Celebrating 30 years of building stronger futures through small business growth.

We’re honored and excited to mark LiftFund’s remarkable 30-year legacy of empowering communities by providing opportunities and funding for small businesses. As we embrace the future, we are eager to build on this momentum and continue driving our mission forward, while expressing our deep gratitude to our founder, Janie Barrera.

Janie Barrera Legacy Fund

As a testament to Janie’s dedication, LiftFund established the Janie Barrera Legacy Fund, a revolving loan fund to help continue the impactful work she started 30 years ago. Thanks to the generous support of our community members and partners, we’ve grown the fund to approximately $700,000, but we still need your help to reach our $1 million goal. By donating today, you can empower small businesses for generations to come. Together, we can honor Janie’s legacy and elevate small business owners in our community. Join us in making a lasting impact—donate to the Janie Barrera Legacy Fund now!

1 Million Goal

64%

LiftFund's 30 Year Impact

$1,000,000,000

Nearly $1 Billion Dollars of Capital Disbursed

27,000

Small Business Loans 

97,000

Jobs Created and Retained

70,000

Business Support Hours

Our Proudest Moments at LiftFund

Since 1994 LiftFund has propelled the dreams of small business owners by providing affordable, responsible credit and knowledge so they can unleash their potential as entrepreneurs. Everyone deserves a chance to succeed especially our clients.

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LiftFund is launched

LiftFund was founded in San Antonio, Texas as Accion to create opportunity for underserved entrepreneurs. During our first year of operations, we supported over 80 small business owners with seed capital – average loan size was $1,400. Janie Barrera was selected as founding president and CEO, one of the first Latinas in the industry.

LiftFund Innovates with customized technology to serve underbanked

We began offering our risk assessment model, Microloan Management System, as an underwriting tool to other Economic Development Funders across the nation, empowering them to serve their community by leveraging our lending insight and expertise.

A photo shoot of Freda A. Paz at her business "The Calling Card" in New Orleans on Tuesday, May 2, 2017. (Photo by Peter G. Forest)

LiftFund provides hurricane disaster relief with key partners in Louisiana

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we launched our first disaster relief loan program to support the recovery of small businesses and rebuild the community. This model has been tailored and adapted to support businesses navigating different financial crisis.

Terry Smith, owner of Smitty's Cleaning Service, with employees for vacuuming, dusting, window cleaning, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Rebrands as LiftFund to serve a more inclusive and diverse customer base with expansion

LiftFund grew out of the Accion brand to better reflect our clients and extensive financial and business support services. As LiftFund, we can lift small businesses with capital and education in 13 states across the Southeast.

A new $7 million initiative to assist Tx small businesses recover & rebuild after Hurricane Harvey w/ capital from Goldman Sachs & the Rebuild Texas Fund was announced in Houston, Texas on 1-25-18. LiftFund will distribute funds as recovery loans. photography by John Everett .

LiftFund helps rebuild the Texas Gulf Coast again

With support from our generous funders, we launched a $7M relief loan fund to provide interest-free disaster recovery loans and business guidance to small businesses impacted by Hurricane Harvey.

Celebrates diverse deployment of $300+ million and 25th anniversary

We celebrated 25 years of providing opportunity for small business owners and reached a lending milestone: $324 million in capital to underserved small businesses across our footprint.

LiftFund partners to provide COVID19 micro and small business relief

As soon as COVID-19 hit our communities, LiftFund partnered with governmental entities, financial institutions, foundations and other generous donors to help small businesses survive. We provided over $41M in recovery grants and over $41M in capital to thousands of small businesses impacted by COVID-19.

LiftFund Provides $24M PPP Aid to COVID-Affected Businesses in 2021

Our organization extended nearly $24 million in direct Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding to businesses severely affected or forced to shutter due to the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic.

1,731 Businesses Receive $28.5M COVID Relief Grants

Our dedication to assisting small businesses remained steadfast, as we disbursed $28.5 million in grant funding to 1,731 small business owners affected by the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nearly 1,000 Pandemic-Affected Businesses Supported by $18.4M Grants

In 2023, the enduring effects of the pandemic continued to affect businesses. To alleviate these challenges, LiftFund provided nearly 1,000 businesses a combined total of $18.4 million in grant funding. This financial assistance was crucial in helping these businesses navigate the post-pandemic difficulties and work towards recovery.

Celebrating 30 Years

To commemorate three decades of leveling the financial playing field, we celebrated with a luncheon on March 20th, 2024, attended by 600+ supporters, partners, clients, employees and friends. We continue to appreciate your support as ambassadors of the work we do to empower small businesses so they can thrive!

Blog

Read client impact stories and learn more about LiftFund’s programs and community by browsing our blog archives.

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