Community, Capital, and Change: Cat Berman, CEO & Co-Founder of CNote

How can we get money into America’s Main Street communities?

Cat knows that Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) have been vital in capitalizing people and communities neglected by mainstream lending. But support for these institutions has to come from somewhere. CNote is a B-Corporation and social enterprise that acts as a go between for CDFIs and institutional investors looking to round out their portfolios with investments in communities. For the scoop on CNote, we talk to co-founder and three-time entrepreneur Cat Berman about what her business does and her vision for bringing innovation to community investing.

About Cat.

As co-founder of CNote, Catherine Berman works to bridge the gap between capital and communities. She is a three-time entrepreneur with experience launching and building scalable businesses, previous company, Global Brigades, operating in five countries and now being the world’s largest student development firm. Over the last two decades, Catherine has held senior roles in both management consulting and venture capital and served as Managing Director of Charles Schwab where she led a strategy division focused on the future of finance incorporating behavioral economics and predictive analytics. 

A renegade not only listens but acts. We've consolidated a few tips from this episode to help you invest in local communities.

1. Wisdom Fund: Check out CNote’s Wisdom Fund that supports women of color entrepreneurs. You can invest through organizations you are a part of. Ask your employer, local nonprofits, places of worship, etc. to support this work by investing some of their cash in this fund.
2. Add socially responsible funds to your retirement account: This site provides a guide for investing your retirement dollars into causes that align with your values.
3. Invest in CDFI banks & credit unions: Move your savings to a CDFI bank or credit union that supports lending in local communities. Check out this site to locate a CDFI bank or credit union near you.