Working Solutions is a member of the California Association for Micro Enterprise Opportunity (CAMEO), and we are committed to sharing expertise and best practices to help our industry thrive. Last month, Working Solutions Lending Manager Priscilla Woo presented as part of a CDFI Essentials event hosted by CAMEO, sharing her skills and experience on loan closing, servicing, and documentation with peers.

Working Solutions client Robert Guidry, owner of Masterclass Mobile Barbershop, was featured on KTVU alongside Crystal Rasmussen, Working Solutions Business Consulting Officer. Robert is committed to rebuilding his barber shop business which was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, and even during tough times, he still gives back to the community with free haircuts at the VA Hospital in Palo Alto.

The ninth and final round of the California Relief Grant Program is now closed. This program is administered by the California Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA) and Lendistry. Working Solutions was pleased to be one of the select partners providing support with the application process. If you applied, please note that Lendistry is still in the process of reviewing applications. Please continue to check your email for updates. Learn more here.

September 15-October 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month! Working Solutions is committed to supporting Latinx entrepreneurs across the Bay Area by providing affordable capital and customized consulting to help their businesses thrive. Join us in celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by directing your purchases to local Latinx-owned businesses. Click below for links to several business directories to help you find great spots to try.

As we head into the Labor Day weekend, Working Solutions is preparing for the Fall season—a time of change and opportunity, which this year includes the transition of our CFO, Christina Travers. In November, Christina will be moving on to a new position: serving as the CFO of LISC, a national CDFI where she worked earlier in her career. Congratulations, Christina, and thank you for all you have done for our organization and the entrepreneurs we serve! Working Solutions is actively recruiting for the CFO position, and interested applicants can learn more here.

Working Solutions is proud to support our partners at the Responsible Business Lending Coalition in advancing implementation of CA SB 1235, the nation’s first small business truth-in-lending protections bill, which will ensure a fairer marketplace for California’s small businesses.

Working Solutions Chief Development Officer Laura Hoover was pleased to present at the University of Washington’s virtual Ascend conference sponsored by JPMorgan Chase in July. Laura and co-panelist Ray Pennie, President of Business Development for Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs (ACE), presented about new financing models and financial products, lessons learned, and new strategies and advice for financial sustainability during times of crisis and beyond.

August is National Black Business Month! As a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), Working Solutions is committed to closing racial wealth gaps through entrepreneurship. We encourage our community to join us in supporting local Black entrepreneurs by directing your purchases to Black-owned small businesses. Click below for links to directories and resources. Also, don’t miss Bay Area Black Restaurant Week from August 20-29.

Working Solutions CEO Sara Razavi is featured in New Sector Alliance’s most recent Impact Report in a full-page alumni spotlight about her experience as a Summer Fellow and her path to her current role. Learn more about Sara’s professional journey and this leadership development program.

In exciting news today, Working Solutions is one of only 50 organizations selected nationally to receive $500,000 in unrestricted funding by the Citi Foundation! Grant funds will help to scale our work serving small businesses owned by people of color in the San Francisco Bay Area. Thank you to the Citi Foundation for this generous grant that supports our work as the First to Believe in and the First to Respond to financially marginalized entrepreneurs.

Working Solutions is featured in a Bank of the West Means & Matters article as one of ‘4 Groups Financially Empowering Women—for the Good of the Planet.‘ As a mission-minded microlender and nonprofit CDFI, Working Solutions is proud to partner with Bank of the West to connect women with microloans, business consulting, and enhanced networking to close the gender-based wealth gap through sustainable entrepreneurship.

Working Solutions is honored to be a recipient of Grow with Google funding to support Black-owned businesses with affordable capital and personalized consulting. Thank you to Google, Google.org, and the Opportunity Finance Network, and our fellow CDFI recipients for your shared commitment to Finance Justice!