The beauty of technology is it can raze the playing field, expanding access to even the most marginalized communities. Yet, we all still want to feel that personalized connection and sense of community on these platforms.
That was one of the things I took away from my conversation with Raquel Valdez Sanchez, COO of BCL of Texas, a community development financial institution (CDFI), when she joined me on Ecosystem Talks. Valdez Sanchez said BCL is one of the only CDFIs in the state of Texas that doesn’t have an answering service. I loved this blend of more traditional customer support and one-on-one relationship building alongside what they are building with their ecosystem tech.
“We are one of the first CDFIs in the nation to really engage in this kind of platform where we’re able to bring together all of our ecosystem partners, our players, and the stakeholders involved in our client’s journeys,” Valdez Sanchez said.
But let’s back up a bit. BCL has a few different focus areas which all align under the umbrella of building strong communities through access to wealth-building programs and assets.
BCL creates pathways to sustainable homeownership, especially for underserved communities through financial education, pre-purchase counseling, home buyer education, down payment assistance, mortgage lending, and foreclosure prevention services.
BCL also engages in community development lending through a real estate development fund, financing for community facilities like daycares and fire stations, and economic development projects in partnership with local governments.
They foster small business growth and job creation by providing small business coaching, education classes, and lending programs ranging from $10,000 to $500,000 through offerings like the Texas Small Business Diversity Loan Fund.
Overall, BCL aims to create generational wealth transfer and empower families, especially in gentrifying urban areas, to plan for their future and retain their ability to stay in historical neighborhoods. Because of this comprehensive approach that touches many different stakeholders, BCL is transitioning to digital systems that not only foster collaboration and facilitate connections but are also versatile enough to meet constantly evolving ecosystem resources.
BCL’s approach to ecosystem building involves stakeholder analysis to identify key players, facilitating connections and alignment, using data from needs assessments to inform strategies, and taking either a lead role or advisory role based on the situation.
One example is their work to create Dallas BUILD. They identified the key CDFIs, nonprofit organizations, and financial institutions that wanted to address small business needs and brought them together to provide resources for businesses in startup mode, small businesses, as well as area nonprofits to give them access to organizations across the entire Dallas-Forth Worth area.
“We can’t do it alone,” Valdez Sanchez said. “The bottom line is we have to be able to work together and we have to really be able to figure out what direction we are going in and what is the impact that we collectively want to work.”
Close partnerships with other major Texas CDFIs like Lift Fund and People Fund enable all these organizations to easily refer individuals and businesses to the right resources as well as share resources when applicable.
Collaboration is vital to maximizing impact across the spectrum of home ownership, entrepreneurship, community facilities, and asset building, and BCL has found ecosystem tech to be the best platform to facilitate that collaboration and make the biggest impact for the communities they serve.