MISSION ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENCY
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
San Francisco's Mission District has always been a supportive place for low-income and immigrant Latinos. It's now one of the most unaffordable neighborhoods in the country. In fact, 8,000 Latinos have been forced from their homes in the last decade---that's over 25 percent of this community. The active evictions of low-income households and rising housing prices has resulted in higher income households replacing lower income households in the neighborhood. MEDA is using 40+ years of experience to keep Latinos and working families in the Mission District and help them thrive. MEDA creates opportunity for habitually under resourced families throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. MEDA is also committed to maintaining the cultural identity and enhancing the resources of the Mission District, as we help every student achieve and every family succeed as the lead agency of the Mission Promise Neighborhood.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Housing Opportunities Program
Sustaining families through affordable housing and homeownership opportunities, MEDA’s Housing Opportunities program provides one-on-one coaching sessions and group workshop curriculum in English and Spanish. Homeowners also learn how to protect themselves from predatory lenders and coaches conduct loan document reviews. MEDA is a HUD-Approved Housing Counseling agency and a member of the local collaborative known as HomeownershipSF, which strongly advocates for affordable housing.
Business Development Program
Microenterprise development including workshops and one-on-one TA, access to capital. We also provide a retail business incubator and a technology training program for entrepreneurs. All services are bilingual English-Spanish.
Community Organizing & Policy Advocacy
Organizing through MEDA's membership program and policy advocacy for issue that are relevant to our constituency.
VITA Site Free Tax Prep
Free tax preparation for low and moderate income individuals
Financial Education
Financial education and counseling to help families build credit, reduce debt and increase savings in the pursuit of long term goals and asset building.
Community Real Estate
Since 2014, with the creation of our Community Real Estate (CRE) program, MEDA has made strides in stabilizing LMI Latino families, seniors and transitional age youth, by securing over 1,400 affordable housing units in our pipeline and 100,000 square feet of affordable commercial space for local small businesses and community-serving nonprofits, including preserving close to 200 units through our Small Sites program.
Community Loan Fund
In 2015 the organization launched Fondo Adelante, its own community lending arm. This microlending enterprise takes an equitable approach to the borrower-lender relationship, focusing on providing fair and affordable loan options for individuals who are often deemed high-risk by other financial institutions. Fondo Adelante received CDFI status in 2017 and provided over $5M in low-interest loans to small business owners in the last year alone.
Workforce Development
Provides job coaching, employment readiness, job placements, and retention support. The initiative includes three programs: Mission Digital, Mission Admins, and Mission Techies. All of these programs are serving San Francisco residents, specifically targeting Latinos and other community members of color. With Mission Digital focused on basic digital literacy, Mission Admins focused on intermediate digital literacy, and Mission Techies focused on advanced digital literacy and informational technology services, we are actively upskilling community members at all levels.
Young Adult Programs
Started in 2013, MPN is a cradle-to-career continuum of wraparound services to strengthen families and students. Based on the theory that economic stability for families will lead to improved outcomes in school, MPN’s two-generation approach serves families at nine K-12 schools, three early learning centers and 11 family child care providers — connecting families to services, supporting students and guardians in schools, and using Results-Based Accountability to define and measure outcomes. MPN used its infrastructure and community trust to respond quickly and comprehensively to the COVID-related needs of low-income neighborhood families. Families were connected to: food; housing assistance’ employment assistance; technology support; mental health resources, and financial support. This work was done in partnership with community agencies, and in alignment with city and school district priorities.
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
National Council of La Raza (NCLR) - Affiliate 2012
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of clients served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of clients placed in full time jobs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Workforce Development
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of low-income units in market-rate neighborhood
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Community Real Estate
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of clients who received free tax prep services
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
People of Latin American descent, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
VITA Site Free Tax Prep
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
We have built our strategic plan around 5 key results or conditions of well-being for the community we serve:
Result 1 - Families are financially thriving
Result 2- Families have affordable and stable housing
Result 3 - Children and youth succeed in school
Result 4: San Francisco's Latino residents are decisions-makers in the institutions and political systems that affect their lives
Result 5 - The Mission is a strong and supportive community for Latino residents, businesses and institutions.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
To achieve our mission, we revised our core values, which dictate how we behave on an ongoing basis: community-focused, collaborative, adaptive leadership, impact drive, and fairness and equity.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Adaptive leaders and collaboration with CBO's and City officials.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We are working on creating family economic success in a neighborhood experiencing rapid gentrification. While we are making inroads, there is still much work to be done, for which we are seeking funding.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
MISSION ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENCY
Board of directorsas of 01/22/2024
Rafael Yaquian
Goldfarb and Lipman LLP
Jabari Herbert
Managing Member, The Herbert Enterprises Group
Kevin Stein
Deputy Director, California Reinvestment Coalition
Whitney Jones
Director of Housing Development, Chinatown CDC
M. Teresa Garcia
Family Resource Center Program Associate, First 5 San Francisco
Rafael Yaquian-Illescas
Attorney, Goldfarb-Lipman
Ed Cabrera
Regional Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Region 9
Marco Chavarin
Vice President, Community Development at Citi
Ysabel Duron
Founder/President, Latino Cancer Institute
Rebecca Patino
Managing Director, First Republic Bank
Dr. Carina Marquez
Infectious diseases physician and researcher and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)
Teddy Gray King Vasquez
Synergy Public Affairs
Carolina Martinez
California Association for Micro Enterprise Opportunity
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 01/31/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.