Underwriting for Impact: Practical Guidance for CDFIs
About This
Event
What if the underwriting process could do more than assess risk? What if it could actually strengthen borrowers, improve their ability to access and repay capital, and ultimately create greater community impact?
At Hope Community Capital, we believe impactful underwriting begins with disciplined credit analysis, but it doesn’t end there.
For CDFIs, underwriting presents a unique opportunity to look beyond traditional financial metrics, understand the people and projects behind the numbers, and evaluate impact alongside risk and repayment capacity. Done well, underwriting can become a powerful tool for strengthening borrowers, structuring sustainable financing, and advancing community development.
Join HCC as we go beyond approval and dive into how underwriting can be impactful. We’ll explore how experienced CDFI professionals balance sound credit fundamentals with mission, innovation, and the realities facing borrowers.
We’ll be joined by leading professionals in the CDFI industry who bring deep experience developing underwriting approaches that strengthen both borrowers and the communities they serve.
Help shape the conversation!
What underwriting challenges are you facing? What questions arise when balancing credit risk, borrower capacity, and community impact?
Submit your questions by November 5 to help guide our discussion.
If we’re serious about creating housing that changes lives, we must look beyond the four walls of a building and better understand the investments, partnerships, and people-power needed to help communities flourish.
If you are a borrower seeking loan approvals from CDFIs or an underwriter / lender at a CDFI, this webinar is for you.
Carrie leads the firm’s strategic initiatives with a mission to support equitable, mission-aligned development across the country, particularly in the areas of affordable housing and community facilities. Carrie has been integral to the closing of over $1 billion in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) transactions nationwide, with a specialization in structuring financing for community-serving real estate projects.
With 19 years of experience in community development finance, Carrie’s experience spans strategic planning, public housing evaluation, re-entry housing, and economic impact analysis. She has successfully developed NMTC programs for two prior companies and deployed a range of capital tools, including NMTCs, Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, TIF, and HUD programs. She earned her master’s degree in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), with a concentration in community and economic development finance. Additionally, she holds bachelor’s degrees in music and political science from William Jewell College.
Carrie proudly serves as Secretary on the Board of Rooted & Rising, a Milwaukee-based nonprofit dedicated to building a nurturing, thriving community where all people feel welcome, supported, and a sense of belonging.
Rob has over twenty years of experience in real estate finance with a primary focus on commercial, affordable housing, and community development initiatives. He is adept at working with and between the banking and nonprofit sectors.
Rob’s specialties include: Lending, credit analysis, housing development financial modeling, nonprofit organization management, and project management.
Fausto joined Forward Community Investments (FCI) in 2021. As a Senior Community Lender, he oversees business development and loan originations across the state, serving as a vital connector between FCI and the community.
He is a proud graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business, where he earned a BBA in Finance, Investment, and Banking and is also a graduate of Marquette University’s ACRE program.
Rivera has dedicated much of his career to building stronger communities and creating meaningful social impact. He has held roles at Northwestern Mutual, Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation (WWBIC), and most recently spent nearly a decade as a Structured Finance Professional in the economic development and multi-family division at Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA).