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In recent years, Miami has emerged as a center for tech and finance innovation. Now, GreenLight Fund, a national nonprofit funder, is bringing that same spirit of innovation to tackle some of Miami’s most critical unmet needs tied to racial and economic disparities.
Founded in Boston 20 years ago and now with a track record of success in cities across the country, GreenLight Fund has secured a $6.5 million fund from more than 100 local investors to establish its presence in Miami, making it the 14th location in the nationwide network.
Valeria Perez-Ferreiro has been named founding executive director and will lead its efforts locally to find proven, innovative solutions to address the community’s unmet needs. The Jan. 29 official launch of GreenLight Fund Miami included an event hosted by Miami Dade College recognizing the many investors and partners instrumental in making it possible.
“We are deeply grateful to local investors and philanthropic organizations whose generosity and belief in our mission have made it possible to bring GreenLight to Miami,” said John Simon, co-founder and board chair of GreenLight Fund. “Their commitment to tackling Miami’s most pressing challenges ensures that together, we can drive meaningful, additive, measurable change and create new opportunities for individuals and families experiencing poverty.”
GreenLight Miami will take specific action each year to bring an evidence-based program to Miami to break down barriers to prosperity. By engaging the community throughout the process, leveraging partnerships, providing ongoing collaborative support and complementing the work already happening locally, these programs will deliver measurable social impact and be sustainable for the long term.
“The GreenLight Fund Miami is an exciting partner in bringing innovative solutions and a collaborative, community-driven approach to address some of our toughest challenges,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. “By listening to our residents, investing in proven programs, and measuring impact, GreenLight Miami will help us break down barriers and create lasting change. Together, we’re building a more inclusive, equitable, and prosperous future for all Miami-Dade families.”
GreenLight Miami will form a Selection Advisory Council (SAC) comprised of a diverse and vested group of community leaders, residents and experts from businesses, nonprofits, philanthropic and community-based organizations, and the public sector to serve as advisors throughout the annual selection process.
Each year, GreenLight Miami will engage with the community and the SAC to prioritize a specific unmet need, find and assess programs with successful track records addressing that need, and invest in scaling the proven program with the best local fit. The focus areas and investment decisions will be decided and implemented locally. The first selection is expected in late 2025.
“As a business deeply invested in Miami, we recognize the importance of supporting solutions that drive real, lasting change,” said Gene Schaefer, president, Bank of America Miami. “GreenLight’s approach is exactly what our city needs: a strategic, collaborative effort to address gaps in our community and bring proven, evidence-based solutions to Miami. We look forward to seeing the transformative impact this initiative will have on individuals and families across the region.”
Valeria Perez-Ferreiro, GreenLight Fund Miami’s founding executive director, brings a deep understanding of the community along with a passion for equity and creating pathways to economic mobility. She has over 25 years of experience designing and launching economic mobility, workforce development and financial inclusion initiatives. Before joining GreenLight, she spent nearly a decade at Citi as vice president and community development senior manager, where she partnered with community organizations to launch impactful programs such as FutureBound Miami, a universal children’s savings account program that empowers children and their families to save for post-secondary education and training; StartUp FIU Food, which helped lower income entrepreneurs launch food businesses, and the Office of New Americans of Miami Dade-County, a nonprofit embedded in Miami-Dade County’s government that promotes naturalization.
Perez-Ferreiro also has held multiple leadership roles in the nonprofit sector, including one as founding executive director of La Cocina, a kitchen incubator that helps lower-income entrepreneurs turn their nascent food businesses into livelihoods.
“It is an honor to be entrusted to lead GreenLight Miami and I am deeply committed to driving meaningful change for our community,” Perez-Ferreiro said. “During this rapidly changing time for Miami, GreenLight is well positioned to tackle racial and economic disparities head-on with impactful solutions the community tells us they want and need.”
Since its founding in 2004, GreenLight has expanded to 13 other major U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Denver, Detroit, Greater Newark, Kansas City, Philadelphia, San Francisco and the Twin Cities, reaching nearly 750,000 individuals last year alone and driving meaningful change in the communities it serves.
For example, in Philadelphia, GreenLight identified that for families in public housing there was limited ability to build assets that would support their goals. So, GreenLight brought Compass Working Capital to the community and facilitated a partnership with the Philadelphia Housing Authority. Compass utilizes a federally funded program to capture increased rental payments as savings towards home ownership. They provide individualized financial coaching and tools so families in public housing are able to leverage the program as a pathway to greater opportunity. Over 5,000 families have benefitted from the program each saving on average nearly $10,000.
GreenLight has done 60-plus things like this across its cities to date and, because of this, its impacts are growing exponentially.
“Collaboration is at the heart of everything we do,” said Symeria Hudson, president and CEO of United Way Miami. “The GreenLight Fund’s strategy aligns seamlessly with our mission, enabling us to expand our reach and provide essential resources to the families and individuals we serve.
“Partnering with an organization dedicated to identifying critical gaps and implementing proven solutions for the more than half a million households living in poverty or just one paycheck away is invaluable. Partnerships like this are vital to strengthening our community,” Hudson added.
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