ABSTRACT
Community economic development is composed of a set of intermediaries that support the development of poor communities. Community economic development institutions (CEDI) such as community development financial institutions (CDFI), some of which predate the development of a formal community economic development field, work with locally based development organizations. CDFIs have been serving low-income communities as intermediaries for many years. One of the major accomplishments of the community economic development intermediaries has been to aggregate capital from resource providers such as foundations and the public sector. The varied types of organizations invested in by the CDFI include community development credit unions, banks, bank community development corporations (CDCs), community development venture funds, and CEDIs with the capacity to absorb and use the fund’s resources. Neighborhood Partnership Inc provides operating support for a carefully chosen set of CDCs while providing organizational development assistance to strengthen the organizations so they can more successfully engage in community economic development.
