“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela
As we find ourselves just past the mid-year point, the GroundBreak Coalition is inspired by our collective progress and ready to keep the momentum going. Together, we are on our way toward unlocking plentiful capital to expand wealth-building opportunities in our region – and toward keeping that capital flowing.
GroundBreak started the year with a clear focus on standing up its governance and operations structure to build the financial system that can begin deploying capital this year and fully ramp up in 2025.
GroundBreak’s mid-year milestones include:
- Establishing the inaugural executive council and adding temporary operating capacity to support implementation, investor relations, communications, and more.
- Making scalable investments in down payment assistance by supporting Habitat for Humanity and Minnesota Homeownership Center’s Advancing Black Homeownership Special Purpose Credit Program, operating in partnership with Build Wealth Minnesota, First Independence Bank, and NeighborWorks Home Partners.
- Collaborating with organizational partners and aspiring Black homebuyers on the design of a $50,000 regional down payment assistance loan that will be half forgivable and half repayable upon sale — a tool intended to be made widely available by next year to open the door to homeownership to many more families.
- Introducing more than 100 prospective impact investors to GroundBreak through a series of Investor Information Sessions.
- Finalizing contracts with financial managers for GroundBreak’s guarantee and loan pools. Financial managers were identified through a nationwide search managed by GroundBreak Selection Committees comprised of cross-sector partners. Contracts should be completed by early in the fourth quarter.
- Establishing a framework for Strategic Impact Committees (formerly known as “implementation teams”) that will provide critical cross-sector leadership and monitoring for each program area to ensure coordination of capital deployment, financial managers, and originating partners so that our ecosystem is achieving desired wealth-building results, on schedule and at scale.
As we celebrate these milestones, we are also acknowledging transitions. We send warm wishes to Dondi Edwards, our inaugural project director, who has transitioned from the project team to pursue new endeavors. Dondi has been a GroundBreak champion from the earliest days, including co-chairing our initial homeownership work group. He joined the GroundBreak project team earlier this year and has helped us create the momentum that is carrying us forward.
Between now and the end of the year, the GroundBreak Coalition is working to be prepared to fully launch its new financial system in early 2025.
Some of our key upcoming activities and milestones include:
- Kicking off cross-sector Strategic Impact Committees that will help design the selection process for originating partners as well as finalizing the terms of GroundBreak-endorsed financial tools or ‘suite of products.’
- Identifying community-based originating partners that will deploy capital from the grant, low-cost loan and guarantee pools to aspiring homeowners, entrepreneurs, and commercial developers.
- Finalizing the terms of the regional down payment assistance loan that will be part forgivable (grants) and part repayable (low-cost, patient capital) enabling down payment assistance to be available at a scale commensurate with the need.
- Enrolling the first cohort of lenders who have agreed to make business growth loans to Black entrepreneurs under GroundBreak-endorsed terms supported by GroundBreak guarantees.
- Completing a first closing for each of the three GroundBreak pools with a minimum capitalization of $25 million.
- Continuing our work to secure at least $250 million in flexible capital commitment from public partners, individuals, philanthropic organizations, endowments, and corporations, which we aim to triple match with bank commitments to make GroundBreak-endorsed loans.
As we continue to make progress toward a dramatically more just, racially equitable, and climate ready region, I am grateful for the hundreds of Minnesotans across philanthropic, private, public, and civic sectors who are coming together to make bold change happen: it always feels impossible, until it is done.
Questions or feedback? Please contact info@groundbreakcoalition.org. If you’re interested in a conversation with GroundBreak leadership, attending or co-hosting an Investor Information Session, please contact: heidi@petersenconsultants.com. There are opportunities for individuals, philanthropic organizations, endowments, and corporations to leverage their balance sheets.
