Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) released the schedule of the first five free webinars that will be provided as part of the Capacity Building Initiative's "Expanding CDFI Coverage in Underserved Areas" series. The webinars will be held between October 2015 and January 2016.

The CDFI Fund launched the "Expanding CDFI Coverage in Underserved Areas" series to fill the gaps in Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) service coverage in underserved communities in the United States and its territories. The free webinars are designed to maximize CDFI industry participation in this important training. The webinars will cover training topics developed for in-person training sessions held during the summer of 2015, as well as topical content developed by CDFI experts.

The first five webinars are:

• Expansion Strategies for Growth, Part One: Operational Efficiencies (Tuesday, October 6, 2015, 2 p.m. EDT): In Part One of Expansion Strategies for Growth, our expert will present operational strategy tools including the "Business Model Canvas," the "Lending Life Cycle", and "Process Mapping." This webinar will reinvigorate your organization's thinking about the importance of focusing on the customer, defining your organization's value proposition, and identifying areas for operational efficiency.

• Using Market Analysis for Expansion (Tuesday, October 27, 2015, 2 p.m. EDT): Join us for a practitioner's guide through the steps of a successful market analysis including defining the scope, developing the research methodology, and establishing timelines and a budget. Our expert will discuss the reasons and timing for conducting a market analysis and how to implement the findings of your completed market research report.

• Expansion Strategies for Growth, Part Two: Technology, People, Culture, and Leading Organizational Change (Tuesday, November 17, 2015, 2 p.m. EST): Join us for Part Two of Expansion Strategies for Growth to dive into technology, people, culture, and leading organizational change. Our expert will highlight technology's role in enabling expansion goals and improving the lending process for your customers. Content will also include best practices for aligning organizational culture, managing talent, and leading successful change.

• Marketing Strategy, Tactics, and Storytelling (Tuesday, December 8, 2015, 2 p.m. EST): As your organization expands, it will need to market in order to amplify visibility, activate key audiences, and generate referrals. Develop market strategies and tactics to support your established or emerging CDFI in new product, customer segment, geographic market, and/or network expansion. Join us to hear from marketing experts on the six steps of marketing for CDFIs and the power of storytelling.

• Understanding CDFI Impact (Tuesday, January 12, 2016, 2 p.m. EST): This webinar will help your CDFI align impact data collection with strategy and mission. Examples from CDFIs will demonstrate how to build an internal culture of impact data collection, identify processes to streamline data collection and reporting, and enhance skills to communicate your CDFI's work. Impact data collection can help you understand your customers and how effectively you are serving your community.

Future webinar opportunities will be posted as they are confirmed to the "Expanding CDFI Coverage in Underserved Areas" webpage.

Registration

The "Expanding CDFI Coverage in Underserved Areas" webinars are free and open to the general public, but advanced registration is required to access the presentation. Registration may be completed up until the start time listed for each individual session. Click here to register.

To learn more about "Expanding CDFI Coverage in Underserved Areas" series and the other training series available under the Capacity Building Initiative, please visit www.cdfifund.gov/cbi.