When we look around and consider the future of the Pacific Northwest, we see risk as well as tremendous potential. There’s a risk that economic opportunities, as well as benefits and burdens, will not be equitably distributed — and that pressing challenges (Systemic Racism, Climate Crisis, Rural and Tribal Economies), if left unaddressed, will hold our region back and hurt us all.
At the same time, there is an opportunity to work towards and create a Pacific Northwest that is thriving, just and empowered. This is the path we are taking, knowing that it will be a long road and one we cannot walk alone.
Thriving - People, communities, economies, and ecosystems throughout the region are healthy and resilient.
Just - Individuals and communities have universal access to the resources they need to build a thriving future. A person’s or community’s ability to thrive is not predetermined based on who they are, where they live, or where they come from.
Empowered - People, and communities have access to, and the capacity to deploy, the resources, both financial and social, required to influence or change the course of their future.
Craft3 is more than a financial institution
As a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), Craft3’s primary tool for creating change is investment: investing in people, businesses, and communities. We use finance to expand opportunities and create a better, more inclusive world.
In addition to deploying capital, we build relationships, connect unlikely partners, and tell the stories of the people and communities we serve. This intertwines our three core strategies: Capital, Relationships, and Voice.
Capital - Craft3 invests in underserved communities, businesses, and households to create economic opportunities, improve community services, strengthen households, and encourage systems change.
Relationships - Craft3 builds relationships with local and regional partners committed to achieving impact and catalyzing a shared vision for the future. When every partner maximizes their respective strengths, we increase the region’s collective capacity for creating change.
Voice - Craft3 weaves its capital investments, relationships, and capabilities together into a platform that amplifies voices seeking an equitable and sustainable future for the people of the Pacific Northwest.
Setting our course
We focus on challenges that threaten to prevent the Pacific Northwest from reaching its full potential. We direct our investments in four areas that have the potential to address these Regional Challenges and the systemic barriers that underpin them. By doing so we are working to create the future that the Pacific Northwest deserves.
REGIONAL CHALLENGES
Today
Race shapes economic opportunities and outcomes, as well as the circumstances people are born into.
Vision for the future
Everyone in our region regardless of their race or ethnicity has access to opportunity and they are empowered to participate in decisions that affect them.
Today
Droughts, heat waves, floods and forest fires, intensified by climate change, are already hurting our economy and public health.
Vision for the future
Our region is prepared for the effects of ongoing climate change and has eliminated our contributions to the climate crisis.
Today
Our rural and Tribal communities too often have inadequate infrastructure, scant essential services, and limited economic opportunities.
Vision for the future
Rural communities and indigenous people and nations are working towards sustainable and equitable economies and they are supported by resources and decision-making power.
INVESTMENT AREAS
Small businesses are an engine for economic opportunity, community development, and wealth generation.
FIVE-YEAR LENDING GOAL $150 MILLION
Homeownership is the largest source of wealth for American families, and stable housing is a vital precondition to a healthy and productive life.
FIVE-YEAR LENDING GOAL $175 MILLION
Thriving communities require essential services such as childcare, social services, and healthcare.
FIVE-YEAR LENDING GOAL $225 MILLION
Our region must reduce emissions and adapt to the impact of climate change.
FIVE-YEAR LENDING GOAL $200 MILLION
Join us
If this vision is ours alone, it will fail. We know we can’t do this alone and we invite your partnership, your accompaniment, your questions, and your support.
To learn more, you can download the full Strategic Plan as well as a 2-page overview that provides a portable version of the overview content you’ve just read.
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