Opportunity Finance Network’s core purpose is to align capital with social, economic, and political justice.

The guiding principle of our policy work is to leverage a steadily increasing flow of private capital to benefit low-income and low-wealth people. To that end, two principles form the foundation for our policy agenda:

1. Opportunity finance institutions are important to expanding economic growth and improving markets; and
2. Government investment in opportunity finance is a highly productive use of government resources.

These principles focus our policy efforts on ways to leverage capital for CDFIs to help the opportunity finance industry transform into a high-volume financing system through structural and systemic changes.

We believe that the federal government can and should invest in opportunity finance by supporting programs, regulations, and practices that promote, encourage, and complement the work of CDFIs and other opportunity finance institutions. For this reason, our advocacy rests on a two-tiered approach that both protects our base issues and pushes us forward by focusing our time and resources on policies to bring significant new capital to the industry.

1. Preserve and protect our primary, established sources of funding:
   • CDFI Fund: Ensure adequate CDFI Fund appropriations, continue to build bipartisan support for appropriations, and promote program priorities useful for the industry.
   • New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC): Reauthorize NMTC and work to ensure that it continues to serve its intended audience of low-income and low-wealth people and communities in opportunity markets. Work to increase geographic and business diversity.
   • Government Sponsored Enterprise (GSE): Work to ensure that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac meet or exceed meaningful affordable housing goals and stay true to their missions of providing affordable housing and economic development for low-income people and communities. Work with the Federal Home Loan Banking System to open doors to CDFIs for a significant source of capital.
   • Community Reinvestment Act (CRA): Respond to 100% of regulatory opportunities to protect the CRA, and ensure that the CRA continues to be a useful tool for opportunity finance.
   • Predatory Lending: 100% response to federal opportunities to fight predatory lending.
2. Develop select new opportunities to bring significant capital or leverage financing in support of our work to the opportunity finance industry:
   • Bond Financing: A federally-backed bond guarantee program to finance CDFIs for community economic development at below-markets rates.
   • Small Business Disaster Fund: A national recovery fund for small businesses in disaster-affected areas of the country.
   • GSE Reform: A meaningful affordable housing fund and leverage grant fund for community economic development.
   • Environment: Develop new sources of capital for “green” building, businesses, and other related markets, such as transportation, that benefit low-income and low-wealth people and communities.

To learn more about our agenda, take a look at our Policy Agenda. To stay up-to-date on the latest issues in Washington, D.C., check out our Policy Action Center, and to learn more about the issues, look at our Advocacy Guide. To learn how to take action see our 3 Steps to Success.