New York, New York, December 13, 2022 –TruFund Financial Services (TruFund), is proud to announce and welcome, Monica Edwards to our Leadership Team as the Senior Vice President, Director of the Empowerment Reinvestment Fund, New Markets Tax Credit platform. As a member of the senior leadership team, Edwards will report directly to the Chief Executive Officer and will be responsible for overseeing our new markets tax credit platform and will play an integral part in the continued expansion and growth of our structured lending and investment platform
Edwards brings exceptional industry expertise, deep networks, and a passion to the role. Edwards joins the team from Community First Lending, a CDFI based in Richmond, California serving the San Francisco Bay area, with over 30 years’ experience in community development finance and structured lending to include private equity and real estate finance.
“I am both excited and honored to join an innovative and talented group of people. I believe the potential for growth are tremendous and I am confident we will continue to develop and execute strategy to drive consistent growth.” said Monica Edwards, Senior Vice President – Director of the Empowerment Reinvestment Fund at TruFund “Great things are happening at TruFund, and I look forward to leveraging my industry experience and partnering with the team to continue to build TruFund’s new markets tax credit platform.”
Ms. Edwards, serial entrepreneur, formed her own community development entity, which was awarded $20 million in New Markets Tax Credits (NMTCs) to co-invest with churches in South Los Angeles. Ms. Edwards also assisted National New Markets Fund with the management and deployment of their $25 million GO Zone NMTC allocation. Prior to that engagement, Ms. Edwards spent five years as a private equity fund-of-funds manager for Citigroup, where she directly invested over $100 million in urban real estate private equity funds and managed a $335 million portfolio of community-targeted investments.
Ms. Edwards received her master’s degree in Business Administration from Clark Atlanta University, with an emphasis in Finance. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Princeton University, and also completed University of Southern California's certificate program in Real Estate Development. She was also in the inaugural class of the Dr. Norman C. Francis Leadership Institute.
Her board commitments include Friends of the Urban Forest, Dudley Ventures (CDE), NewCorp Capital (CDFI), where she is Treasurer, and the Greater New Orleans Foundation, where she was chair of the Audit Committee for three years.
“We are excited to welcome Monica to the TruFund executive team. Her skills, experience and passion as an exceptional industry leader are a great match for our dynamic, diverse, and growing team. Monica is the right leader at the right time and her commitment to excellence makes her an ideal fit for TruFund.” said James H. Bason, President and CEO of TruFund Financial Services, Inc.
Edwards will start on January 2, 2023, and will be based out of San Francisco, California.