Sustainable Entrepreneurship for Thriving Communities

In this episode of the Riveo Impact Lab, Elin speaks with Megan Carras, Chief Development and Communications Officer and Head of Sustainability at WACIF, and Geneva Greene, Sustainable Entrepreneurship Consultant for WACIF. Together, they explore how the Washington Area Community Investment Fund is helping small businesses access the capital, technical assistance, and community connections they need to grow.

Megan and Geneva share how WACIF’s work supports entrepreneurs across the Greater Washington region, with a special focus on sustainability, equitable access to opportunity, and the role small businesses play in building stronger communities. The conversation also highlights WACIF’s Sustainable Entrepreneurship Program, the growing green economy, and why supporting local small businesses can create ripple effects far beyond a single purchase or partnership.

Tune in for an inspiring conversation about entrepreneurship, sustainability, and what it really takes to make business more equitable and possible for everyone. 

The Riveo Impact Lab is produced for you by Riveo Creative. For more Riveo Impact Lab content, including the video versions of all our episodes, please visit https://riveocreative.com/riveo-impact-lab/.

Transcript

0:04

Welcome to the Riveo Impact Lab, the podcast in which we explore what it means for small businesses to have real impact in an evolving world. On this podcast, we engage our curiosity around topics like sustainability, diversity and inclusion, and the ethical outcomes of our decisions, all from a small business perspective. Hi, I'm Emily. And I'm Elin and we release episodes of the Riveo Impact Lab once a month on the second Thursday. So be sure to follow us on YouTube, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts. You can support us by listening, sharing, or leaving a review. We're so excited to share this episode with you because we have the privilege of hearing from not one, but two amazing representatives of WACIF, the Washington Area Community Investment Fund. The goal of WACIF is to empower business owners and entrepreneurs with the tools, support and the access to capital that they need to be successful. On this episode, Elin speaks with Megan Carras WACIF’s Chief Development and Communications Officer and Head of Sustainability, and Geneva Greene, the Sustainable Entrepreneurship consultant for WACIF. Together, these incredible women are working to make the world of business sustainable, equitable and possible for everyone. Yeah, it was really an interesting episode. I first got involved with WACIF through one of our sustainability partners, The Fehlig Group, and when I heard about them, I immediately wanted to participate in their programs and was able to do so and just have been very impressed with all that they're doing to make the world a better place. I thought this was an incredible conversation that our audience is definitely going to be able to take a lot from. So please sit back, relax, and enjoy this episode of the Riveo Impact Lab. I’m excited about today's podcast because we have two guests today, Megan and Geneva, both from an amazing organization called WACIF and I'm looking forward to hearing all about WACIF and the work that you guys do and the impact that you're making, and really just your stories. So let's jump right in. I would love to hear from each of you your perspective on what is WACIF’s core mission? I think that's a great place to start. And I guess I'll give this question to you first, Megan. Great. And yeah, thank you so much for the invitation to join today, Elin. We're thrilled to be here and share a little bit more about WACIF and our sustainability work. And we're thrilled that you are you participate in our sustainability work as a sustainable small business. So excited to talk about that. But yeah, from a WACIF mission point of view and to just an intro about myself, I'm Megan Carras, I'm the Chief development and communications officer and the head of sustainability at WACIF or the Washington Area Community Investment Fund. So we are a CDFI or a community development financial institution. And so we provide affordable and lower barrier to entry capital to small businesses within the DMV, the DC, Maryland and Virginia Greater Washington region. the DC, Maryland and Virginia Greater Washington region. And we also provide technical assistance for small businesses. So that looks like one on one advising, coaching, group trainings, and we do an accelerator accelerator program as well for sort of help businesses who are at that scale level. And then we do a lot around ecosystem building and networking and making sure that we are helping small businesses be connected to business opportunities, partner procurement, etc. So WACIF has been around for almost 40 years and we have been core to the small business ecosystem within the region. We've helped small businesses through all kinds of economic transitions including the one that we're going through right now within the Washington, DC region, and making sure that small businesses remain core to the economy because we know that's critically important. So, yeah, we really here we're here to show up in we are a nonprofit, as I said, CDFI. So we are missionally connected to community and here to serve community. Yeah, it's so exciting. Every time I hear about an organization that exists to support small business because honestly, we need a lot of help. So thank you for what you