RICHMOND, Va. – Locus President and CEO Pravina Raghavan has been elected to the Opportunity Finance Network Board of Directors, giving Locus a new opportunity to help shape conversations around the future of community development finance at the national level.
Raghavan leads Locus, a community development financial institution with more than $640 million in assets under management. Over its 20-year history, Locus has deployed more than $1.4 billion in community development financing and helped leverage $3.2 billion in additional project investment across housing, small business, clean energy and community facilities.
“I am deeply grateful to OFN’s members for the opportunity to serve,” said Raghavan. “CDFIs are being asked to respond to increasingly complex needs, and no institution can do that work alone. Our success depends on the ecosystem around us and how well we connect capital, partners, and community needs. I look forward to learning alongside OFN members and helping strengthen the relationships that move our field forward.”
Raghavan brings experience across community finance, economic development and government, including previous leadership of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s CDFI Fund. On the OFN Board, she will draw on that background alongside her current work at Locus to help inform conversations around capital access, innovation and the evolving needs of CDFIs.
“This year’s OFN Annual Conference theme is Opportunity Next and I am thrilled to welcome these three outstanding members to OFN’s Board of Directors as we lead our organization and industry into the future,” said OFN President and CEO Harold Pettigrew about the three newly electeds.
“Pravina Raghavan is the CEO of Locus and a former director of the CDFI Fund with deep policy expertise and national perspective. Jose Venales is the Vice President of Capital Access for The Iowa Center for Economic Success and brings deep expertise in creating opportunity in rural communities. Martina Edwards is a pioneering woman of color in finance, the President and CEO of Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs, and she has been a trusted partner that I am gratified to see re-elected to our Board. Their diversity of experience and perspective will help us deliver on Opportunity Next, it’s why our members elected them to the Board, and it’s one reason I am so excited to work with them to deliver on Opportunity Next,” says Pettigrew
Raghavan’s election comes as CDFIs continue to explore new ways to expand access to capital, develop more flexible financing structures, and deepen collaboration across sectors. For Locus, participation on the OFN Board creates another avenue to contribute to that work while staying closely connected to the ideas and experiences shaping the industry.
Raghavan will begin her term immediately and serve for the next three years as a member of the OFN Board of Directors.
About Locus
Locus was founded in 2006, and what began as $15 million in assets has grown to more than $640 million today. Locus is the parent organization of Locus Bank and Locus Impact Fund, both certified Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). The mission of Locus is to create access to capital by developing community partnerships and innovative tools that tackle systemic challenges and advance opportunities. To date, Locus has achieved $5 billion in total impact across the housing, energy, food systems, and community health sectors. To learn more, visit locusimpact.org.