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WASHINGTON, DC, January 13, 2026—The Urban Institute today launched the new Center for Local Finance and Growth, a nonpartisan knowledge and solutions hub dedicated to advancing the mission finance and community economic development sectors. With founding support from Capital One, JPMorganChase, The Kresge Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Wells Fargo, the center will deliver research insights, data tools, and advisory services to help communities thrive.

The mission finance sector is at a pivotal inflection point. Community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and other mission-driven lenders have proven their critical role in expanding economic opportunity in communities across the country, enabling families to purchase homes, supporting entrepreneurs in launching businesses, and ensuring neighborhoods have access to essential services like child care, grocery stores, and employment.

However, the sector faces a rapidly evolving landscape shaped by shifts in policy, technology, and financial markets. With the expansion of core federal programs including the New Markets Tax Credit Program, Opportunity Zones, and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program; the growing influence of artificial intelligence; and the tightening of federal subsidies, mission finance must adapt to continue delivering impact.

“The work of mission finance and community developers is vital to the health of local economies—rural, suburban, tribal, and urban,” said Sarah Rosen Wartell, president of the Urban Institute. “To meet the moment, we need timely, accessible, and actionable evidence about what works and where and how it works. That’s why we created the Center for Local Finance and Growth—to be an honest broker that can equip the field with insights to strengthen communities’ capacities to attract and absorb the capital needed to thrive.”

Led by Urban’s Brett Theodos, a senior fellow and a community and economic development expert, the new center will bring together expertise from across the institute and the broader community development, housing finance, and small business ecosystem. “Our goal is to identify emerging challenges, test innovative approaches, track investment outcomes, convene around emerging issues and opportunities, and foster knowledge sharing across the field,” said Theodos. “By doing so, we’ll empower investors, lenders, practitioners, and policymakers with the tools and evidence they need to implement effective, evidence-based strategies.”

With a funder steering committee and input from current and former policymakers and practitioner leaders across the mission finance space, Theodos and his team at the Center for Local Finance and Growth will chart a robust research and field-building agenda. Key activities will include the following:

• Timely analysis and commentary on emerging trends and pressing questions
• Research and data insights on small business finance, capitalization, rural investment, and more
• Sector-level data tools and resources to inform the field
• In-person and virtual events to disseminate findings and spark dialogue

“The community development finance field is rich with promising solutions,” said Theodos. “But we need deeper understanding of what drives success, a table around which to generate new ideas, and a mechanism to more rapidly scale what works. The Center for Local Finance and Growth will help fill that gap and accelerate progress toward building strong local economies where everyone can thrive.”

About the Urban Institute

The Urban Institute is a nonprofit research organization founded on one simple idea: To improve lives and strengthen communities, we need practices and policies that work. For more than 50 years, that has been our charge. By equipping changemakers with evidence and solutions, together we can create a future where every person and community has the opportunity and power to thrive.