Annual Report 2024
Annual Report
2024
Impact, Engagement,
and Transformation
In 2024, we built on the momentum of 2023. We didn’t just grow—we engaged. We didn’t just lend—we listened. We didn’t just innovate—we transformed. At every step, we asked: how do we serve more deeply, more humanly, and more holistically?
In 2024, we leaned fully into our purpose: to create financial ascension for all. We deployed $50.2 million in capital to nearly 1,309 small business owners and delivered over 11,000 hours of coaching and technical assistance. We listened to what our clients needed most—and we built around them: flexible capital, personalized tools, and data-driven support systems.
This was the year we made financial health measurable, using the FinHealth Score® and our new Ascendus Borrower Index (ABI) to assess and improve our clients’ long-term well-being. It was the year we launched our Annual Survey to better understand their evolving needs, not just at the business level, but across households and communities.
Internally, we expanded our leadership with the appointment of Ana Hammock as Chief Operating Officer and modernized our systems to ensure we deliver not only faster—but better. High-tech, high-touch became our standard.
But behind every innovation was a story. From Boston to Brooklyn to Miami, we heard entrepreneurs share what the loan meant: a second chance, a space to grow, the ability to hire, or simply the power to keep going. These moments reminded us that impact isn’t an outcome—it’s a process. A journey.
And that journey continues. Carmen Duperon, our Loan Service Director of 30 years, reminded us this year that transformation is only possible when relationships come first. From our very first client to the 56,000th, this remains our ethos: walk alongside, uplift, and never lose sight of the human behind the business.
Thank you for believing in this way forward. For helping us prove—again and again—that financial health, community strength, and inclusive opportunity are not just ideals. They are possible. Together, we move—This Way Up.
Yours in financial ascension for all,
Chief Executive Officer
Board Chair
We believe in the
Power of Up!
We are a mission-driven, Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) with over 30 years of experience empowering small business owners.
We provide access to capital and financial coaching to help entrepreneurs achieve financial health and ascend toward lasting success.
To guide that journey, we developed The Path to Ascension—our strategic, human-centered support system that connects every client’s financial progress to a broader ecosystem of tools, relationships, and measurable outcomes.
This organizational framework ensures that our clients, funders, and team members move forward with clarity, connection, and purpose.
Dedicated to building thriving businesses and vibrant communities, we have delivered over $420 million in financial support to more than 56,000 entrepreneurs across the country—building a future of financial ascension for all.
With over 20 years in the grooming industry, Mayra Grajales turned her passion for pet care into a thriving business, opening Almana Dog Stylez in Florida after years of service in Puerto Rico. With support from Ascendus, she moved her business out of her garage and into a dedicated studio.
“Without the Ascendus loan, I wouldn’t have had the studio behind me. I would have still been running my business out of my garage. Now, I can provide my clients (the dogs) the space they deserve.”
Mayra Grajales, Almana Dog Stylez
Impact
Impact
We provided small business owners nationwide with more than funding—we offered a support system of coaching, tools, and guidance to help them strengthen their businesses and move toward stability and growth.
Small business owners supported
Million in capital deployed
hours of coaching and technical assistance
AVERAGE LOAN SIZE
With support from Ascendus, Seif Sidky, owner of International Hairlines in Miami, was able to hire and train more technicians, expanding his business and creating new career opportunities for his employees and students.
“The Ascendus loan helped alleviate the cost of hiring and training technicians, so I could hire more people and treat more clients simultaneously. After being trained, my students and my employees have a new career and a new skill set, and I even started my own line of products.”
Where we serve
A Nationwide Footprint of Impact
From Greater Boston to Miami, and from New York to new markets like Charlotte and Atlanta, our approach remained rooted in creating real and local impacts for clients and communities. This included a full suite of customized capital products, one-on-one coaching, and the rollout of a holistic financial profile for every borrower—a major leap forward in our people-first model.
NEW YOK
FLORIDA
NEW ENGLAND
RISING MARKETS
With an Ascendus loan, Christian Herrera, owner of Pueblo Querida in Brooklyn, transitioned from a home-based business to his first coffee shop. Today, he owns three coffee shops and continues to grow, crediting that first loan with helping make it all possible.
“Ascendus helped me transition from a home-based business to my first physical coffee shop. Today, I have three coffee shops, with more on the way. I could never have done it without that first loan.”
Christian Herrera, Pueblo Querida
Who we serve
Ethnicity & Race
Gender
Income
Constanza took a leap from running Cosmic Ceramics out of her home to opening a full pottery studio in Miami. The loan enabled her to hire staff, add classes, and welcome more people to experience ceramics. Business growth followed quickly, and Constanza’s studio became a hub for creativity and learning. Her journey shows how access to capital and support can turn passion into opportunity, creating new jobs and expanding the reach of her craft.
“The Ascendus loan helped me transition out of a home-based business to a physical pottery studio. I hired staff, added classes, and my business has just skyrocketed. Now, I am on track to open a second location, all because of the success of this first loan.”
