| Abstract: |
The Consumer Finance Institute hosted a workshop in February 2019 featuring
José Quiñonez, chief executive officer, and Elena Fairley, programs director,
of Mission Asset Fund (MAF) to discuss MAF’s approach to helping its clients
improve access to mainstream financial markets. MAF’s signature program,
Lending Circles, adapts a traditional community-based financial tool known as
a rotating savings and credit association (ROSCA) to help establish or expand
credit reports for participants who may not be able to do so through
traditional means. Lending Circles have served more than 10,000 clients since
2007 and have expanded well beyond MAF’s core constituency in the Mission
District of San Francisco. Quiñonez and Fairley discussed MAF’s approach to
working with the communities it serves and shared the key successes and
challenges that MAF has encountered. This paper provides an overview of the
information shared in the workshop and additional research connecting Lending
Circles to previous work on ROSCAs. |