Cross River Partners with African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey to Grow Economic Empowerment in Underserved Communities

Launches new partnership and grant program that will help AACCNJ with its Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) efforts

New platform will inject capital to drive accelerated growth for African American owned businesses as part of a series of initiatives in honor of Black History Month

Cross River Bank (“Cross River”), a technology driven infrastructure provider that offers embedded financial solutions, today announced a new partnership with the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey (AACCNJ) that will inject new capital, financial literacy education opportunities and critical business resources to underserved businesses and consumers, leveraging Cross River’s technology-focused approach. Core to Cross River’s mission is empowering small and minority owned businesses by expanding access to capital and innovative financial resources, furthering economic inclusion.

As part of the partnership in honor of Black History Month, Cross River has provided the AACCNJ with a grant of $220,000 to help further the AACCNJ’s role in economically empowering and sustaining African American communities with free enterprise activity and direct outreach programs within the state. It will also help fund the Chamber of Commerce’s efforts to become a Community Development Financial Institution to serve more consumers and further compliment the New Jersey ecosystem. The partnership seeks to invest in the New Jersey African American community by not only providing more access to capital, but also support leveraging Cross River’s technological expertise.

“Cross River was founded with the goal of breaking down barriers to create access to safe and affordable financial services,” said Phil Goldfeder, SVP Global Public Affairs at Cross River. “We are proud to launch this partnership with our friends at the AACCNJ as part of our longstanding commitment to find ways to provide individuals and communities with the resources they need.”

“Our partnership with Cross River will further leverage our capacity by providing pre-CDFI resources, for loan capital and much needed technical assistance to support the African American business community,” said John E. Harmon Sr., IOM, Founder, President and CEO, AACCNJ. “In addition, we look forward to leveraging the technological expertise Cross River brings to the partnership as well.”

The partnership with AACCNJ is just one of the many ways Cross River provides essential access to capital for minority and women-owned entrepreneurs and businesses. Cross River recently announced its expanded partnership with The Memorial Foundation, sponsoring the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Social Justice Fellowship Program for 50 distinguished Fellows who are leading change in their communities. Most recently, Cross River CEO and Founder Gilles Gade was honored with the Foundation’s King Legacy Award for Economic Empowerment. In honor of Black History Month, on Thursday, February 10^th, Cross River hosted an exclusive roundtable with leaders in fintech and crypto who are accelerating economic empowerment and equity in financial services. Moderated by Harry Johnson, President and CEO of MLK Foundation, panelists included NYS Assemblyman Clyde Vanel, Yana Miles, General Counsel and SVP of the American Fintech Council, Kyle Williams, Public Policy Manager at Coinbase, and Lindsey Holmes, CEO of Financially Stronger.

About Cross River

Cross River provides technology infrastructure powering the future of financial services. Leveraging a proprietary real-time banking core, Cross River delivers innovative and scalable embedded payments, cards, lending, and crypto solutions to millions of consumers and businesses. Cross River is backed by leading investors and serves the world’s most essential fintech and technology companies. Together with its partners, Cross River is reshaping global finance and financial inclusion. Member FDIC. Find out more at www.crossriver.com.

About African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey

The AACCNJ performs an essential role in the economic viability of New Jersey. While providing a platform for New Jersey’s African American business leaders to speak with a collective voice, the AACCNJ advocates and promotes economic diversity fostering a climate of business growth through major initiatives centering on education and public policy. The Chamber serves as a proactive advocacy group with a 501(c) 3 tax exemption, which is shared by the National Black Chamber of Commerce. Visit the Chamber at www.aaccnj.com.

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