October is here and all month long there are chances to join the ICA team at conferences, workshops, and fundraising opportunities. Here’s a brief summary of where you can find us, coast-to-coast.
In Washington, DC, you can join us at the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) Conference, and back in the Bay Area we’ll be at the SOCAP and COCAP conferences in San Francisco and Oakland. In DC, you’ll be able to find our CEO Allison Kelly and Board Member Justina Lai on a panel title “Pushing the Boundary of Impact in Small Business Capital”, and in Oakland, Director of Acceleration Dianna Tremblay is speaking on a panels as part of COCAP.
Last but not least, all month long we’re hosting workshops for entrepreneurs at Impact HUB Oakland as part of our 2019 Fall Series.
Here’s to find us all month long:
October 20 – 23: the Opportunity Finance Network Conference | Washington
Next week marks the kick off of this year’s Opportunity Finance Network’s annual conference for CDFIs. As every year, The OFN Conference “provides an unparalleled platform to connect with CDFIs, as well as increase awareness about your commitment to support and strengthen the practice of opportunity finance.”
This year, CEO Allison Kelly is not only joining fellow CDFI leaders in DC but also moderating a panel on how CDFIs like ICA can lead the way in changing the way the industry defines, assesses, and deals with risk. The panel description is below.
Session Title: Pushing the Boundary of Impact in Small Business Capital
Session Description: The CDFI industry has been tremendously impactful in getting capital into the hands of underestimated small businesses across the country. But the gap between those that have access to capital and those that don’t has grown rapidly over the past 40 years. This session will explore the role that CDFIs have played historically on the capital continuum, and where there are new opportunities for CDFIs in the future. Through a context of historical financing, lessons learned from the field, and new ways of approaching risk assessment, we invite you to participate in this lively interactive workshop aimed at discussing financial products and innovative ways of using capital stacks that work more effectively specifically for growing businesses owned by entrepreneurs of color.
Session Presenters:
- Allison Kelly, ICA Fund Good Jobs
- Harold Pettigrew, Washington Area Community Investment Fund
- Justina Lai, Wetherby Asset Management, panelist/trainer,
- Mekaelia Davis, Surdna Foundation, panelist/trainer
If you’re coming to OFN, we hope to see you at Monday’s panel, if you haven’t yet registered, limited quantities of tickets are still available.
October 20 – 22: Community Capital Panel | Oakland, Impact HUB
Dianna Tremblay joins a powerhouse panel at COCAP 2019, the Community Capital Panel in Oakland. The panel, a “Deep Dive” session on Tuesday morning is titled “Structuring an Aggregated Community Capital Fund” and will allow attendees to “get the nuts and bolts of how to aggregate community capital as a tool for closing the racial wealth divide and building power in communities.
Dianna will be joined by fellow experts from the Solidago Foundation, Uptima Business Bootcamp, and BALLE.
Get all the details and if you haven’t registered yet, you can do so at the COCAP website here.
October 22 – 25: Social Capital Conference (SOCAP) | San Francisco
Last year, many of our supporters, friends, sponsors, community members, entrepreneurs, and advisors joined us at our Bridging the Bay as we joined forces with SOCAP 2018.
This year, we’re back at the Fort Mason Center for Social Capital Markets (SOCAP) 2019. Join Allison, Rasheed, Ingrid, Hannah at the conference all Wednesday, Thursday and Friday long.
If you’d like to register for SOCAP, you can still buy multi and single day tickets here.
October – November: the Fall Series continues.
Our month-long series of workshops for early-stage Bay Area small business owners is back for the Fall!
Here are the remaining workshops that are part of the Fall Series:
- October 18th: Creating Effective Go-to-Market Strategies
- November 5th: Small Business Branding Basics
- November 22nd: Best Practice for Successful Facebook Ads
- December 6th: Pitching 101: Perfecting Your Pitch
You can get all of the details and register for Fall Series workshops here.
