Frank Altman | Speaker | Author | CEO

Frank Altman is the founder of Community Reinvestment Fund, USA (CRF), a community development financial institution (CDFI). As CEO, he was on the vanguard of impact investing, a capitalist solution to community issues. His work brought billions of dollars to communities and people across the country—and he is not done yet.

Frank’s first inspirations in social entrepreneurship were his parents. Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party members since the Party’s founding, Frank’s parents instilled side-by-side beliefs in hard work and fairness.

Frank first became acquainted with impact investing, however, during the anti-Apartheid movement. Fresh out of college, Frank saw the tactics American students were using to combat Apartheid. By driving a wedge between corporations and their ties to South Africa, students created results that the Apartheid government could not ignore. Companies that left were celebrated, those companies that did not join in divesting their interests in this oppressive regime were ostracised, and the South African government was dealt a measurable blow.

With the seeds of impact investing firmly rooted in his approach, Frank served as Assistant Commissioner for Financial Management at the Minnesota Department of Energy and Economic Development. Frank helped underserved communities with targeted loans that could be purchased. Bundled, and sold to investors. His work in saving main streets across Minnesota inspired him to strike out on his own and, in 1988, Frank founded CRF.

Today, CRF is responsible for over $3,6 billion of loans that have revitalized more than 1,000 communities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Through asset securitization and drawing in Wall Street investors, Frank has changed what is possible for low-income communities and the entrepreneurs within them. Frank remains committed to advancing this work.