First Solar, Inc. has invested $11 million in efforts to revitalize American communities and bridge racial gaps in health, wealth, and opportunity. As part of the initiative, the company has purchased $10 million in Impact Notes from the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and made a $1 million Transformational Deposit in the HOPE Credit Union.

“LISC and Hope Credit Union are doing a tremendous job at addressing inequality and, as America’s solar company, we’re proud to be supporting their mission. By working with companies like ours to reallocate cash holdings, they’re creating capital for underserved communities and powering sustainable and inclusive economic change,” said Mark Widmar, CEO, First Solar.

LISC is a national non-profit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that was conceived by the Ford Foundation in 1979. The Impact Notes are fixed-income debt securities issued by LISC, which help fund community and economic development projects across 36 cities and 2,100 rural counties in 45 states.

First Solar’s Transformational Deposit in Mississipi-based HOPE Credit Union will support its work to provide business, mortgage, and consumer loans, and other financial services to Black communities across the South. HOPE works to import capital through Transformational Deposits into underbanked communities where poverty has constrained the amount of savings and other assets. First Solar’s $1 million investment provides the capital required for HOPE to finance small businesses, housing, healthcare, and other vital needs, such as helping communities navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.

“First Solar’s Transformational Deposit in Hope Credit Union will fuel life-changing opportunities for some of America’s most vulnerable people and places,” said Bill Bynum, chief executive officer, HOPE. “Investing in institutions owned by people of color and women is a proven way to advance our nation’s collective prosperity.”