Susan's Corner

Spirituality in Daily Life
Diamond Approach students have traditionally studied this path with the purpose of getting in touch with and living from spirit. Teachings have largely been in

Diamond Approach Online Program Director
The Diamond Approach is a contemporary spiritual path that combines ancient wisdom with modern psychology. The Ridhwan Foundation, a spiritual nonprofit based in Berkeley, California,

CAMEO’s Carrot Fund: Loans to Lenders
The California Association of Microenterprise Opportunity (CAMEO) received funding from Capital One to create the Carrot Fund, which offers loans to Community Development Financial Institutions

Nonprofit Financial Management
Over the course of the year, I’ve worked with a nonprofit organization on financial management. The organization had experienced some losses, the board had not

Small Business Valuation
Small Business Valuation Lately I’ve been consulting with people on selling their businesses. The first challenge is facing the realities of business valuation. Entrepreneurs love

Spark Lending Platform
Spark Lending Platform I’ve had several meetings with Nick Elders, Vice President of Technology Solutions and Services at Community Reinvestment Fund about their online small

Crowdfunding
Converts Social Capital into Currency Crowdfunding is an option for small business owners who have clients with a large, engaged online networks, but who can’t

Local Investing
Local Investing Here is a great story from Mendocino County – social impact lending using a Direct Public Offering (DPO) in which an investment opportunity

Opportunity Fund
Opportunity Fund, a CDFI based in San Jose that I’ve had the pleasure of working with on several projects, is impressive. They closed 1,500

Training the Business Trainers
Using CDBG funds, the Portland Development Commission (PDC) runs a business development program for low and moderate incomes residents. To deliver services they contract with

Authentic Communication
As my blog posts and client lists attest to, most of my consulting practice revolves around small business and community development. I was at a

More Flawless Consulting
I participated in a Peter Block webinar based on his book, Flawless Consulting. As I’ve written in a previous post, his authentic-communication-with-compassion approach is refreshing.