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CNote Co-Founder / COO Yuliya Tarasava is an innovator to watch! CNote, the women led and founded certified B Corp fintech impact investment platform, uses cutting-edge technology to unlock diversified and proven community investments to generate economic mobility and financial inclusion. Every dollar invested on CNote’s platform funds small businesses owned by women and people of color, including affordable housing and economic development in financially underserved communities across the US. With a mission of closing the wealth gap, CNote’s customizable products allow anyone to generate social and economic returns by investing in the causes and communities important to them.
Coinciding with its 5th anniversary, CNote’s co-founders Tarasava and CEO Catherine Berman launched a new impact customization service that allows CFOs and corporate treasury departments to invest in community development financial institutions selected to meet their particular diversity, equity and inclusion goals while also improving their performance on ESG measures. Black-led CDFIs remain underfunded, despite a wave of interest following last summer’s racial justice protests. The Hope Policy Institute reported that support for minority-led CDFIs is still declining: from 2014 to 2017, the assets of white-led CDFIs grew $21.8 billion (a 163% rise), while the assets of minority-led CDFIs grew just $682.5 million (13.6%).
Utilizing CNote to customize a portfolio of CDFI loan fund investments by region and focus, treasury teams can choose to invest in Black-led CDFIs, for example, or CDFI loan funds focused on low-income women entrepreneurs and/or climate adaptation in disproportionately impacted communities. CNote then allocates funds to mission-aligned institutions exactly when they need them. CNote provides a frictionless way for corporations to invest in CDFIs, which are essential frontline resources for businesses and communities not served by big banks. CNote can also work with corporate partners that want to help their employees make impact investments.
I caught up with fintech entrepreneur and founder Yuliya Tarasava via email to learn more about her mission to “demystify and humanize finance.” The Acumen Global Fellow also shares her insightful perspective on a variety of topics including CNote’s commitment to social justice and DEI initiatives, networking opportunities and team building. Our interview follows.
EKMH: How has CNote’s women-led fintech platform led the charge in its incorporation of diversity, equity and inclusion practices?
Yuliya Tarasava: DEI is deeply embedded in CNote’s mission as we've been committed to racial and economic justice from day one. We are a women-led fintech firm working to close the wealth gap for women and people of color. We do that by enabling institutions, including foundations and corporations, to invest in community development financial institutions selected to meet their diversity, equity and inclusion goals. That also improves their performance on ESG measures. We believe the commitment to DEI has to be holistic and aligned across an organization for sustained success. If your hiring practices are carefully tailored but you don’t apply the same rigor to your supply chain, charitable giving or investment activities, that inconsistency can reduce credibility. It also leaves a huge opportunity on the table.
EKMH: Please discuss how CNote’s enterprise-level, one-stop-shop service channels can successfully invest corporate capital into Community Development Financial Institutions focused on DEI.
Yuliya Tarasava: Corporations all over the country have made pledges to commit large amounts of capital toward DEI initiatives. For many of them this is a new initiative. Others are sharpening or adding to their efforts. CNote offers two ways to deploy capital: through cash deposits and by investing in loan funds.
Depositing cash with institutions serving underserved communities is a straightforward way to support equity and inclusion commitments. However, finding where those deposits are most needed and at what time has proved challenging for corporate treasury departments. For example, a Black-owned bank might not need your deposit tomorrow, but it would likely take your deposit sometime in the future. Partnering with impact deposit platforms such as CNote can help resolve the need-supply mismatch in a scalable, authentic way, while empowering corporations to foster deep, direct relationships with those same institutions.
CNote syndicates investments in $250,000 tranches to depository organizations across America. For example, a $10 million dollar investment would be deployed to 40 different community finance organizations, which use that outside deposit base to fund loans to their community, generate revenue, and provide other financial services to community members.
What differentiates CNote from other impact cash management programs is that we only deploy capital with federally certified Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and Low-Income Designated Credit Unions (LID-CUs). CDFIs are certified by a department within the U.S. Treasury and must have a primary mission of promoting community development. The low-income designation for credit unions requires that over 50% of the credit union’s membership meets certain low-income thresholds based on data from the Census Bureau. Other cash management programs do not limit the types of organizations they will work with, which can increase their pool of potential partners but it also can dilute the net impact their depository program will have.
