Community Foundation adds four new members to board Tuesday, December 15, 2020 11:12 AM The Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines has named four new members to its board. The new board members include Marta Codina, region bank president, Wells Fargo; Izaah Knox, executive director, Urban Dreams; Brad Schoenfelder, Midwest Region president, Ryan Cos.; and Cynthia Thorland, retired director of talent development of Life Care Services. Each will begin a five-year term on Jan.1 With the addition of these four new members and the completion of terms for three current board members, the Community Foundation’s board will have 32 members effective Jan. 1. The organization’s bylaws state the board should have between 25 and 45 members. “We are thrilled to welcome these strong community leaders to our board of directors,” said Kristi Knous, president of the Community Foundation. “All of them have a deep commitment to the work of the Community F
Leaders Survey 2020: Problems illuminated by pandemic, yet resilience still evident
COVID, child care, talent and racial equity identified as key issues
BY BUSINESS RECORD STAFF Friday, December 11, 2020 6:00 AM
Editor’s note: This is a continuation of our 2020 Leaders Survey coverage, which we began publishing in the Nov. 27 issue. Our annual survey asks business leaders to share what they feel are some of the top issues affecting business in Central Iowa, and in particular the Greater Des Moines region. As you read, you’ll see the responses and also select remarks from differing viewpoints from those who opted to leave comments as they took the survey.
Wells Fargo donates $500,000 for minority microloan programs building entrepreneurship in Des Moines Tyler Jett, Des Moines Register
Wells Fargo & Co. has donated $500,000 to Des Moines organizations that provide small loans to minority entrepreneurs.
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About half of the donation will go to Solidarity Microfinance, which provides loans starting at $1,000 to self-employed workers who get turned away from traditional lenders like banks, often because of problems such as low credit scores.
The rest of Wells Fargo s local donation will go to two organizations with similar operations, Iowa MicroLoan and One Economy Financial Development Corp.
Mark Edelman, chair of the nonprofit that oversees Solidarity Microfinance, said the organization has never received such a large grant. He said the lender s client base increased 56% this summer, mostly because family members lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic.