Truist Foundation awarded a $3.5 million grant to PeopleFund, a Texas-based community development financial institution (CDFI) and nonprofit 501(c)(3) that strives to create economic opportunity and financial stability for underserved people by providing access to capital, education and other resources to build healthy small businesses.

Truist Foundation’s grant provides long-term sustainability for PeopleFund’s Black, Indigenous, Person of Color (BIPOC) Small Business Accelerator, a program that provides business owners the capital, resources, and network to start and grow their businesses and attain economic mobility. The accelerator was piloted in 2021 with a $100,000 grant from Truist Foundation and a $3 million low-interest loan from Truist Community Capital. These seed investments acted as catalysts for additional support.

These Texas-based grants are a part of Truist and Truist Foundation’s $120 million joint commitment to strengthening and supporting small businesses nationwide, with a focus on Black-, Latine- and women-owned businesses. By generating greater equity for small business owners, PeopleFund can continue to create jobs, economic opportunity and generational wealth in communities across Texas where these small businesses operate.

“PeopleFund’s BIPOC Small Business Accelerator could not have been possible without the leading support of Truist. This program boldly brought together institutions and individuals across Texas and beyond to lift barriers that impede underserved people of color attain financial freedom through entrepreneurship,” says PeopleFund President and CEO Gustavo Lasala. “We are deeply grateful and proud of Truist’s partnership. This grant will help this program scale and continue making a positive difference in underserved communities for years to come.”

Truist’s purpose of inspiring and building better communities in the Houston area and the state is further exemplified by two additional community grants announced today. Truist Foundation contributed $500,000 to SERJobs and, together with Truist Charitable Fund and Truist’s Community Reinvestment Act department, donated $500,000 to Junior Achievement. These grants will fund programs that allow the organizations to strengthen small businesses and build career pathways to economic mobility through education, training, employment and empowerment services for underserved communities in Texas.