do. Geneva, let me give you a chance to introduce yourself and then anything you'd like to add when thinking about the mission of WACIF. Sure. So, Geneva Green, I'm the sustainable entrepreneurship consultant working with WACIF. I am a consultant, which means I'm also an entrepreneur and business owner. And so when I think about WACIF’s mission and purpose, I believe WACIF is preparing entrepreneurs and small businesses for a long term growth and success. And so that's what I admire about the organization. Everyone there has a real passion to support entrepreneurs to help us over the hump. So and riding through some of the pathways and the challenges of long term success and the financing and the technical assistance that it takes to get there and be positioned for the future. Yeah. That's wonderful. And what I've what I've observed is sometimes when an organization wants to help small businesses, there's a disconnect between the idea of helping small business and then what small businesses actually need and want. And I think WACIF has done a really good job of being like, in touch with the realities of small business and what is actually needed and wanted. So I think that is that's not easy to achieve sometimes. So you guys have done a really good job there. I would like to ask you a question, Megan. You come from the academic sphere and somehow you got from there to here. I'd love to hear a little bit about that journey, what that looked like. Yeah, absolutely. And you, you actually have two doctors in the house today. So Geneva and I both have a, have doctorate degrees. But from my, my journey specifically, I did a PhD in sustainable development, had done prior master's degrees in environmental policy, so deeply committed to what it means to build a sustainable, you know, sort of community, economy, etc. but I, you know, had been in academia and felt like it was a bit of an ivory tower, right, in terms of studying and connecting with community but not doing the work on the ground. And so I felt compelled to exit academia and was kind of just looking for what's next with that ethos in mind. I, I'm the sort of kind of person, which I think to Geneva's point, everyone at WACIF has this kind of guttural need to make impact, make change, to do good work. And so if I'm not waking up doing those things as my my day job, then I don't know that I could, you know, you know, feel good about myself. So I found this the CDFI space actually through, I turned in my kind of skills around project management and proposal development into fundraising, because there's sort of a direct correlation between academic writing, research, conceptualization into grant writing and strategy around fundraising, and started working for a consulting firm in D.C. and then we had I had some clients that were community development financial institutions. Immediately, I had no knowledge of this space at all. Didn't know that this has been around in the US since the 1990s. We were some of the first microfinance entities. Even though microfinance is often thought of as international. And so we've been doing this work. Communities have been doing this work for some time in the US. And so, yeah, immediately became excited by what it means to have capital for good, essentially, and how to help small businesses, because we know small business is second only to home ownership for wealth building. So there's so much that can be done if small businesses are supported in terms of economic growth, in terms of empowering communities that are, you know, left behind, etc. Yeah, I love that you were able to bring that sustainability perspective to this position because what a perfect marriage, you know. Exactly. And I didn't I'll I'll speak about this later a little bit, but it was the sustainability focus that we've launched a couple years back. So WACIF has a sustainable entrepreneurship program where we are committed to helping businesses who want to implement more sustainable business practices or who are in the green economy space. And that was sort of a passion project of myself and Geneva. So yeah, it does directly relate to my background. Yes. Yeah. That's awesome. And Geneva as Megan said, you too have a strong academic background and have spent a lot of time in education and research and have talked, you know, again, about your interests between the environment and entrepreneurship. So can you speak a little bit about how you got involved with WACIF and what is it that you've found with the organization? Sure. Thanks for the question. It was fun reflecting on this question. What I what I enjoy about Megan and I’s partnership is that Megan has the sustainability background. I have the communications and organizational development background. And so I think in building a program like we built with the Sustainability Sustainable Entrepreneurship Program or path, it was a perfect marriage of kind of bringing that to fruition. Right. So my background, I guess, where I first started from, an environmental like passion was I consider myself a Planeteer. I loved Captain Planet. I don't know if that ages me, but as a young girl watching Captain Planet, I always developed a passion for being a good environmental steward. And then fast forward to my corporate career I started. I was working in a large corporation with around energy generation, technology, safety controls and other kind of environmental, other energy generation technologies. Decided to leave the corporate world and enter my PhD studies. And