Partnerships
Working Solutions CDFI partners with foundations, corporations, local government, and community members on special initiatives designed to serve under-resourced and under-represented entrepreneurs. Programs include small business grant funds, customized loan funds, and more. Below is a collection of our current and past initiatives. To explore partnership opportunities, please contact us here.
Patricia Rodriguez, SF Parking, LLC
Photo by Mitch Tobias
Current Initiatives
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CDFI Fund Equitable Recovery Program
As a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) certified by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Working Solutions has received multiple funding awards from the federal CDFI Fund to support our work.
Most recently, Working Solutions was awarded $4.1MM through the CDFI Fund's Equitable Recovery Program to continue serving financially marginalized communities as they recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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City of San Francisco: District 10
Working Solutions administers a Small Business Revolving Loan Fund to serve San Francisco’s District 10 in partnership with Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center. The Fund provides microloans of $5,000 to $100,000 and free consulting to businesses located in Bayview Hunters Point and other D10 neighborhoods (94124, 94134, 94107, 94103, 94110). Funding for this program is made possible by the D10 Implementation Committee.
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City of San Francisco: Dream Keeper Initiative
As part of the Dream Keeper Initiative, Working Solutions is providing real estate services—including lease review, negotiation, and relocation assistance—to reverse the displacement of brick-and-mortar small businesses in San Francisco, with a focus on Black-owned and African American-owned businesses and commercial storefronts.
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City of Berkeley: Small Business Loan Fund
Working Solutions has been selected to administer low-interest loans coupled with free consulting through the City of Berkeley's COVID-19 Resiliency Loan Program, which was launched with a grant of nearly $1 million in CARES Act funding from the Economic Development Administration (EDA).
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Wells Fargo: Open for Business Fund
Through the Open for Business Fund, Working Solutions is providing capital and consulting to help entrepreneurs across Northern California get back to growth and emerge from the pandemic even stronger.
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Bank of America: Neighborhood Builder
Working Solutions was selected to participate in the prestigious Bank of America Neighborhood Builder program in 2020. Through grants and training, this program supports nonprofit organizations across the country that are addressing issues of economic mobility and social progress.
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OFN: Grow with Google & CDFI Tech Grant
Through our membership in the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), the national association of CDFIs, Working Solutions has received impactful support through the OFN CDFI Technology Grant Program, the Grow with Google Small Business Fund, the CDFI Google Ad Grant Program.
Past Initiatives
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California Rebuilding Fund
The State of California launched the California Rebuilding Fund in 2020 to help small businesses as they adapt, reopen, and recover from the effects of COVID-19, and Working Solutions is participating as one of 12 community lenders in this initiative.
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First to Respond: Relief Grant Administration
Working Solutions administers small business grant programs with government, corporate, and foundation partners to help deploy relief dollars quickly and efficiently during times of crisis. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Working Solutions was one of a select group of partners on the $2.5 billion California Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program administered by the California Office of the Small Business Advocate and CDFI Lendistry.
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JPMorgan Chase: Entrepreneurs of Color Fund
Working Solutions served as the lead CDFI partner on the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund, a $3.1 million initiative funded by JPMorgan Chase to make capital and consulting more accessible to entrepreneurs of color in San Francisco.
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Whole Foods Grants
Working Solutions partnered with Whole Foods on the Local Producer Grant Program, an initiative to make grant dollars available to support the growth of new and innovative local food and body care product makers. Between 2014 and 2017, Working Solutions and Whole Foods made almost $1 million in grants to 108 Bay Area entrepreneurs through this program.
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Wells Fargo: Diverse Community Capital Program
Working Solutions was a two-time grantee through the Wells Fargo Diverse Community Capital program. Support from Wells Fargo helped us to amplify our work in the East Bay, expand our work in the Peninsula-South Bay, and invest in our own organizational capacity-building. Wells Fargo was one of the first to believe in Working Solutions with a lending capital investment to seed our microloan program in 2005.
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Citi Foundation: Technical Assistance Grant
Working Solutions is one of only 50 organizations across the nation to have been awarded unrestricted funding by the Citi Foundation to scale our work serving small businesses owned by people of color.
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City of San Francisco: Small Business Grants
In partnership with San Francisco’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) and the San Francisco SBDC, Working Solutions administered two prior grant programs to support business retention in San Francisco: one for local bookstores and one for legacy businesses.
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Bank of the West: Women in Business
Working Solutions is partnering with Bank of the West to connect women entrepreneurs with microloans, start-up and early-stage consulting, and enhanced networking to promote wealth-building for women and to close the gender wealth gap.
Memberships & Affiliations
