California Community Economic Development Assoc. (CCEDA)

CAL I FORNI A COMMUNI TY ECONOMI C DEVELOPMENT ASSOC . (CCEDA) by a number of high-performing executives running community development corporations here in California. These corporations were established in the 1970s and ‘80s to focus on very specific diverse communities and communities of challenge – lower income communities such as East Los Angeles, the Mission district of San Francisco, South Los Angeles, Oakland and San Diego. Executives seeking to come together to help grow the industry, help grow their organizations, look for funding, and to seek advocacy support in Sacramento and in DC for the work they were doing in affordable housing, social enterprises, community facilities, childcare facilities, health clinics – all focused on revitalizing the comprehensive wellbeing of underserved communities throughout the State of California. BVM: How would you describe the current mandate? Barragán: Our current mandate is similar although our member organizations have expanded. Not only are they community development corporations, they are also community development financial institutions (CDFIs) – fully certified community lenders focusing on small businesses, on individuals, on community facilities, and community action agencies. There are about 60 community action agencies in California that are on the leading edge of anti-poverty programs largely funded by the federal government, including everything from food banks to energy assistance to childcare throughout the State. So our mandate is to support community development organizations of many types with real estate development and technical assistance, with social enterprise development and expansion, as well as fund development and fund raising support. Added to that is our support to organizations of color, particularly