OPEN ACCESS/REAP Selects Inaugural Candidates for Community Development Finance

The Open Access/REAP Program announced the selection of 23 professionals for a pilot, all-virtual Open Access Fellowship Program in community development finance.

The fellowships will run through Friday, April 16, 2021. The fellows were chosen from a pool of candidates across the nation.

The community development finance industry, bolstered by the recent reauthorization of the New Markets Tax Credit Program, offers economic support to low-income areas in the form of lower-than-market rate interest loans and other financial incentives to help support small businesses, housing organizations and other areas requiring assistance.

While community development often serves communities of color, it is currently grossly under-represented by Black and Latinx individuals, according to Open Access.

Open Access, a newly organized group of executive-level individuals, was formed to correct the imbalance so that BIPOC [black, Indigenous and people of color] professionals will be significantly involved in and lead the efforts of community development finance to improve the health, education, and access to wealth of economically disadvantaged populations.

Open access is led by co-founders Gina Nisbeth, a director at Citi, and Jeff Monge, managing partner of Monge Capital. In addition to offering paid virtual fellowships, the group offers online experience, training, mentorships and networking sessions to professionals of color seeking careers in community development finance.

The program is presented in collaboration with Project REAP (Real Estate Associate Program), a diversity initiative connecting professionals to commercial real estate for more than two decades.

“REAP is proud to help launch the rollout of Open Access, a program that will increase the representation of persons of color in community development finance,” said REAP Chief Program Officer Osayamen Asemota-Bartholomew in a prepared statement. 

“The current disproportionately low number of BIPOC professionals in the field both deprives neighborhoods of the cultural affinities offered by persons who reflect the ethnicity of the communities served and leaves large groups of talent unaware of and lacking access to career opportunities. We are glad to welcome the first round of Open Access fellows, a stellar and dedicated group.”

The Inaugural Open Access Fellows include: Trevor Nelson, Advantage Capital, New Orleans; Anika Wright, Advantage Capital, New Orleans; Jaquis McCullough, Baker Tilly US, LLP Chicago; Melanie McNeely, Chicago Community Loan Fund, Chicago; Ja’Shar Hartley, Cinnaire Lansing, Mich.; John Moore, Classic Lake Consulting, Los Angeles, Ed Chatmon, Cleveland Development Advisors, Cleveland; Christen Richardson, Greenline Ventures, Denver; Isaiah Williams, Greenline Ventures, Denver; Chabeli Caceres, Monge Capital, Newark, NJ; Chima Joseph, Monge Capital, Newark, NJ; Brianne Andrea Lund, Monge Capital, Newark, NJ; Giovanni Araujo, National Trust Community Investment Corp., Washington, DC; Danielle Salters, New Jersey Community Capital, New Brunswick, NJ; Jocelyn Moore, New Markets Support Company, Chicago; Rob Ebanks, New Markets Support Company, Chicago; Allison Bernstein Novogradac & Co. LLP, San Francisco; Ashley McMichael, Novogradac & Co. LLP, San Francisco; Jessica Washington, Novogradac & Co. LLP, San Francisco; Nicole Dillard, Stonehenge Capital, Columbus, Ohio; Marcus Jones, TELACU, Los Angeles; Steven McClendon, Reinvestment Fund, Philadelphia; and Desiree Thomas, TruFund Financial Services, New York.