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We have been quieter than usual the last few months.
In the wake of Black Lives Matter uprisings around the country, our inboxes were inundated with promises of solidarity. While we also had the urge to quickly publish a statement, we wanted to back up our words with actions. But first and foremost, we wanted to make sure our team had the space to process and reflect on our roles in an accelerated national journey toward racial justice.
When I co-founded Mission Driven Finance with David Lynn in 2016, he pushed us to avoid credit scores and personal guarantees. Honestly, I didn't fully understand his fixation at the time, but now it's ingrained in our culture. In a new post, David unpacked this as he shared his personal journey as a White man aiming to be an ally, accomplice, and co-conspirator to Black, Indigenous, and people of color in getting capital to flow where it normally doesn’t, but should.
While Mission Driven Finance has always existed to use finance as a tool for change, we know we need to do more to dismantle systemic racism. We are proud of our diverse team that is 61% people of color and 67% women, but the reality is that only 36% of our capital has gone to organizations led by people of color. We will do more.
Please hold us accountable as we commit to:
- Vote with our dollars
- Invest company time with a racial equity lens
- Continuously enhance a team culture of belonging
- Use our voice to advance anti-racism
- Keep learning
When our investors reflect the communities we strive to support, then we will have succeeded. Until then, we haven’t done enough.
Below, we also share more about our five amazing community finance fellows, how we are working with partners to uplift San Diego communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19 with SBNLP, and our team's favorite recent anti-racist readings.
Stay well and take care of each other,
Lauren Grattan
Co-Founder & Chief Community Officer
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