OFN CEO Lisa Mensah Lauds Rural CDFIs in National Publication
The Daily Yonder, a publication focused on rural issues, featured an article by OFN President and CEO Lisa Mensah this week underscoring the valuable role CDFIs play in distressed rural communities across America, as well as the need for greater public and private investment in these areas.
Calling CDFIs “a mayor’s best friend,” Lisa highlighted several OFN members leading the charge in rural communities plagued by persistent poverty, including HOPE, Southern Bancorp, The Progress Fund, Lakota Funds, Coastal Enterprises, FAHE, Citizen Potawatomi Community Development Corporation, MoFi, and Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation.
“Our work in and for rural America is not easy, and we must double down on our efforts to address persistent and entrenched poverty in the poorest, hardest to reach rural and Native communities,” Lisa stated in the article. “But we can do it—we have to do it. We know how, and more capital and partnership will make all of us much stronger.”
Read the full article here.