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Company Boosts Financial Support and Volunteerism for Nonprofit Lender

Citi Cards New Mexico has broadened its support of ACCION New Mexico, increasing its charitable giving to the nonprofit small business lender and providing staff resources to deepen ACCION’s ability to provide financial literacy services.

Citi Cards and the Citigroup New Mexico Leadership Council recently presented ACCION New Mexico with a $50,000 gift to support the community development organization’s efforts to promote financial literacy. Citi Cards is also donating the time of selected employees to help support ACCION projects. Top performers from Citi’s Albuquerque call center are currently providing training for ACCION portfolio quality staff. Citi has also donated employee time to conduct phone surveys of ACCION clients as part of two survey projects. The projects are part of ACCION’s work with FIELD, the Aspen Institute’s Microenterprise Fund for Innovation, Effectiveness, Learning and Dissemination.

The financial contribution doubles Citi’s giving to ACCION over last year. In 2005, the company contributed $25,000 to ACCION. Citi Cards New Mexico President Lonnie C. Talbert said his company has decided to expand the partnership with ACCION New Mexico because of the organization’s responsible stewardship and mission-driven performance.

“At Citi, our passion is to engage the community where our employees live and work,” he said. “It is important to our employees, our customers and our mission to make an impact on financial education in our community. ACCION’s outstanding programs allow us an opportunity to touch the lives of many entrepreneurial New Mexicans.”

ACCION New Mexico offers individualized technical assistance as part of the loan application process, using the application as a hands-on training opportunity to teach prospective clients the importance of budgeting, cash flow analysis, credit reporting and other elements of financial literacy.

“The small business loans we extend across the state are vital tools we use to empower emerging entrepreneurs by building their financial capacity and deepening their financial literacy,” said Lynn Trojahn, ACCION New Mexico’s vice president of advancement. “Citi has been an outstanding partner in these efforts, and the company’s generous support is making a lasting difference for us and the hardworking people we serve.”

Contact:
Leslie Hoffman, ACCION communications director
(505) 243-8844 ext. 238
(505) 270-0285 cell