James Cash Penney (the founder of JC Penney) said, “Growth is never by mere chance, it is the result of forces working together.” The spirit of this quote reflects the year of tremendous growth and expansion that NALCAB experienced in 2023. It has been the result of collaborative and inspired work by NALCAB’s staff, our supporters, our partners and network of members.

In 2023, we added 31 new member organizations, including members located in states where NALCAB had not previously had an established presence such as Idaho, Montana and North Dakota.

We held our largest conference to date in Los Angeles in September, with close to 400 attendees. For a second year in a row, we featured a female presidential cabinet member of color, with Small Business Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman offering remarks. A highlight was a recorded message by Vice President Kamala Harris herself, who encouraged NALCAB’s members to forge on in our work supporting communities with critical economic development interventions.

NALCAB continued to grow our commitment to flowing capital to NALCAB members by providing $1.2 million in grants (with an average grant size of $40,000 per organization), $8.4 million in loans and $1.2 million in loan guarantees. We will be ramping up both our grant and loan activity to members even more in 2024. Of NALCAB’s funding partners in 2023, 25% were new funder relationships which, in turn, exposed new philanthropic audiences to the important work of the NALCAB membership. Be on the lookout in 2024 for NALCAB’s continued commitment to connecting our members to key philanthropic partners.

We have expanded our program offerings to include new initiatives that will help unlock federal funding at scale for NALCAB members. In partnership with our Justice Climate Fund partners, we have spent the year preparing a proposal to the Environmental Protection Agency to implement a Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund that will help our member lenders channel capital to the communities they serve with the purpose of addressing the adverse impacts around energy and climate that disproportionately affect Latinos and other underinvested communities of color. NALCAB also published several toolkits for our members this year, including in the areas of financial capability, marketing and equitable neighborhood development.

Looking inward, NALCAB has taken time to focus on our organizational culture and staff well-being. Our internal collaboration is only as strong as our care and respect for one another. We spent time this year homing in on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) with work at our Board and staff levels, and it was heartening to see the commitment to share and to learn within these groups. This year, NALCAB developed an internal DEI statement that reads:

NALCAB is dedicated to fostering a respectful, safe and inclusive work environment where every team member is valued for their unique talents and backgrounds. We embrace and uplift our comunidad by extending the table to welcome more familia through our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion. We believe that the diverse backgrounds of our team enhance our work environment, strengthening our capacity to make a meaningful impact on our network and communities, thereby creating a culture of respect, belonging and appreciation for all.

During this era of growth, we are careful not to lose sight of our commitment to providing thoughtful, responsive and individualized attention and support to NALCAB’s 200+ members. We are adding capacity to deepen our engagement and support of those members. NALCAB is finalizing our next strategic plan, which will outline a vision for our work and continued dedication to being both a “safety net and trampoline” for our members—providing you a soft landing place as well as a springboard to move you to your next level of success and impact.

In 2024, please know you can count on us for our traditional offerings around Capital, Capacity, Collective Voice and Comunidad. But also know that we are – and I am – always just an email, call or text away to help you navigate the challenges and privileged burden of serving your communities and running your organizations. ¡Cuenten con nosotros! ¡Estamos aquí para servirles!

Marla Bilonick
NALCAB President & CEO