SeaChange Capital Partners and the Contact Fund Announce Alliance to Make High-Impact Loans to New York Nonprofits

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Mar 11, 2013, 01:57 ET

NEW YORK, March 11, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- SeaChange Capital Partners and the Contact Fund announced today that they have entered into an alliance to make flexible, high-impact credit available to organizations – principally nonprofits – working with and on behalf of low-income New Yorkers. In the current environment, the demand for flexible credit is growing as organizations in every sector – health and human services, education and youth development, community development, and the arts – face greater needs for working capital, real estate, and expansion-related financing.

Under the terms of the alliance SeaChange will originate, structure, and manage loans on behalf of the Contact Fund including the current portfolio of 15 loans to organizations such as WHEDco, New York City Montessori Charter School, and BTQ Financial. SeaChange and the Contact Fund will also work together to grow the existing base of socially-motivated individual investors and to launch a new pooled PRI-vehicle for New York-focused foundations modeled on the New York Merger, Acquisition, and Collaboration Fund already managed by SeaChange.

John MacIntosh, a partner of SeaChange, said, "In our grant-making and advisory work, SeaChange regularly comes across exciting opportunities to make high-impact loans. Now, in alliance with the Contact Fund, we have access to the expertise and resources to act on them." Mark Reed, founder of the Contact Fund, added "Many New York nonprofits have a growing need for flexible credit. Over time, this alliance will allow us to better address these needs."

As a direct result of the alliance, SeaChange and the Contact Fund have made their first joint loan – a $111,000 working capital facility to Green City Force – and have recruited Heather Gershen to join SeaChange as a vice-president with credit responsibility. Ms. Gershen is currently the Director of Real Estate at the Fifth Avenue Committee and has nearly a decade of experience in and around non-profit housing development.

Peter Sloane, Chairman and CEO of the Heckscher Foundation for Children, said, "We see first-hand within our portfolio the need for flexible, impact-oriented financing. We look forward to the alliance of SeaChange and the Contact Fund filling an important niche in the market."

More information is available at www.seachangecap.org, www.nymac.org, and www.contactfund.com

www.seachangecap.org
John MacIntosh
212.336.1512
[email protected]

www.contactfund.com
Mark Reed
212.209.3877
[email protected]

SOURCE SeaChange Capital Partners