Impact investors, community development finance institutions, and mission lenders finance the fabric of our communities—shaping whether families can buy homes, entrepreneurs can launch businesses, and neighborhoods can access essential services like child care, grocery stores, and jobs.

As the mission finance sector expands its role supporting communities of all kinds, it faces rapid shifts in policy, technology, and financial markets. To navigate this evolving landscape, the sector needs clear evidence of what works and how and where it works. That’s why Urban has created the Center for Local Finance and Growth.

The Center is a knowledge hub for mission finance leaders. We deliver data-driven analysis, strategic advising, and field convening to equip investors, lenders, practitioners, and policymakers with actionable insights. Our work includes identifying emerging challenges, testing innovative approaches, tracking investment outcomes, and fostering knowledge sharing across the field. By serving as an honest broker, we help field leaders adopt evidence-based solutions that expand access to capital and strengthen local economies.

Our goal is to enable communities—rural, suburban, and urban—to build affordable housing, grow small businesses, and meet residents’ needs. Together, we’re driving solutions that ensure more places have the resources to thrive.

Support for the Center for Local Finance and Growth comes from Bank of America, Capital One, The Kresge Foundation, JPMorganChase, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Wells Fargo. We are grateful to them and to all our funders, who make it possible for Urban to advance its mission.