Constanza Picouto, Cosmic Ceramics
How we serve
Our work creates layers of impact that ripple through the business, household, and community—empowering entrepreneurs and expanding opportunity at every stage of their financial journey.
Business
loans delivered each one a step toward financial ascension.
business owners received personalized financial coaching
business survival rate
in average business revenue, reflecting potential and resilience
Household
We are deepening our understanding of household impact through tools like the FinHealth Score®, now implemented across all new clients. In 2024, we recorded over 1,500 surveys, allowing us to benchmark our clients’ financial health against national standards and identify opportunities for deeper support.
To complement this effort, we launched the Annual Survey and the Ascendus Borrower Index (ABI), designed to measure how clients evolve in their financial journeys over time.
Community
an average of 4.7 jobs per loan
These businesses are hiring locally, sustaining families, and keeping neighborhoods vibrant.
Last year, Quontay Turner’s journey was featured in our Stories of Ascension video series. With support from Ascendus, Quontay opened Emerald City Plant Shop, the first Black-owned plant nursery in Boston. Her story highlights not just the growth of her business, but the importance of representation and community. Through her leadership, Quontay has inspired others to pursue their dreams and create welcoming spaces. Her experience demonstrates how access to capital, support, and visibility can help small businesses take root, thrive, and make a lasting impact.
“I opened up the first Black-owned nursery in Boston. I wouldn’t have been able to do that without the Ascendus loan.”
Engagement
Engagement
At Ascendus, our products are more than financial tools — they are co-created solutions built by listening deeply, designing responsively, and delivering with integrity. Each offering is a response to what entrepreneurs told us they needed most.
Milestones
Lines of Credit
Entrepreneurs managing cash flow have long needed a flexible product to smooth out the ups and downs of daily operations. Our revolving line of credit was designed to be responsive, repeatable, and ready when they are—and in 2024, we continued to meet that need.
revolving lines of credit delivered
in capital COMMITTED
average loan size
Get Ready Program
Introduced in 2023, the Get Ready Program was built for entrepreneurs with no or damaged credit—individuals who face barriers to even the most accessible forms of capital, including from CDFIs like ours. In 2024, we continued that support and the impact was clear:
clients supported
In initial capital
graduates accessed an additional $108,000 in increased credit lines
Home-Based Childcare Providers
Home-based child care providers are a pillar of their communities—offering essential early education and enabling parents to work, grow their income, and build more stable households. In 2024, we continued supporting this vital workforce with fast, flexible capital that matched their pace and purpose. The impact was tangible:
providers supported
in capital committed
new jobs created
jobs retained
Reaffirming
Our Commitment
to Ethical Lending
In 2024, Ascendus was proud to be recertified in the Borrowers’ Bill of Rights—a national standard that ensures small business owners are treated fairly, transparently, and with dignity throughout the lending process.
We believe that access to capital should never come at the expense of trust. This recertification reaffirms our longstanding commitment to ethical lending—offering clear terms, responsible underwriting, and support beyond the loan.
Recognized by the
Microlender
of the Year
In 2024, Ascendus was named Microlender of the Year in both Massachusetts and Florida by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Florida
$1,864,539
Massachusetts
$830,664
This national recognition highlights the impact of our work as a trusted intermediary in the SBA’s Microloan Program—helping small businesses and childcare centers start, grow, and thrive with responsible, accessible capital.
30 Years with
Carmen Duperon
The Heart of Our Journey
In 2024, we celebrated a milestone that speaks to the soul of Ascendus: Carmen Duperon’s 30th anniversary with our organization.
Carmen was not only our Loan Service Director, she was a living bridge between our past, present, and future. She met Uvalda, our very first client, and went on to support tens of thousands of small business owners with care, integrity, and an unwavering belief in their potential.
Her presence was steady, her leadership quiet but powerful. Carmen embodied the values we hold dear: integrity, empathy, and dedication. For three decades, she was a voice of reassurance and a source of strength to clients navigating some of the most vulnerable moments in their financial journeys.
Carmen passed away in 2025 — leaving behind a profound legacy of compassion, service, and strength that continues to inspire us all. Her words continue to guide us:
“If we can make clients feel a little more confident, seen, or supported—then we’re doing something right.”
Her love will always remain at the heart of Ascendus.
Transformation
How we evolved from
within to strengthen what
we deliver.
In 2024, transformation began at our core. Ascendus shifted from serving more clients to serving clients more holistically—embedding data, technology, and trust into every loan and coaching relationship.
The result? A more resilient foundation for financial ascension, built client by client.
We activated a suite of tools to better understand client progress and enhance every step of their financial journey:
FinHealth Score®
Tracked over 1,500 clients, benchmarking them against national indicators of financial well-being.
Ascendus Borrower Index (ABI)
Our proprietary model, scored quarterly, evaluates capital readiness across 16 drivers including credit behavior, repayment history, and business stability.
