Deadline: April 14, 2025
Applications are open for the Towards Community Finance Development Accelerator 2025. The Towards Accelerator: Community Finance Development Accelerator (TOWARDS) program, designed by SVX in collaboration with the McConnell Foundation and sector partners is a capacity-building program providing technical knowledge, advice, and peer support for community finance intermediaries seeking to drive positive social and environmental impact through capital.
TOWARDS hopes to support the provision of community finance solutions and educational programs to underserved communities and intermediaries. From loan funds to credit unions, the Accelerator seeks to empower a range of community-centric financial institutions, with a focus on enhancing financial inclusion, equity, and support for underserved communities.
Program Components
- Weekly Skill-Building Sessions: Tailored sessions cover foundational topics such as financial management for communities, social equity-based lending, theory of change and more.
- Access to Tailored Support: Personalized advice and support from a wide range of subject matter experts addressing their unique organizational challenges and strategic goals.
- Mentorship and Coaching: Access to mentorship and coaching from North America’s leading community finance institutions.
- Networking Opportunities with Canadian Investors: Participants will have an opportunity to present their investment thesis to investors and receive feedback from both investors and cohort peers.
- Focus on Community Wealth Building: The program will have a particular emphasis on how to operate and flow money to best support equity-deserving groups or communities. It will explore emerging social finance models such as community wealth sharing, cooperative ownership, community land trusts, and place-based investment mechanisms.
Eligibility
- Organization Type: Existing place-based institutions operating at sub-national levels, including credit unions, community loan funds, community land trusts, community investment co-operatives, community futures organizations, and similar entities located within and serving rural, remote, and/or northern communities.
- Organization Stage: These entities should be beyond ideation and ready to scale up operations with at least one dedicated team member. This does not mean that the individual is full-time, but participants should have at least one staff member that has the intermediary as a part of their job responsibilities.
- Capital Raise: Planning to raise at least $1 million capital in the next 12 months.
- Impact Intent: Demonstrated commitment to deepen organizational impact or integrate impact deeply into business models.
- Equity Commitment: Commitment to gender, racial, social, and environmental equity in current or future operations.
- Community Engagement: Significant community involvement and/or willingness to enhance community-focused initiatives via impact investing.
Note that you do not need to be an existing community finance intermediary to apply. If you are an organization that has deep relationships in community and are considering a financial offering to better support your community, they encourage you to apply for consideration.
Required Commitment
- A commitment from 1 or 2 Key staff to attend all virtual sessions and meetings.
- Full participation and engagement in weekly virtual sessions (~2 hours per week).
- Completion of relevant program activities and action work.
- Engagement with coaches, mentors, and investment pitch sessions.
Application
Application timeline:
- Application Deadline: April 14, 2025 (Monday)
- Selection: Week of April 21, 2025
- Program Period: May 5 – July 14, 2025 (Monday to Monday)
For more information, visit Towards Accelerator.