through that, as a PhD student, I was selected as a National Community Reinvestment Coalition Fellow, NCRC. And I was paired with WACIF. I think because of my energy and environmental background and to do research on understanding what what entrepreneurs need to grow in the sustainability space, either scale or to introduce practices. And so that research reflected some of the needs from a finance perspective, from a communications perspective, also from a technical assistance perspective. So I remained with WACIF throughout my doctoral studies and through the conclusion. So they've seen me on the path of doing entrepreneurship and doctoral studies simultaneously as well. And I remained with WACIF to execute the research. And so over the past couple of years, Megan and I have been introducing vendors, introducing technical assistance topics, coaches and things like that to create this path and this through line around sustainable entrepreneurship. Increasingly, as we see costs grow economically, environmentalism or sustainability can no longer remain a luxury, as some people may think. Right. Oh, I'll think about that when I'm further down the path. No. If you think about it now, you can reduce your costs, your operations costs. You can find or discover other revenue streams. Globally, there are many aspects of the sustainability journey, of sustainability, of the green economy that are growing beyond some of our traditional markets. So for entrepreneurs is something that we hope they're thinking about now and introducing across industries. You don't have to just be a solar panel provider or an EV charging infrastructure. Those are great businesses. And what we find with our sustainable entrepreneurs and others is sustainability is relevant across industries. And so through what we're doing and something that I'm passionate about, is helping entrepreneurs to see the benefits and the values of sustainability, regardless of their discipline. That must be very fulfilling work. I love that, and you seem to be attracting people that you know are really prioritizing that too. So like the people I've met through WACIF, I feel like like, oh, you're my people, like really doing good work in the world. It's really it's very cool what you guys are building. So I'm going to, you know, go back to Megan for this question. When you think about your time at WACIF is there a story that you could share with us that kind of exemplifies the work that you're doing on the daily basis? Yeah, absolutely. The beautiful thing about WACIF and I think you alluded to this, Elin, is that we continue to evolve in order to better show up for small businesses. And so and that's really a privilege. And so what we did is came up with this idea around sustainable entrepreneurship. So I'm going to go back to that because I think it's such an example of a story of ideation, identification, creation and then impact. And so we you know, Geneva and I you know, we had this I had this idea of, you know, what does it mean to bring the small businesses that we serve into the fold around sustainability, because a lot of folks, to Geneva’s point, are interested, are are doing sustainability already have just sort of need some additional support, some additional kind of knowledge building, and then also some capital and some other resources to help them navigate certifications, help them understand what it means to be linked to procurement. All of those pieces. So we through Geneva's research or this this research project that we designed and that she delivered, it was clear that sustainable entrepreneurship should be a focus for WACIF. And so with that in in hand, there was sort of the enablement to build. And that is again, the beautiful thing about WACIF. We show up as we needed as we are needed. So another example being a project that we launched last year, what is time last year? Yes. Pivot Project, where we are helping formal former federal government employees or those impacted by federal government layoffs pivot into entrepreneurship for the DC region, of course, there is a major impact as a result of the changing sort of job opportunity within the region, and so we've designed a program specifically for that. So those are examples of the way we really try to show up and hear, listen, see and then launch programming that will be helpful. So yeah sustainable entrepreneurship. So through that that research and that process then we were able to secure funding. So we were in a very privileged position that we were able to secure funding from the Greater Washington Community Foundation because they believed in this idea that sustainability, sustainable entrepreneurship, the green economy space is another market opportunity for small businesses and the small businesses that we serve, primarily low to moderate income small businesses are often left out of these opportunities. So as the market transitions, you know, they're not at the front of line. They're kind of not, you know, in the purview of of, you know, potentially, you know, accessing these new opportunities. So then again, one step behind, one step behind. Right. And we see it happen time and time again. We're seeing it happen with AI. So we're trying to also do AI programming to help small businesses see themselves within AI and how that can be helpful. So this is another example. But yeah that's it's really exemplifies again how and why I love showing up to work every day. So I was able to create this head of sustainability, be the first head