Do you need to raise money for your business? 

Have you considered raising money directly from your community? Come to the Community Capital Cafe to learn more about community capital, why it should be considered, and when it might be a good fit for your business.

We warmly invite you to our Community Capital Cafe, a two-part event (you can come to both or either!):

1. From 5:00PM - 6:00PM: Community Capital Teach-In

From 5:00PM - 6:00PM, there will be a Community Capital Teach-in by Brian McKeown, Kiva Program Coordinator for the San Francisco Bay Area, Jonny Price, Director of Business Development at Wefunder, and Cameron Rhudy, Grassroots Finance Attorney at Sustainable Economies Law Center.

We will discuss the pros and cons of various strategies for raising community capital (crowdfunding), including perks or donation-based crowdfunding, 0% interest microloans, and investment-based crowdfunding.  Brian will discuss how Kiva can be used as the first step in the capital ladder for beginning stage entrepreneurs to build business credit, and Jonny will discuss how Wefunder can be used to raise larger sums of money.

2. From 6:00PM - 7:30PM: One-on-One Capital Consultations

From 6:00PM to 7:30PM, bring your capital raising questions and we will facilitate individualized consultations (with Kiva staff, Wefunder staff, or Law Center volunteer attorneys, as appropriate) so that you can get advice on questions such as:

• What legal requirements should I be aware of before I start raising capital for my business?
• What is the most appropriate capital raising strategy for my business?
• What do I need to do to prepare for raising money on Kiva, Wefunder, or similar crowdfunding platforms?
• What are the tips to a successful capital raising campaign?

This event is modeled after our Resilient Communities Legal Cafe, which provides donation-based legal advice for the community. Looking only for one-on-one legal advice?  RSVP for a session here. 

And there will be snacks!

About the Presenters

Brian McKeown

Brian is a two decade long social justice entrepreneur, a former nightclub owner, and current Kiva Program Coordinator for the San Francisco Bay Area, where he has built the largest Kiva US program in the country in Oakland since 2017 serving more than 800 entrepreneurs with $3 million dollars of interest free capital. Brian is a Grameen Bank trained micro-financier; a former Economic Development Commissioner for the city of Richmond and current Richmond Loan Fund Board Member; and the State of California's Business and Entrepreneurship Advisory (EDPAC) Representative for Doing What Matters for Jobs and the Economy.

Jonny Price

After starting his career in strategy consulting at Oliver Wyman, Jonny joined Kiva in 2011 to launch the Kiva U.S. team, which he led for 7 years. After crowdfunding 5,000 entrepreneurs with $25M in 0% interest capital, Jonny joined Wefunder in 2018 as the company's Director of Business Development, to get larger sums of capital (up to $1M) flowing to startups and small businesses. Jonny serves on the Community Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Board, and is the proud husband of Ali, and dad of Felicity.

Cameron Rhudy

Cameron is the Grassroots Finance Attorney at Sustainable Economies Law Center, which provides research, education, advice, and advocacy for just and resilient economies. Cameron is currently working on a project with the Grassroots Finance team that is focused on increasing access to capital for farmland conservation. Cameron also supports the Resilient Communities Legal Cafe, the Law Center’s national Fellowship program, and its Transformative Policymakers project.