Working Solutions CEO Sara Razavi was honored and thrilled to join President Bill Clinton, Secretary Hillary Clinton, and CDFI leaders at the Clinton Presidential Center for a domestic policy conference on economic inclusion and growth. Read Sara’s reflections on this experience.

As we approach Small Business Saturday on November 30th and a busy holiday season, you can Shop Local with the Working Solutions Client Directory. Sorted by type of business and then by geography, the Directory is chock full of shopping, dining, and gift ideas. Thank you for supporting our clients with your holiday purchases and helping to keep our local economy vibrant!

Working Solutions is thrilled to have received a grant renewal through the Wells Fargo Diverse Community Capital (DCC) program to make capital and consulting more accessible to diverse entrepreneurs who are starting or growing businesses in the East Bay and Peninsula-South Bay. Thank you, Wells Fargo!

Working Solutions is proud to support the California Reinvestment Coalition (CRC) in its efforts to promote more equitable investment practices for community development across the state. Most recently, we were pleased to endorse the CRC’s Anti-Displacement Code of Conduct.

Congratulations to Working Solutions client Magdy Kotb, founder of The Clothing Coach, on being featured in this new video about how the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund is making capital and business consulting more accessible to people of color who are starting or growing businesses.

Congratulations to Working Solutions CEO Sara Razavi on being elected to the board of the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), the national association of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs)! Sara looks forward to working with OFN staff, members, partners, and the rest of the board to ensure that all of our communities have access to safe and affordable capital.

Working Solutions is honored to have been awarded a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration through the Program for Investment in Micro-Entrepreneurs (PRIME). Now in its 20th year, the PRIME grant program was created to help low-income entrepreneurs gain access to capital. Thank you to our local and national partners at the SBA, and congratulations to our fellow grantees across the country.

We are excited to announce that Working Solutions is one of four CDFIs joining forces to support a new partnership that combines our small business lending and free consulting with good jobs tools from our partner Pacific Community Ventures.

Working Solutions staff member Ginelle Curincita attended the 2nd Annual Minority Women’s Business Conference in San Jose in early September, hosted by the California Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce and the Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship.

Working Solutions was pleased to partner with Bank of the West, the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, and Pacific Community Ventures on an event to raise awareness about lending resources available to small business owners through Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). Our thanks to Bank of the West and Nasdaq for this opportunity to promote our work and the broader CDFI industry!

Working Solutions has been growing our outreach efforts in the South Bay over the past year. Thanks to the support of the Sobrato Family Foundation and Wells Fargo, we have increased our staff presence and participation at community events in Silicon Valley and on the Peninsula. Recently, Working Solutions staff member Ginelle Curincita presented at two Spanish-language forums in San Jose, both hosted by the FDIC.