The Impact Lenders Podcast goes live at the National Charter Schools Conference in Austin, Texas in this episode. We speak with some of the leaders of the charter school financing sector to get their take on the trends and risks shaping the industry today. Tune into this episode to learn from the people who work in the field day-in and day-out to ensure worthy charter schools get the financing they need to deliver on their educational promise.
Today’s Guests:
Sajan Philip is Director of LIIF’s Central Region and Washington, DC. He is responsible for lending production in LIIF’s central region and its growth in the Southern U.S. Before joining LIIF, he was a loan underwriter at Seedco Financial in New York City. LIIF has provided over $611 million of financing to education projects, creating over 92,000 seats. LIIF is based in San Francisco and has offices in New York, Los Angeles, DC, and Atlanta.
Joe Palazzolo is Lending Team Leader, Education and Early Care at New Jersey Community Capital (NJCC). He was the New Jersey Charter School Association’s 2013 Advocate of the Year in the industry and recently earned his Doctorate of Education in Organizational Change and Leadership. NJCC is New Jersey’s leading charter school lender. Their lending has touched over one-third of charter school seats in the state, and they manage $16.8 million of grant funds under the U.S. Department of Education’s Credit Enhancement for Charter School Facilities Program.
Molly Melloh is Senior Director of K-12 Education at Reinvestment Fund, a CDFI serving the Eastern U.S. In this role, she works with early stage, growing, and established schools to structure and deliver flexible financing that supports their needs. Reinvestment Fund’s charter school lending program began in 1998. To date, it has invested over $450 million in charter school facilities.
Khaliff Davis is Director of K-12 Education at Reinvestment Fund. Based in Atlanta, GA, Khaliff is responsible for expanding Reinvestment Fund’s charter school lending in the Southern U.S. Before joining Reinvestment Fund in 2017, he was an Associate at Capital Impact Partners.
Resources Related to This Episode:
Low Income Investment Fund: www.liifund.org/programs/education
New Jersey Community Capital: www.newjerseycommunitycapital.org/our-impact/education
Reinvestment Fund: www.reinvestment.com
EdWeek Blog on the Opportunity Gap: blogs.edweek.org
Rooted School: www.rootedschool.org
High Impact Blog on Public Perception of Charter Schools: www.highimpactanalysis.com/blog/bringing-clarity-to-a-complicated-market
Albert Shanker Wikipedia Page: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Shanker
Walton Family Foundation: www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/our-work/k-12-education
Charter Impact Fund: www.charterimpactfund.org
Civic Builders and the Facilities Investment Fund: www.civicbuilders.org/fif
New York Times Article on Betsy Devos’s Impact on the Perception of Charter Schools: www.nytimes.com/2018/06/02/opinion
Like the episode? Want to hear more? Want to hear something different? Let us know! Leave a comment below or visit the Contact Us page to get in touch.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
