Citi Foundation has announced 12 grants totaling $50 million in support of efforts to advance financial inclusion and create positive impact for low-income communities and communities of color.

Grants were awarded through the foundation’s Community Finance Innovation Fund in the areas of technology and operational efficiencies, financial and risk-sharing models, human capital and talent development, and thought leadership and research. Recipients include Credit Builders Alliance, which will establish a consumer lending bootcamp to work with CDFIs serving consumers in credit deserts; Capital Impact Partners, which is developing an investment bank to connect investors with community organizations; Inclusiv, which will assist minority-designated credit unions in securing CDFI certification; the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB), which will launch a technical assistance program to assist Latinx-led nonprofit loan funds in securing CDFI certification; and the Center for Impact Finance at the University of New Hampshire's Carsey School of Public Policy, which will launch a CDFI research consortium that will convene CDFI practitioners, intermediaries, policy groups, funders, government entities, and academic institutions to define and drive an industry-wide community finance research agenda.

“Investing in Community Development Finance Institutions has been a long-time priority,” said Brandee McHale, president of the Citi Foundation and head of Citi Community Investing and Development. “Through this new initiative, the foundation is deepening this commitment by investing in the groundbreaking ideas that will help scale the community finance sector through innovation and capacity building.”

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