I Am Empowered - I am the National Urban League

Urban Empowerment Fund

In May 2013, the National Urban League, the nation's largest historic civil rights and urban advocacy organization, launched its first subsidiary in its

103-year history, the Urban Empowerment Fund (UEF) – a new Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and small business loan fund.  UEF was created to fill a credit gap which has widened in recent years as a result of the continual fallout from the Great Recession, disproportionately impacting many minority-owned small businesses and those operating in underserved communities. 
 
UEF will provide financing and technical assistance to help small business owners create sustainable companies and vibrant communities nationwide across the markets it serves.
 
UEF will complement and build upon the National Urban League’s successful signature Entrepreneurship Center Program, which offers business management consulting and training services to the 10,000 small businesses served by the Centers on an annual basis. The Centers currently operate in 10 affiliate markets, including Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Houston, Kansas City, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, New Orleans and Philadelphia.  UEF will employ a phased market entry strategy initially focusing on these markets and eventually extending to all markets served by the National Urban League’s 95 local affiliates.
 
UEF Statements from Founding Sponsors:
 
Bank of America- “We are pleased to be a founding sponsor of the Urban Empowerment Fund - helping to connect

entrepreneurs to the technical assistance and capital needed to start and grow their businesses,” said Dan Letendre, CDFI Executive for Bank of America.  “We value our long-term partnership with the National Urban League and look forward to sustaining our partnership to promote economic vitality in communities across the nation.”
 
Citi- “Citi Community Development applauds the launch of the Urban Empowerment Fund and Don Bowen’s selection to be its president,” said Natalie Abatemarco, managing director of Citi Community Development.  “The Urban Empowerment Fund will devote 100 percent of its capital to loans for small businesses in low-income communities across the country, prioritizing its activities in the areas of greatest economic distress.  In his new role as UEF CEO, Don Bowen can be depended upon to use his talents as an organization builder to ensure a fast start as the UEF aims to fill a credit gap in African American and other communities of color that has widened in recent years.”
 
JPMorgan Chase- “Partnering with the National Urban League to support the new Urban Empowerment Fund is another way JPMorgan Chase is helping American small businesses succeed,” said Scott Geller, CEO of Chase Business Banking. “We are proud to work with millions of small companies who are fueling the economic recovery in communities across the country, and we know this fund will make a positive impact on many more.”
 
Wells Fargo- "As one of the founding sponsors and an early advisor, we congratulate UEF as it embarks on this important endeavor to positively impact our country's economic recovery by helping small businesses succeed," said Jon Campbell, executive vice president, Government and Community Relations, Wells Fargo.  "We have a long history of supporting small business CDFIs like UEF because they provide the necessary technical assistance and flexible financing these small businesses need to get started and grow."
 
For more information on UEF’s services and offerings, send inquiries to UEFinfo@nul.org.