BUILDING RESOURCES YOUR TEAM DESERVES

Seven Cs Collective fills a market gap in credit training and analysis for the nonprofit community development sector.

We empower community development finance professionals through customized trainings, professional development, and operational excellence initiatives. With a combined 60 years of experience, we take a collective approach to knowledge sharing by engaging in hands-on learning with participants. As experts and current practitioners, we can build upon and supplement your capacity through credit and portfolio support, process and change management, and strategic fundraising.

OUR SERVICES

  • Group Training

    • Credit training for your lending team

    • Sector and product customization

    Investing in People

    • 1:1 coaching to boost skills

    • Diversified expertise across asset classes and subsidy programs

    Operational Excellence

    • Credit policy design, tools, and templates

    • Development of other systems and procedures

  • In addition to customized trainings, we provide direct capacity in:

    • Credit analysis for individual clients and multi-lender transactions

    • Federal grant applications

    • Loan portfolio reviews

    • Third-party credit reviews

    • Credit committee participation

MEET THE PARTNERS

Our experience spans predevelopment and term loans to complex tax credit transactions, resulting in the origination of more than $1.5 billion in financing to community projects and more than $100 million in federal grant awards supporting CDFIs.

  • Kathy is a community development financing executive with 20 years of experience, specializing in strategic advising, team development and training delivery, credit analysis and financial modeling, research, and fund development. She provides advisory and consulting services to CDFIs and foundations. Kathy previously served as the Vice President of Lending for the Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF) where she managed and developed the lending team. Before NFF, she served as the director of LISC’s charter school financing program.

  • Eva brings nearly 25 years of finance and community development experience to her services, developing and mentoring effective teams throughout her career. Most recently she served as Vice President of Credit at Civic Builders, where she oversaw credit policy and underwriting. Before that, Eva led originations and underwriting at Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), specializing in credit analysis, loan monitoring, and community-focused investments including charter schools, early childhood education, and federally-qualified healthcare centers.

  • Sara has over 20 years of experience in lending and credit roles at CDFIs, most recently as Vice President of Charter School Financing at LISC, where she led all aspects of its national charter school portfolio. Prior to LISC, Sara served as Vice President of New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) at TruFund. She has expertise in charter school facility financing, small business lending, and NMTC financing, and has built and trained high-performing teams across these sectors. Sara is the author of Charter School Bond Issuance: A Complete History, Volume 4, published by LISC.

WHAT SETS US APART?

To understand the risks and benefits of community development projects, investors need a nuanced lens that goes beyond the traditional ‘five Cs of credit’. 

Seven Cs Collective was founded on the principles of the five Cs of credit—plus compassion and courage.  We need compassion to understand that unconventional projects, asset classes, and developers are no less worthy of investment, and often provide the richest returns in community benefits. Courage is a by-product of compassion, because projects that support historically under-resourced communities deserve to be looked at with objectivity, nuance, and creativity.  Seven Cs Collective strives to incorporate compassion and courage in our philosophy and practice by embracing and giving credence to these traits in the entrepreneurs and community leaders at the forefront of the work in their communities.

“Seven Cs provided tailored credit underwriting training for my team that thoroughly addressed their concerns and questions. Kathy, Sara and Eva took the time to get to know our culture and priorities and designed a comprehensive program that kept everyone awake, engaged, and enthusiastic.”

Elise Balboni, President, Enterprise Community Loan Fund