Our Approach

The Center for Impact Finance offers a variety of courses in community development finance, clean energy finance, solar development, and resilience. Our trainings build practical skills, financial acumen, and capacity to move projects from concept to deployment and strengthen organizational sustainability.

We collaborate with other subject-matter experts and practitioners to develop, test, and refine curriculum over time in a “learning lab” environment. Our training includes 1) virtual self-paced courses, 2) hybrid instructor-led, cohort-based courses, and 3) in-person workshops. Our virtual training employs a flipped classroom model, in which students complete readings and watch presentations on their own, while classes focus on discussion, problem solving, and peer connection.

We can create customized and place-based trainings for lenders, developers, community-based organizations, and others in the community development and clean energy finance ecosystems. We also welcome ideas for new course offerings and partnerships.

Examples of course titles can be found below. More details about upcoming courses will be available soon.

Community Development Finance

Our training for community development lenders focuses on the basic foundations of the community development field and building capacity in community lending institutions. Cohort-based courses focus on strategies to maximize their financial sustainability, raise capital, and mitigate risk and are often paired with individual technical assistance and coaching. Courses can be customized for specific audiences and market segments.

Course Offerings:

  • Fundamentals of Community Development Finance
  • Technology, Automation, and AI for Community Finance

Clean Energy Lending

Our training for clean energy lenders focuses on designing and deploying clean energy and green finance products. Our clean energy lender trainings provide hands-on, cohort based instruction to help community lenders design and launch clean energy and green finance products. Participants work directly on green lending programs and complete the training with a conceptual business plan and loan product design.

Courses are designed for community lending institutions, including loan funds, credit unions, Minority Depository Institutions (MDI), CDFI banks, and green banks. Many of our courses are developed and delivered in partnership with the Inclusiv Center for Resiliency and Clean Energy. Since 2020, through self-paced and instructor-led courses, we have trained over 1,000 people from over 450 community-based financial institutions that serve all 50 states, Washington, DC; Guam; and Puerto Rico. This group includes more than 300 credit unions, cooperatives, and cooperativas.

Course Offerings:

Clean Energy Development

We offer a variety of trainings in solar development to prepare community-based organizations, small or new solar developers, and other community-based organizations to develop, finance, and build “credit-ready” solar projects that benefit low-income and disadvantaged communities. Our cohort-based courses guide participants through the technical, financial, and market fundamentals required to meet lender and investor expectations, culminating in a credit ready project pitch deck. Trainings support development of community solar, commercial solar, microgrids, and other clean energy projects that are designed to attract capital, manage risk, and help communities access clean, affordable energy and improve their health and resilience.

Alumni of these courses form a national network of developers, financiers, and community organizations. These courses are based upon work supported by the US Department of Energy’s Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation through its National Community Solar Partnership initiative, delivered through Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. By completing the instructor-led trainings, you will become part of a national network of developers, financiers, and community organizations. Read more about the National Community Solar Partnership+.

Course Offerings:

  • Developing Commercial Solar for Community Facilities
  • Developing Community Solar
  • Developing Community Microgrids
  • Developing Virtual Power Plants
  • Introduction to Developing Community Solar
  • Developing Community Solar
  • Developing Commercial Solar for Community Facilities