of sustainability at WACIF. So that was really exciting. And then I designed this program, designed a new capital product because again, we are a capital provider and we with the funding we were able to get creative with this capital product. So it's called the Green Growth Fund. And it is a loan with a 15% grant that is available upon loan repayment and if needed, an emergency can be used for loan repayment. So this is a really unique product that we were able to stand up internally and then again launch other resources like, you know, ongoing webinars, our Green Growth series training, you know, various interactions, ambassador program. I know Geneva will share about that. So we have all kinds of resources really to meet entrepreneurs where they are on their sustainability journey. So again, that's just an example, a story, if you will, about about WACIF, about who we are and the kind of organization we are. Yeah, I love how you're able or how you've been able to be kind of nimble and responsive to what's happening in the real world. That's that's not always the case. And very cool that you're able to do that For Geneva, how have you seen the work through WACIF make a meaningful difference, you know, to entrepreneurs and their communities on a larger scale? I think that's a great question as well. I've seen the sustainability program really amplify the education and awareness around sustainable entrepreneurship and the opportunities there. One way it does that is through our Sustainable Ambassadors program. And you, Elin, are one of our sustainable ambassadors. And so what that means is this is a group of individuals who are committed to sustainability. They some of them are kind of early on their their sustainability journey. Some are a bit further in on their journey. But they are they they're able to exchange not only information with each other and and support each other, but also educate the community about, hey, these are some opportunities. These are ways we can not only be good students of our environment, but also good economic stewards as well. I think the sustainable DC program has made a tremendous impact just on information. But also ideally when Megan had the idea for the program, it was also to address environmental challenges, especially in certain communities within DC. And so not only are we educating people, but through the financing and through the financial readiness offerings, through WACIF, they are funding environmental solutions, right, regardless of the industry. And so I think those are a couple of ways the information, the education, the awareness and the solution financing that the Sustainable DC Project in particular, is making impacts on entrepreneurs and the communities in which they serve. You must get to meet so many interesting people and really feel like the support you're able to give is making a broader impact. So that must be very cool. And from what you've observed, you've already mentioned some of the needs that entrepreneurs have, you know, typically the things that you've observed. But if you had to if you had to declare like one need that you're seeing and this may be different for each of you, what would you say is the biggest trend or need you're seeing right now from entrepreneurs? Guess I'll go back to Megan. Start with this. I'll get started. And I’m sure Geneva has some perspective here. Well, what we hear the most and is capital, right. And we again as a result we wanted to the Green Growth Fund is a product that we really wanted to design that is is almost it is more than a loan, certainly. You know, there is a cash influxion available, you know, that will hit your bank account essentially, and really bolster you in that moment. So not only it provides lending capital to help you grow, invest in whether it's equipment, whether it's, you know, employees. We have a very flexible approach to the way we also think about capital in terms of if it's for your operating costs, if it's for, yeah, infrastructure investment, etc. So if we can see the pathway to growth and the ability to bolster your business, and so that you are, you know, can have the ability to repay and grow with the capital, that's really the way we think about it. And then in addition, you, you have this sort of lump sum of, of a grant that's available upon repayment. So I think it really is, an extra step up, if you will. And we do, to Geneva's point, we've really funded a range of folks. So we have such an expansive definition of sustainability. So EV charging installation. Yes. But also we've we've funded restaurants who are looking to invest in energy efficient equipment. We've we've invested in plant based products and restaurant catering. You know, we do beauty care. So it's really runs the gamut in the types of business. We've also done construction and retrofitting. Right. So it's the one squarely in green economy spaces. And the ones who are fully invested in sustainability in terms of their business model. So that's the capital, you know, is is often what we hear is needed and we see the greatest impact around when we can infuse businesses with capital. Yeah. That makes sense, do you agree with that Geneva. Is there another greatest need? I'll take a slightly different perspective. So Megan and I both agree entrepreneurs need money, right? And so whether it's money through capital and financing, as she talked about the Green Growth Fund or money through procurement opportunities. So WACIF, through the Sustainable DC Project, partners