Report Title:	Intermediary Profile Report
Report Date:

Organization:	Corporation for Enterprise Development	Program ID Number: I-18
Date Profile Created:	April 26, 2006	Date Profile Last Updated: April 26, 2006

Program Summary:
The Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED), established in 1979 with significant support from foundations and other funders, works to ensure that every person can participate in, contribute to, and benefit from the economy by bringing together community practice, public policy, and private markets. It identifies promising ideas, tests and refines them as demonstration projects in communities to find out what works, crafts policies and products to help good ideas reach scale, provides technical assistance to help with implementation, and fosters new markets to achieve greater economic impact. It focuses on state and local asset-building policy and statewide microenterprise support organizations.

Partnering with both funders and other intermediaries on various initiatives, CFED has done an increasing amount of regranting in recent years with dollars provided by national and local foundations and corporations. Investment committees of experts in the field provide input on the selection of grantees.

Three of CFED's primary areas of work in expanding economic opportunity for low income individuals and communities are (1) asset building, (2) entrepreneurship, and (3) economic development policy. It works closely with community practitioners to identify effective ideas and practices, share them widely on a national level, influence public policy to achieve greater scale, and increasingly engage private sector and private markets to deliver products and services. Its core competencies include the ability to (1) research and identify effective practices, (2) share these practices one-on-one and through technical assistance and training sessions, (3) train the trainers, (4) engage in regranting for product and service delivery innovation and other purposes; and (5) structure and facilitate strategic convenings.

Accessible publications such as effective practice bulletins are available on CFED's web site and in hard copy. In early 2006 seven different initiatives involved capacity-building activities, and each included an online community, structured peer networking conversations, and the delivery of technical assistance. A "train the trainers" initiative under a contract with the CDFI Fund involves creating a group of professionals around the country who are skilled in Native American Individual Development Account work. CFED developed the curriculum with two Native American organizations. Participants apply, receive training, get certified in their ability to serve as trainers, and then do the training in their tribe or region.

Comprehensive evaluations have been conducted on national demonstration projects, and evaluation is done of trainings, convenings, and other aspects of CFED's work. Varied methods are used, with external evaluators involved in the larger demonstration efforts, and internal evaluation conducted for smaller programs.