As a child, one of my favourite books was a compendium of Aesop’s fables. I found the tales entertaining on a story level and deep on philosophical level. They taught me a lot about life. One of Aesop’s most famous sayings is ‘United we stand, divided we fall’. I learnt the meaning of that early in life and it is as true now as ever it was.
Standing united in the face of adversity (or austerity, as we call it these days) is critical for the survival of our sector. CDFIs are a diverse group of funds. We have different markets, different funders, different legal forms, business models, products and services. There is no one typical CDFI. Yet what unites us is our mission to address the market failure of the banks and deliver to underserved markets.
Occasionally people say to me that the CDFI sector is too diverse. But this is a short sighted view. Of course the sector is diverse. It needs to be. It is addressing thousands of customers with a myriad of issues. There would never just be one solution. Anyone who thinks that there should just be a generic approach is making a fundamental error. CDFIs must stand united against this idea, as never before.
We launched our latest Inside Out 2010 state of the sector report this week. At the event, Mark Prisk, Business Minister told members how important CDFIs are in the supply of finance. He announced changes to the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme which the cdfa has been lobbying for on behalf of its members. He then invited members to engage in a range of upcoming policy developments such as the Enterprise Allowance Scheme and the Big Society Bank. The minister’s speech was followed by officials from five different government departments talking about opportunities for CDFIs to deliver government policies. The cdfa has been working long and hard to position its members as delivery vehicles for these policies, so our work on behalf of our diverse group of members is bearing fruit.
The event was covered in mainstream media such as the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, the Daily Telegraph and Management Today.
This is what we achieve by being a united and diverse sector, the reality of ‘United we stand, divided we fall’. Aesop’s fables have stood the test of time for a reason.
Bernie Morgan, Chief Executive, cdfa