Across Dallas, there is a need to build capacity for existing and rising community-oriented developers; specifically people of color, bringing innovative solutions to increase housing affordability and community-based amenities in historically distressed communities.

The Community Developers Roundtable, founded in partnership with Maggie Parker with Innovan Neighborhoods and Rosa Rios Valdez, President and CEO of BCL of Texas, aims to build a community development ecosystem that will empower a diverse pool of developers by providing access to flexible capital and facilitating partnerships.

Many small developers are self-taught and have little experience with how to grow their businesses. The Community Developers Roundtable builds their capacity by teaching them important business facets, like how to properly staff, connecting them with mentors as well as peer-to-peer learning opportunities. On top of the education segment of the mission, the Roundtable also offers funding opportunities for up-front and pre-development costs and construction financing. Cohort participants can obtain pre-development loans of up to $100,000 with a 6 percent interest rate. Twenty percent of that loan can be forgiven if they remain in good standing with the program. “The Community Developers Roundtable is all about building capacity, providing capital, and showcasing success,” said Rosa Rios Valdez, President and CEO of BCL of Texas, which serves as the pre-development lender and fiscal agent for the initiative.

To help showcase current and future success, the Community Developers Roundtable recently invited participants to attend a bus tour of south Dallas and a subsequent dinner attended by developers, architects, builders, financiers, and others who are looking for ways to build on the opportunity to bring affordable housing to the Dallas area.