A panel of judges selected Northern Initiatives’ solution for its readiness, well-developed pilot plan, and broad applicability across the industry
Washington, D.C.—Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) announced Northern Initiatives as the winner of the inaugural CDFI Capital Solutions Accelerator Pitch Competition, held at OFN’s Small Business Finance Forum (SBFF) in Austin, Texas. The competition showcased early-stage solutions designed to accelerate the investment of flexible, affordable, long-term capital to help drive opportunity for all communities across America.
Three finalists — Ascendus, Next Street, and Northern Initiatives — were selected following OFN’s Demo Day in April and presented their solutions before a panel of judges at SBFF. The panel included Dave Glaser (Stitch), Gustavo Perez (Wells Fargo), Mark Pedersen (Mastercard/DAI), Keys Daniels (OFN), and Jonathan Brereton (Scale Link). They evaluated each solution on its implementation readiness, community impact potential, and capacity for sector-wide adoption. Northern Initiatives’ solution earned top marks for its innovation fund idea that leverages capital from high net-worth individuals, donor-advised funds, and community foundation partners to fund small businesses.
“Community development finance has always faced the question of how to resource this work at the scale of community need,” said Francisco Lopez, SVP, Innovation Programs, Opportunity Finance Network. “OFN launched the CDFI Capital Solutions Accelerator to build new solutions to this enduring question. The solutions that emerged from this cohort are not just ideas; they are structured, implementation-ready models that other CDFIs can adopt. Northern Initiatives’ work exemplifies what it looks like when rigorous design meets real-world market need. We look forward to seeing this solution advance.”
The Pitch Competition is the culminating event of OFN’s CDFI Capital Solutions Accelerator, a six-month structured program through which seven organizations conducted landscape research, stakeholder interviews, prototype testing, and feasibility analysis to develop capitalization solutions for the CDFI industry. The Accelerator is an offering of OFN’s Innovation Initiative, which is designed to move promising ideas from research to development to deployment across the field. OFN will provide support to all participants of the Accelerator to pilot their solutions.
“It was amazing to participate in the pitch because we’re usually funding small businesses after they pitch us. This time, we were on the other side of the table,” said Elissa Sangalli, CEO of Northern Initiatives. “We have been so grateful for the resources in OFN’s Capital Solutions Accelerator program and how they are helping us build a fund for individual investors, trusts, and family offices to support access to capital and hands-on support for entrepreneurs who often don’t qualify for traditional financing. Together we are helping Michigan businesses grow, and communities thrive.”
All Accelerator participants were eligible to apply for Innovation Initiative grant funding to support piloting and refinement of their solutions and will be receiving some level of financing. The roadmaps developed through the Accelerator are designed to enable broader CDFI adoption—giving more institutions access to capitalization approaches that can increase their resilience and deepen their community impact.