with The Coalition formerly CNHED and we've had a series of conversations and opportunities, even a vendor connection day to connect entrepreneurs with sustainable contracts or other or larger organizations, academic institutions, for example, who value sustainability and who can match them on their sustainability path to, you know, to contract them for different opportunities. And so I definitely think that's something that's needed. And so we're constantly organizing, developing programming to prepare entrepreneurs to secure those opportunities as well. So definitely capital, also procurement and revenue generating streams as well. Yeah. Both are so important. So thank you for all that you do. And entrepreneurs are one thing. But what about communities? What would it take for our communities to thrive and provide a good environment for those local entrepreneurs and small businesses to succeed? Because obviously these two are intertwined. What do you think? I'll start. So what I appreciate about the DC, Maryland, Virginia area, so this region is that there is such a culture of supporting and advocating for small businesses and entrepreneurs through visibility, through festivals, especially at a time like this. In the summer, you can go to any number of places across the city and see a small an entrepreneur selling their products, talking about their services, etc. and in this region, not only we call them small businesses, but not only are they kind of operating on some smaller scales, but they have the opportunities to accelerate in very grand ways because there's this kind of emerging or this convergence of like all of these different industries, including the government locally in this region. So I think from a community standpoint, other communities can model the culture around supporting entrepreneurs, advocating for entrepreneurs and bringing visibility to their work as, as it's done in this region. Great answer. Thank you. Yeah. And from my point of view I agree wholeheartedly with that. And I think it's calling on the community to continue to show up for small businesses. We know this, there's a lot of hardship happening at the moment especially in the DC region. You know of course. But when you're thinking about a strong economy, it has to include small businesses. And so yes, DC has such a robust small business community, and we need to make sure that we're continuing to patron them and to get out there and support it. So I would say that's my my call to community. And to show that sustainability matters to you. If it matters to you, then show up for those businesses who are doing that sustainable doing that work and who are in those spaces. And because, you know, we know that there is a brand differentiation for those who are doing sustainability. There is research around that. But again, to just call in the community to make that clear, to highlight to entrepreneurs that there is a benefit to being in this space and to. Yeah, and come in and join WACIF’s sustainable entrepreneurship program. And I’d also like to add just briefly, I learned a few weeks ago and I was astounded by this number, but more than 90% of U.S. businesses are small businesses, are considered small businesses. And so if anyone ever says, I can't find a small business, I don't think you're looking, right, because between the online environment and then, as I mentioned, all of the potential in-person opportunities, there are more than enough serving pretty much every industry that people can show up in support. Yeah, that's a really good point. So thank you for saying that. I hear that too, sometimes, those people saying they can't find a small business partner or a small business vendor, and it is a little mind boggling because it's not that hard. And then if you're looking to align your values, like if you're looking for a sustainable small business that you know, there's plenty of plenty of us around too. So yeah, absolutely. So you I think you may have answered this next question, but I'll ask you anyway. We talked about the you know, what it would take for communities to thrive. What steps are being taken for that to happen, or are there things we can push for to accelerate the progress or to, you know, make it happen faster or at all? From our lens, actually, this is another kind of exciting way that WACIF is thinking about the way we support and the way we show up. So yes, we need a strong small business economy. We know that. We also know that small business entrepreneurs are busy, or time, you know, kind of have a time deficit, have a capacity deficit, are often financially restricted. So at WACIF, we actually just started this work around how to better integrate the small business ecosystem across all the small business support organizations in the region. So we launched what we're calling the Ecosystem Coordination Group. And so we are bringing in other financial providers and other TA providers. And we're having conversation and reviewing products and services in terms of what what are the gaps? Where are we duplicating efforts? What products, what is your product and how what is it intended to do? Is it doing that? And then should we iterate our product accordingly? Right. So making sure that we're actually being supportive for the ecosystem rather than kind of being confusing and not having a true kind of pipeline of opportunity, both within each organization but beyond in the, you know, ecosystem at large. Because we know there are often a lot of resources out there