This month’s Investor Spotlight features Elizabeth Boardman, a supporter of Community Vision for more than 25 years. Elizabeth initially learned about Community Vision, formerly the then Northern California Community Loan Fund, when researching clean energy investment opportunities in the early 1990s. Interested in learning more about our work she attended a gathering where she met some of our organization’s founders. Soon after, Elizabeth became an investor of the organization and later she served nine years as a Board Member.
Early childhood experiences, academic studies, and travel exposed Elizabeth to different community-based economic models. From cooperative stores, credit unions, and community lending, she saw how communities supported each other through sharing of resources and assets.
“Lending to community projects that support the local economy was built into my life from a young age. When I was a child in Massachusetts, my father was a doctor for immigrants from Finland. From the Finnish community I started to learn about cooperative projects and credit unions.”
– Elizabeth Boardman
Financial gain isn’t the motivation behind investment for Elizabeth, but rather, it is the belief that humans can and should support the well-being of each other and of the Earth. Her approach to investment is also rooted in her pacifist values as a Quaker. Acting on those values, Elizabeth advocates for utilizing capital for the betterment of California’s communities. During her time on Community Vision’s Board, she served as the Chair of the Development Committee. Believing that money is to benefit the community as a whole, Elizabeth put her energy towards bringing on new organizational and individual investors to support Community Vision’s loan fund.
“When I was on the Board, my immediate colleagues were other women who were running nonprofits and at a stage in life where they wanted to invest. They cared about local issues and creating a better world. I had a niche for connecting with others who also believed in the power of money to do good.”
– Elizabeth Boardman
Community Vision’s revolving loan fund is supported by individual and organizational investors. If you’re interested in learning more about social impact investment opportunities with Community Vision, click here or contact Eddy Lopez, Jr., Investor Relations Associate, at elopez@communityvisionca.org.
