"The Mission Driven Bank Fund today announced its initial investments in Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and Minority Depository Institution (MDI) banks committed to expanding financial services in underserved communities. The Fund aims to help close the racial wealth gap by meeting the banks' needs through below-market and flexible investment vehicles and subsidized technical services curated to build sustainable change for the sector.

The Fund, encouraged by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and anchored by Microsoft and Truist, recently announced its first investor close at the end of last year. While it is raising more capital throughout 2024, it wanted to begin meeting the needs of its growing pipeline of CDFI and MDI banks right away.

Paul Welch, the Fund's portfolio manager, said, 'The Fund has been well received by our mission focused bank sector and we look forward to continuing to support building capacity within their communities.'
Initial investments include:

• Embassy National Bank, an MDI serving primarily South Asian communities throughout the state of Georgia.
• Legacy Bank and Trust, a CDFI bank with locations in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas, and affordable housing and community development lending niches prioritizing majority minority communities, American Indian reservations, and persistent poverty counties across the country.
• Priority Bank, a CDFI providing rural, small business, and affordable housing mortgage loans in Ozark and Northwest Arkansas.

In addition to the $18 million in aggregate financing deployed into these banks, we believe they will start to benefit from the tailored technical services program designed to build organizational capacity and the growing network of vendor relationships the Fund provides."