for small businesses. But it's unclear. Is that the one? Right? Is it right one for me? Am I at the right stage for that, etc. Right. So we hear often that small businesses go through this accelerator after this accelerator after this accelerator. And while they're all meaningful in their own ways, how are we communicating about that to the small business? Maybe you start with this one and then you can scale a if you're at a certain stage you can move into this one. And that would be the most beneficial point in your business to benefit. So we are doing that work right now in terms of just again creating a better and more integrated ecosystem. And then there's also a referral system that we're trying to build within that as well. So if we have a small business come to us for capital, but they're not quite ready for our capital because we do slightly larger than some of the really microfinance, then we'll send them and refer them out, you know, accordingly. So some of these structures that perhaps should have been in place are not in place because we're all non-profits trying really hard to just make impact. So that's WACIF’s commitment over the next three years is to really work with the ecosystem to better integrate it. Fantastic. Thank you. Anything to add to that, Geneva? I mean, maybe just a little from the sustainability focus. We are, with our continued programming, really striving to bring together more people who value sustainability and allow them to meet and connect with each other and find more ways to make them aware of those networks. So when they're looking for, a particular type of service, they can easily find entrepreneurs who share their interest or their value around sustainability and work with them. So I guess that's just honing in on a more sustainability lens. Yeah. Equally important. So thank you. Okay. Well, thank you for talking with me. I just have one more question for both of you. But before we get there. What is the best way for someone to get in touch with you or to learn more about WACIF? Find us on LinkedIn, on socials we are, we're on Instagram, we're on Facebook. We have a YouTube page. Check out our website, sign up for our newsletter through our website, and you'll get monthly information about what programming is happening that month. So we have free training that happens every single month across all of our business support areas. So we have our Office of Women's Initiatives, we have our Sustainable DC work. We have our Pivot Project, as mentioned. We have just we have an Ascend Accelerator that's that's opened very recently. So all of that information can be found through our newsletter. So do go to our website and sign up. And then feel free to connect with myself on LinkedIn. I'd love to hear your story and and see how we could potentially support you. Wonderful. Thank you. Are you are you also on LinkedIn, Geneva? I am on LinkedIn and I'm always happy to connect. Okay, fantastic. Well, thank you both. I'm going to wrap up with one last question that we like to ask all of our guests. And that question is what does impact mean to you? How do you define it? And I'll let whoever would like to go first. I guess I can start. So for me impact I really center impact around people and community. I think if you are building programs, services, initiatives that address a need and an opportunity in our community that helps us all to live better together then that to me, is impact. Okay. Megan. Yeah, this is a big question, Elin. Yeah. I love leaving, ending with a big one. So I think from my lens, as I've been working with WACIF for five and a half years now, seeing and really understanding the meaning and the opportunity around entrepreneurship. As I mentioned earlier, it is second only to homeownership for wealth building. So when you encourage and enable entrepreneurship in communities, especially low to moderate income communities, you are enabling opportunity for household income growth for, you know, sort of bolstering community in a new way. And we also know that we are fighting against some entities that are, again, not aligned with small business. Right. So we it is just critically important that we continue to do this work, show up, iterate, evolve our programming to respond to the needs, as we’ve been talking about, and so that we can create those pathways for wealth building and along the way enable sustainable sustainability and more sustainable practices and businesses in the green economy who are representative of, you know, other communities. So Black and Brown communities, women, etc. So that's really important as well to the work that we do. Thank you. Well, thank you both for all the work you're doing. You know, it really is making a difference on so many levels. So, on behalf of everybody whose lives you’ve touched, thank you for that and for being here today to talk with me. This was really interesting. Thank you for the invitation. So happy to join you today for our, for this recording. Thank you. Our Make an Impact

Tip of the Month: 36:37

Consider if any of your business’s needs could be supplied by a local small business and reach out. You never know what amazing partnerships you might form. Thanks for listening and make sure to do good in the world this month. If you have questions you'd like us to address on the podcast, you can reach us at info@riveocreative.com. Subscribe wherever you listen so you don't miss out on any of our incredible upcoming guests. We'll see you soon at the Riveo Impact Lab.