded the $1 million electrical contract for the BCL Headquarters, marking the largest contract in the company’s history. This was a business win, but more importantly, it was a full-circle moment that embodied BCL’s mission – to empower underestimated entrepreneurs and build lasting community wealth. Through this project, Merritt did not just wire a building, he lit the way for what’s possible when capital, capacity, and community come together. What began as a simple question to U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen – “Who’s doing the electric work?” – evolved into a competitive 15-month pursuit of a dream contract.

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Stay tuned in the coming weeks for a recap of the 2025 Small Business Finance Forum, including Watchen’s acceptance speech. Subscribe for updates below.

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Tags: CDFI Leadership, Community Development, OFN Membership, Small Business Finance Forum