SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER 2025 | | |
Upcoming Training: CECL Implementation for CDFIs
In partnership with ACC, CAMEO's National CDFI Academy is hosting a one-hour training designed forCDFIs that are already implementing CECL or just getting started. This training is FREE for Virginia CDFI Coalition Members! Fiscal teams, CDFI staff, board members, and leadership looking to better understand CECL should register here and contact Dara Dado, DDado@CAMEOnetwork.org,to receive your Virginia CDFI Coalition code.
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Fall is a time for harvest and abundance, reflection and introspection, and change and transition. Transitions occur not only in nature, but in organizations as well. In July, I announced that I will be retiring (or reorienting as I like to call it) at the end of the year after leading Appalachian Community Capital for 8 years. Time seems to have passed so quickly. I have been handing off priority projects to ACC team members, reaching out to our investors and funders to thank them for their support, and responding to the many well wishes from current and former colleagues who have guided and inspired me over a 40+ year career.
It’s time. Time for a new leader to move ACC to the next level. Time to be thankful for a career that has taken me from bank regulatory agencies and federal government offices to CDFIs and the nonprofit world. This last career stop has been especially gratifying—to see the work and passion of so many individuals working at Appalachian CDFIs and to witness the impact they are having in so many communities. There is still much to do. But I have great confidence in those who have taken the baton and who continue to run
the race.
Thank you for allowing me to be part of a special and powerful movement
in this country.
All my best,
Donna
| | New Issue Brief: Lending in the New Energy Economy | | ACC Hosts 2025 Opportunity Appalachia
Investor Convening | | |
On August 11-12, ACC was thrilled to welcome over 130 participants, including more than 60 investors from 40 organizations, to Asheville, North Carolina for the 2025 Opportunity Appalachia Investor Convening. Over two days, attendees connected, heard pitch presentations from 25 portfolio projects seeking over $250 million in financing, engaged with insightful panel discussions, and toured local projects.
See the photo gallery from the event here.
| ACC Holds Rural Resilience Forum | |
On July 10 and 11, ACC gathered 40 members, partners, and other community leaders at the ACC Rural Resilience Forum in Pittsburgh to reflect, design, and mobilize around one goal: building stronger, more resilient rural communities across Appalachia. From lived experiences shared in the wake of Hurricane Helene and the Kentucky floods, to hands-on strategy sessions shaping tools and financing models, every voice in the room helped move us closer to collective, scalable action. Participants developed a timeline of key collaborative steps to be taken over the next 18 months to support the development of increased resilience throughout the region.
| WNC Small Business Initiative Helps 2,100 Businesses Recover from Helene | |
When disaster struck, Western North Carolina’s small businesses stood firm - and with the help of the Western North Carolina Small Business Initiative, they rose even stronger. Led by ACC and local CDFIs, in operational partnership with Community Reinvestment Fund, USA, and backed by funding from Dogwood Health Trust, the State of North Carolina, and The Duke Endowment, this initiative helped protect over 8,000 jobs, rebuild dreams, and show that when community comes together, anything is possible. Read the profiles of
the business we served here.
| Donna Meets with UVA Impact Investing Fellows | |
In August, Donna Gambrell enjoyed an energizing conversation with the latest cohort of Tadler Fellows at the University of Virginia’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. She shared information about ACC’s mission, priorities, challenges and opportunities in Appalachia, and the state of the CDFI industry. ACC wishes the fellows the best as they continue their program and prepare for impactful careers!
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ACC Member Retirements
Two ACC members are seeing their executives retire at the end of the year. IFF has announced that Joe Neri (left) will be retiring as CEO. Kirby Burkholder, IFF veteran and president of Core Business Solutions, will succeed Neri as IFF’s third CEO. At the South Carolina Community Loan Fund, CEO Nate Barber (center) and President Deborah McKetty (right) have both announced their retirements, and a search is underway for their replacements. Thank you, Joe, Nate, and Deborah for all you have done for your communities and organizations, and best of luck in the next chapter!
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WNC Strong Helene Business Recovery Fund Open for Applications
The WNC Strong Helene Business Recovery Fund, administered by Mountain BizWorks and made possible with support from The Golden LEAF Foundation and other partners, is open for applications through September 30. The Fund was created to provide rapid recovery loans to small businesses suffering economic losses related to the impacts of Tropical Storm Helene. Eligible applicants are for-profit businesses with at least six months of operating history and fewer than 100 employees based in the SBA-declared NC Helene disaster area. Apply here.
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Virginia CDFI Coalition Holds First-ever Community Development Summit
On August 27, the Virginia CDFI Coalition hosted the inaugural Virginia CDFI Summit in Richmond. This one-day event, themed “Here. Now. Together,” convened CDFIs, policymakers, philanthropic partners, financial institutions, and community investors to focus on economic prosperity and equitable finance across the Commonwealth. Donna Gambrell joined the opening conversation, offering a dynamic look at today’s community development finance landscape, along with Brendon Miller of the Opportunity Finance Network, Ellis Carr of Momentus Capital Partners, and Daniel Davis of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Other sessions looked at how the state and national political environment is shaping CDFI work, groundbreaking models of collaboration between philanthropies and CDFIs, and case studies and best practices for community finance. Read more here.
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CDFA National Development Finance Summit
October 8-10, 2025
San Juan, Puerto Rico
EDA has issued a NOFO for the FY 2025 Disaster Supplemental Grant Program, making $1.45 billion in disaster recovery funding available to communities that received major disaster declarations due to hurricanes, wildfires, severe storms and flooding, tornadoes, and other natural disasters occurring in calendar years 2023 and 2024. Applicants can choose from three funding pathways based on their recovery stage, capacity, and long-term development vision, including Readiness, Implementation, and Industry Transformation. For applications submitted under the Readiness and Implementation Paths, applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. Applications submitted under the Industry Transformation Path must be submitted by March 3, 2026.
Video Podcast: Building Healthy Places Network – Interview with Donna Gambrell on Why CDFIs are Essential for Community Health and Prosperity (July 10)
Podcast: Truist Foundation Inspiring Conversations with Lynette Bell - Inspiring Conversations with Donna Gambrell (July 16)
Podcast: Reimagine Rural – Interview with Ryan Eller, Appalachian Funders Network, on Hazard, Kentucky’s renewal, rural narratives, and the future beyond coal (August 19)
The Atlantic: Trump is Trying to Shut Down a Lending Program That Helps His .Voters (August 27)
Mastercard Strive’s new entrepreneurship impact video, highlighting ACC.
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