Earlier this year, we introduced a fundamental shift in how Ascendus views the lifecycle of community lending: treating capital not just as something to deploy, but as something that circulates.
Instead of waiting five to seven years for small business loans to mature, our strategic focus has moved toward intentionally designing a pathway to traditional bank graduation in 18 to 24 months. By actively refinancing successful borrowers into mainstream banks, we establish a model where the exact same dollars are freed up to fund the next wave of rising entrepreneurs twice as fast. Same capital base. Twice the impact.
We proved this “different kind of math” through the validation of our Ascendus Borrower Index (ABI), demonstrating that up to 80 percent of our portfolio could benefit from an intentional graduation framework.
With that vision established, our team traveled to Austin, Texas to put our model on the national stage.
The Stage: OFN’s Small Business Finance Forum
From June 10-12, the Ascendus team participated in Opportunity Finance Network’s (OFN) annual Small Business Finance Forum (SBFF) in Austin. As the premier national gathering for mission-driven small business lenders, partners, and advocates, the forum provided the ideal environment to stress-test our solutions alongside peer institutions.
Throughout the event, one reality remained clear: the industry is hungry for new operational models. The traditional CDFI growth track, expanding total assets by roughly 10 percent over 15 years, is no longer fast enough to meet the urgent economic realities facing diverse entrepreneurs.
To truly scale impact across the sector, mission-driven lenders cannot rely solely on continuous asset expansion. We must increase the velocity of the capital we already have.
The Pitch: Taking the Stage as National Finalists
The focal point of our participation was the OFN SBFF Pitch Competition Session. Following our recent $115,000 grant award from OFN’s Capital Solutions Accelerator to launch the Graduation and Capital Velocity Pilot Program, Ascendus was selected as one of only three national finalists to pitch the model live to a panel of industry evaluators.
Andrea Ierace, our SVP of Lending, took the stage to present the operational mechanics of how Ascendus is transforming bank graduation from an accidental occurrence into an intentional, repeatable corporate strategy.
When we present this model, we are sharing the real-world trajectories of the entrepreneurs we serve. It is the framework built behind success stories like Natalia’s. When she first came to Ascendus for her first two loans, she had no credit history and was renting a space for her new business. Thanks to our intentional “graduation” pathway to our Bank Partners, Natalia was able to build her credit, transition to traditional financial institutions, secure a $220,000 working capital line, and obtain commercial real estate refinancing, allowing her to completely buy and own two business locations to scale her enterprise.
As an organization, we view graduation not as a client exit, but as an acceleration. Andrea’s presentation was an invitation to the entire CDFI sector to redefine what long-term success looks like.
What We Are Bringing Home
Ascendus proudly took home Second Place in the pitch competition. While the additional $25,000 award went to the first-place winner, Northern Initiatives, with Next Street securing third place, the true value of the forum was realized through intensive collaboration and industry benchmarking.
Beyond the pitch competition, the Ascendus team engaged in deep peer learning across 30 interactive breakout sessions covering advanced financial planning, impact measurement, and operational efficiency. The strategic connections and feedback secured during Andrea’s session will directly inform how we roll out our lean pilot program with our bank partners and small business clients over the next 12 months.
Intention Costs Nothing
The ultimate takeaway from our time in Austin is that the most significant shift our sector needs to make is one that requires no additional funding: a change in perspective.
Every CDFI lender already understands their clients, maintains relationships with bank partners, and recognizes underwriting requirements. The missing component across the industry is intention.
When we design for graduation on purpose from day one, community lending becomes a strategic launchpad for commercial banking readiness. This ensures that as our clients ascend into the financial mainstream, our capacity to serve the next entrepreneur ascends right along with them.
The forum has concluded, but the implementation of this model is just beginning. Let’s keep creating change, together.