For corporations and other institutions that want to make longer-term investments, we place funds in our network of CDFI loan funds, which support community development projects and entrepreneurs who are not served by big banks, particularly women and people of color. For the loan funds, we’ve launched a new customization service that allows CFOs and corporate treasury departments to invest in CDFIs selected to meet their particular diversity, equity and inclusion goals.
CNote can customize a portfolio of CDFI loan fund investments by region and focus. Treasury teams can choose to invest in Black-led CDFIs, for example, or CDFI loan funds focused on low-income women entrepreneurs or climate adaptation in disproportionately impacted communities. We also provide quarterly impact reporting to share with all stakeholders. That is a key piece of the puzzle for businesses, considering the growing level of public scrutiny on impact claims.
EKMH: In what other ways do you seek and/or have you sought to establish positive corporate habits that close the wealth gap for women and people of color? How can these ideas be embedded into other companies and industries to effect positive, inclusive change more rapidly?
Yuliya Tarasava: CNote can also work with corporate partners that want to help their employees make impact investments. Increasingly corporate leaders are seeing impact investments as an opportunity to attract and retain talent. Their employees care deeply about racial justice and inclusion, and they aren't satisfied with splashy CSR reports and a few community grants.
EKMH: How have your own experiences with failure and/or taking risks made you a better leader?
Yuliya Tarasava: There is a saying “fear and excitement are different sides of the same coin,” which I think we can change to “failure and success are different sides of the same coin.” Life—and especially the lives of those of us who are on an entrepreneurial journey—will always be a mix of ups and downs. You can’t change it, you can’t fight it, so you’d better surrender to it. That’s my perspective, and I tend to look at the “downs'' as lessons. It is not always easy, but it gives me a different approach to life and in business, allowing me to be more present and more alert.
EKMH: What is the value of networking? What tips do you have for women mentees and nextgen fintechers about networking, online interviewing and working remotely?
Yuliya Tarasava: Hmmm, this is a hard question for me as I am naturally an introvert. I prefer one-on-ones and avoid big crowds. It might also have something to do with the imposter syndrome that I am conscious of and constantly battling.
Because a network and support system is incredibly valuable, I would advise pursuing these kinds of activities in a way that feels natural to you and fills you in with enthusiasm and energy (rather than depleting you). I find opportunities to meet new people one-on-one or in smaller groups where I don’t feel overwhelmed. Lunchclub is one of the platforms where I can get that. I am also a part of a few female founders communities that give me a chance to engage with a bigger group when I feel a calling.
And when it comes to working remotely, I think of it as an empowering tool—you have the chance to design your environment and your routine to fit your needs, preferences and desires, so you can optimize for your creativity, productivity and happiness.
EKMH: What recommendations do you have for not only building talented, outcome-oriented teams but also keeping individuals engaged long term?
Yuliya Tarasava: At CNote, we have a set of values that we live and work by: people, innovation, trust, courage, fun, diversity. To me, the first one, people, is the most important one. We want our team members to grow personally and professionally while they are at CNote. They are working diligently to contribute to the company’s vision and mission, so it’s important that they are benefiting beyond the paycheck. I am a big believer that people need to help themselves before they are capable of helping others. So with each member of our team, we have a conversation about where they aim to be personally and professionally and how their role and their responsibilities at CNote can help them get there.
EKMH: And finally, which books, films and/or podcasts top your recommended list?
Yuliya Tarasava: This may be a bit unconventional, but I’m going to go with The Little Prince, which teaches us very essential life principles. It is a great read for kids and adults of all ages.
Aligned with continuously building our own awareness around diversity and inclusion at CNote we listened and discussed as a team the podcast series “We Were So Happy: Microaggressions and Where They Happen.” I highly recommend it. Microaggressions are like microbes: starting small, they easily cause major diseases and discomfort so we’d better notice and get rid of them, “cleaning” our speech, thoughts and actions.
*Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this series are those of the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent.
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