Mission Asset Fund

Mission Asset Fund (MAF), a ground breaking non-profit organization working to expand access to financial services, savings and investment opportunities for working poor families in San Francisco’s Mission District, was created in 2007 with seed funding from the Levi Strauss Foundation. In just one full year of operation MAF has become the first organization in the nation to support a full spectrum of asset-building opportunities for low-income and immigrant families. In addition to piloting and launching several innovative programs that have positively impacted hundreds of members in the local community, MAF began working on an empirical study of immigrant financial behavior that will reach a broader, national audience. MAF is creating real and direct paths for low-income and immigrant residents to transition into the financial mainstream.

In February 2005 Levis Strauss and Company (LS&CO) announced its intent to sell their Valencia Street sewing facility and donate the proceeds to the Levi Strauss Foundation (LSF), with a large contribution earmarked for a special Mission District economic development fund. In spring of 2005, a steering committee comprised of six community leaders and one LSF representative began discussing how to best use the corporate pledge. The steering committee conducted an extensive and dynamic community outreach process, contacting more than 300 Mission residents and community leaders over a two-year planning phase. The community outreach and planning process culminated in the creation of MAF's 2007-2012 Five-Year Plan which lays out the following functions and goals:

• Convener: To engage Mission community leaders, non-profit organizations and residents in an ongoing dialogue about asset-building opportunities.

• Connector: To help low-income Mission residents and non-profit organizations access affordable investment opportunities to allow them to live, work and stay in the neighborhood. Where no opportunities exist, to create them through advocacy in public and private sectors.

• Catalyst: To expand and create innovative asset-building resources and services for Mission residents.

In 2007, MAF took the first steps to realizing its vision by opening an office in the Mission, hiring key executive and program staff, and launching programs with a community-wide celebration. Since that time, MAF has drawn attention from national organizations intrigued by our model for integrating immigrants into the financial mainstream. Soon after launching our programs, MAF was asked to present at national conferences including the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, National Council of La Raza, Corporation For Enterprise Development and the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders, among others. At the present time, MAF is working to broaden its base of funders and community supporters. In addition to approaching prospective foundation and corporate supporters, plans include transitioning the Board of Directors, currently comprised of top leaders from local nonprofit organizations, to increase leadership and representation by community members.

While other programs across the country implement elements of MAF’s work, we are the only organization to offer a complete spectrum of asset building strategies targeted toward the low-income, immigrant population. The comprehensive nature of our approach provides us with the potential to not only provide asset building services, but also to develop new strategies and innovative program for improving the status of immigrants and low-income populations. Some of the characteristics contributing to our success include:

• Comprehensive approach: To date, most asset-building efforts have focused on enabling households to access individual programs, such as financial services and/or matched savings opportunities. Few, however, have comprehensively addressed savings and investment opportunities at the neighborhood level.

• Population served: A neighborhood-centered organization, MAF has adopted a very inclusive approach to building the assets of immigrants, serving everyone in the Mission neighborhood regardless of status. Very few other groups have attempted to work with the diverse constituency that MAF specializes in serving.

• Community accountability structure: MAF is structured as a community-driven membership organization, with membership open to anyone who lives, works or owns a business in the Mission District. Whereas most asset building programs serve the community, MAF’s unique structure ensures that our work is led and guided by the needs and priorities of residents. As community members are engaged in developing an asset-building policy agenda, they become activists for their community.

• Policy Impact: MAF’s programs are designed to provide empirical and practical information to inform and impact asset-building, credit-building and immigrant integration policies and agendas. MAF’s work with immigrant communities will inform the broader asset-building, immigrant rights, and micro lending fields.