Annual Survey
Launched to assess client progress at the business, household, and community levels. This cohort-based approach deepens our view of long-term impact.
Throughout the organization, we modernized our systems while reinforcing human connection—blending best-in-class technology with the warmth of a relationship-driven model.
Our customer portal now offers clients self-service access to their account, coaching tools, and soon their own financial health data.
We implemented secure KYC/KYB onboarding, AI-powered forecasting to help clients anticipate cash flow shifts, and real-time credit monitoring to support early intervention when needed.
We also improved turnaround times, accelerated service delivery, and renewed our financial health strategy—shifting from output tracking to impact accountability.
This high-tech, high-touch
approach is delivering
real impact
2024 NPS Score
Star Rating on Google
This isn’t just impact. It’s transformation—business by business, household by household, community by community.
Leadership Driving Operational Excellence
2024 was also a year of internal growth and structural evolution to unlock the capacity to do this work efficiently. At the leadership level, we appointed Ana Hammock as Chief Operating Officer (COO) to oversee Lending, Technology, Credit Risk, and Human Resources. This structure ensures our work flows seamlessly, our programmatic staff is supported, and our organization is equipped to deepen its impact and grow support across a wide network of stakeholders.
Ana has led this evolution with clarity and precision—bringing deep operational expertise and a commitment to smart, human-centered systems.
As our work shifts to bring our vision to life, our leadership is well poised to both uplift our team and deliver on our promise: to build a world of financial ascension for all.
Financials
Financial resilience
to meet the moment.
million in total assets, and
million in net assets
creating financial stability even amid macro volatility
net asset ratio
The flexibility to adapt, to recalibrate as conditions shift,
and to deploy capital with confidence and accountability
million in cash reserved for deployment
The flexibility to adapt, to recalibrate as conditions shift, and to deploy capital with confidence and accountability
In a year defined by transformation, Ascendus remained financially healthy and mission driven. While 2024 brought complex macroeconomic challenges, we made bold decisions to protect our mission, sharpen our strategy, and prioritize sustainability over size, clarity over complexity, and flexibility over risk. With disciplined management and a forward-looking vision, we closed the year well-positioned to navigate a dynamic environment and continue delivering financial ascension to the entrepreneurs and communities we serve.
Thank you!
Your support
is powerful.
Institutional Funders
- Amplify Her
- Anonymous
- Bank of America Charitable Foundation
- BankUnited
- BMO
- Cambridge Savings Bank
- Capital One Bank
- Charities Aid Foundation of America
- Citizens
- Community Development Financial Institutions Fund
- Community Reinvestment Fund
- Dime Community Bank
- Eastern Bank Foundation
- Empire State Development
- EverBank
- Fifth Third Bank
- FinRegLab
- Give Lively
- HAB Bank
- HSBC Bank USA, N.A.
- Investors Bank Charitable Foundation
- Johnson and Johnson MedTech
- JPMorgan Chase & Co. Global Philanthropy
- Lawrence Foundation
- M&T Bank
- Mass Development Growth Capital Division
- MetLife Foundation
- Morgan Stanley
- Moses Kimball Fund
- New Jersey Economic Development Authority
- New York Business Development Corporation
- New York City Department of Small Business Services
- OceanFirst Bank
- Popular Foundation
- Renaissance Charitable Foundation
- Restaurant Workers Community Foundation
- Santander Bank
- Scale Link
- TD Bank
- TD Charitable Foundation
- The Clark Foundation
- The Vidda Foundation
- Truist Charitable Fund
- US Small Business Administration
- Valley Bank
- Webster Bank
- Wells Fargo Foundation
Individual Donors
- Amy Hellen
- Armando Acosta
- Cheryl Myers
- Christopher Gourdine
- Colleen Galvin
- Daniel Delehanty
- David Cook
- Deanna Maestas
- Diana Waterbury
- Edward Van Gundy
- Fabiana Estrada
- Gislana Murihib
- Gustavo Banchero
- Harold Bordwin
- Henry, Catherine and Will Lanier
- Jerome Weiss
- Jessie Chiang
- JJ Singh
- Joseph Hernandez
- Laura Miller
- Marsha Tucker
- Matthew Zlatnik
- Max Myers
- Nancy Atherton
- Pablo Cortina
- Patrick Peterson
- Paul Dominguez
- Paul Lipsky
- Paul and Dr. Marieta Quintero
- Perri Richman
- Ramona Cedeno
- Roshelle Nagar
- Russell and Linda Gee
- Sandra Rosenfeld
- Shelley Sylva
- Sherry and David Cook
- Shirley and Timothy Blancke
- Stephen Cassell
- Steve Stockton
- Sudhir Jain
- Suzanne and Paul Lipsky
- Suzanne Lipsky
- Timothy Blancke
- Todd Flolo
- Victoria and Max Richardson
- Will Lanier
- William and Sandra Rosenfeld
- Zara Ingilizian