Dena Jo Squyres, like a typical 16 year-old girl, enjoys hanging out with her friends, shopping and playing softball. But Dena — a student at the Cherokee Nation’s Sequoyah High School in Oklahoma — can add entrepreneur, saver and spokeswoman to her list of after-school activities.

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December 12th marked the announcement of the first two winners of the Wachovia NEXT Awards for Opportunity Finance in partnership with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Latino Community Credit Union of Durham, NC and ACCION Texas of El Paso, TX were awarded a total of $8.25 million in loan and grant financing in recognition of their exceptional track records and extraordinary potential. 

CFED is proud to partner with Wachovia, the MacArthur Foundation and Opportunity Finance Network on the management of this groundbreaking awards program.  Building on almost 30 years of experience managing awards and investments that promote innovation and strengthen emerging fields, CFED played a key role in the design and management of the selection process for the Wachovia NEXT Awards.

The aim of the Awards, over the next five years, is to propel high-potential Community Development Finance Institutions, or CDFIs, to a next level of growth, success, and staying power. These mission-driven financial institutions will, in turn, have even greater capacity to innovate, to drive positive policy and systems change and to deliver tangible benefits to their communities and target markets.  More broadly, the Wachovia NEXT Awards celebrate the entire Opportunity Finance industry — its creativity, accomplishments, and enduring importance. By bridging market gaps and helping mainstream financial institutions and the public sector connect to low and moderate income customers and communities, CDFIs are continuously creating opportunities to transform underserved markets and to build a more secure and prosperous future for us all.