The Foundation is excited to partner with Ogen, a nonprofit social-finance fund in Israel, to support its growth as one of the first financial intermediaries in Israel helping nonprofits achieve their missions through equitable access to capital. Ogen is committed to improving financial inclusion and opportunity in Israel by providing affordable loans and financial mentoring for nonprofits, small businesses, and individuals who are not served by mainstream financial institutions or government programs. More specifically, this partnership will build capacity for Ogen’s Social Loan Fund by providing affordable and flexible loans for nonprofits in Israel to address cash flow challenges caused by the continued economic impacts of COVID-19.
In providing this $3 million grant to Ogen, the Foundation is advancing its CDFI (Community Development Financial Institution) initiative. The Foundation continues to explore how grantmaking combined with financial instruments can ultimately expand services to low-income communities that have been historically excluded from capital. Last year, the Foundation announced $7.5 million in grants to CDFIs throughout four of its US priority communities as part of its COVID-19 emergency grantmaking to address nonprofit resiliency-building both during and after the pandemic.
