Dock Member Series: Community Micro Lending
Since 2009, Community Micro Lending has supported over 40 businesses and trained over 500 entrepreneurs through connecting resources, training, and support to “move ideas to action.”
We caught up with Executive Director, Elysia Glover, and Program Coordinator, Grant Boothman, to chat about how COVID affected their work and what is next in 2021.
1. How long have you been a Dock member? What attracted you to theDock?
Elysia: We have been a Dock members since June 2019. We’re a tiny organization and were looking to connect with more social impact practitioners and to access more flexible space to run programs.
2. Introduce your organization in a few sentences – what do you do, what’s your purpose?
Elysia: Community Micro Lending is a non-profit helping people start or grow small businesses by connecting them with resources, training and support. Our micro-lending program connects local lenders with local borrowers to make small loans to support business start-up or expansion or to help people take training related to employment. We believe that together we can grow thriving, resilient communities one entrepreneur at a time.
3. What is your favourite part about working for your organization?
Elysia: I’m trained as a teacher, not a banker, and having the opportunity to work with our microlending clients from a perspective of “how can I meet you where you’re at and guide you to where you want to go” has been incredibly rewarding.
Grant: Watching our borrowers' businesses move from idea to reality and working with the EY+ cohorts in a supporting role to dozens of inspiring youth entrepreneurs.
4. How has COVID impacted your organization? Any surprising challenges and wins along the way?
Elysia: It was clear early on that COVID would have an uneven economic impact and so we largely took a convening and advocacy role to make sure the early impacts were known to decision makers. It’s been challenging to lose the in-person aspect of working with learners and clients, even while the shift to online learning went really well for most of our programs, there are always folks you can’t reach in the same way when you’re online. There’s not replacement for the check-ins near the snack table.
Overall the pandemic has been a catalyst for a few positive changes, including a push to upgrade our digital infrastructure, including a new website. In some ways we’re coming out of this more resilient than before.
Grant: COVID-19 has been an ongoing reminder of the importance of the work that we do. The pandemic has challenged us at every turn to look for new and innovative ways to fill gaps in the provincial and federal support networks. All of this to achieve our goals of ensuring that every entrepreneur is getting the support they need to survive and thrive in these unprecedented times.
5. How did you adapt this past year?
Elysia: We went 99% online. We created a low-barrier loan fund (the Community Support Fund) and we began thinking about our role in the community as we approach recovery.
Grant: We moved from the lovely Dock space to our bedrooms, kitchens and living rooms where we had to navigate our way through countless Zoom meetings. We learned how to build a virtual delivery for everything we do including onboarding new staff, who I still have not been able to meet in person. And through all of this we spent the past year working on our processes and improving our digital infrastructure to increase the efficiency of our loan program and all the work we do.
6. What is your team most excited for in 2021?
Elysia: I’m excited to build our team and test out the new systems we have in place. I’m excited to see how Community Micro Lending can contribute to the region’s recovery. Those most impacted know what they need to recover and more than ever we need to be investing in this wisdom. We’ll be more resilient for it.
Grant: I am really excited to see all of our hard work from 2020 come to fruition in 2021. Our new and improved infrastructure feels like a new toy that we are just unwrapping and I can’t wait to take it for a ride! Like popping bottles excited!
Want to learn more about Community Micro Lending?
Visit their website or follow them on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
Interested in becoming a Dock member?
Learn more about our membership options!