Overview

The African-American Credit Union Coalition (AACUC) has partnered with the Southern Communities Initiative (SCI) to catalyze inclusive economic growth through technical assistance, microlending support, and capacity-building for credit unions and community-based financial institutions. This strategic collaboration is a key component of the AACUC Future Fund’s Small Credit Union Sustainability pillar as well as Community Impact.

About Southern Communities Initiative (SCI)
Launched by Vista Equity Partners, the Boston Consulting Group, PayPal, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, SCI targets six U.S. cities representing over 50% of the Black population: Atlanta, Charlotte, Memphis, Birmingham, New Orleans, and Houston. SCI accelerates efforts to close the racial wealth gap through investment in small business development, workforce advancement, and financial access.

SCI also offers:

• Technical Capacity Building for CFIs 
  Support with identifying and potentially procuring tools for community financial institutions to scale operations, improve lending systems and processes, and optimize speed and deployment of capital.
• Accelerator & Coaching Infrastructure
  Automated technological needs assessment and downstream support for pre- and post-loan technical assistance, connecting community financial institutions with technology providers, peer cohorts, and modernization-readiness assessment tools.

 Partnership Goals
Together, AACUC and SCI are delivering customized support to credit unions including those who have CDFIs and Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) designations, and those who serve Black and underserved communities. Key partnership goals include:

• Technical Assistance & Advisory Support
  Helping institutions design and implement shared services, fintech adoption, and process improvement.
• Microlending Program Support
  Facilitating capital deployment to BIPOC-owned small businesses through simplified underwriting and collaborative servicing models.

 2025 – 2026 Partnership Focus Areas

• Deliver Technical Assistance to at least 20 credit unions
• Support credit unions in expanding lending capacity in SCI target cities

To take advantage of this member benefit, begin by completing the prequalification survey: SCI's Community Finance Technology Accelerator - Prequalification Survey

What can you expect?

• An email thanking you for participating in the survey including an invitation to virtually meet with the SCI team to review the credit union’s readiness to participate in the program.
• The virtual meeting will introduce to the passionate team here to serve your credit union. Talk about the credit unions strategic objectives, and go over the approximate time commitment needed to support those objectives.

Future Fund Alignment
This partnership is a tangible expression of AACUC’s Future Fund, which was created to scale initiatives that foster economic equity and financial inclusion. SCI efforts align with all four Future Fund pillars:

1. Internship & Leadership Development – Creating ecosystem career pathways
2. Small Credit Union Sustainability – Building institutional capacity
3. Wealth Building & Community Impact – Supporting small business growth
4. Global Financial Cooperative Partnerships – Model to scale in African credit union ecosystems

Learn More

Visit: www.aacuc.org/future-fund

Visit: www.southerncommunitiesinitiative.com

Questions? Contact us at Solutions@aacuc.org