ABOUT US


Bridging Virginia aims to increase inclusive economic opportunities by supporting organizations with flexible solutions, affordable capital, and technical assistance.

Bridging Virginia was formed in 2020 as a volunteer effort to support Black, women, minority-owned small businesses which had been disproportionately hurt by the economic impact of COVID-19. Soon after starting, the team recognized a more permanent need for access to affordable capital and services for small businesses in historically marginalized communities. In 2021, the nonprofit was formed to bring patient and risk-tolerant capital tools to the community.

VISION

We envision communities where everyone can freely and easily access capital, build wealth, and grow their economic opportunities.


MISSION

To close the gap of access to capital for historically marginalized small business owners and places. We do this with a supportive, collaborative approach that delivers the right tools - affordable capital and technical assistance - at the right time.

BOARD

  • Harrison Roday founded Bridging Virginia in 2020 and currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors. He is passionate about leveling the playing field for access to capital. He also serves as Chair for Foodshed Capital, a mission-aligned CDFI focused on agricultural microlending.

    Most recently, Harrison was a Partner at American Industrial Partners, a group focused on investing in American companies in the industrial economy. He resides in Richmond, Virginia.

Marland Buckner | Board Secretary
  • Marland Buckner serves as Co-Founder and Principal of MB2 Solutions LLC, an impact development firm with offices in Washington D.C. and Richmond Va. Prior to Co-Founding MB2 Buckner was Director of Federal Government Affairs for Microsoft Corporation in Washington, DC. Prior to Microsoft, Buckner served as Legislative Assistant to Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) as well as Senior Policy Advisor and Chief of Staff to then-Congressman Harold Ford Jr. (D-TN -09). Buckner has also served as a policy analyst at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and the Progressive Policy Institute. Buckner earned his B.A. in political science and history, his M.A. in U.S. history from the University of Saskatchewan, and completed his Ph.D. examinations in American Studies at the College of William and Mary. He also holds a certificate in Business Administration from Georgetown University. Buckner serves on the boards of the Richmond chapter of Communities in Schools, the Valentine, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Bridging Virginia, and the Reinvestment Fund, one of the nation’s largest Community Development Finance Institutions.

  • Leesa joined Bankers Insurance from Markel Corporation where she served as Associate Director of Finance. She is an alumna of The College of William and Mary, where she received both her Master of Accounting and Bachelor of Business Administration (Finance). Outside of work, she serves on the board of directors for Children’s Home Society of Virginia, Foodshed Capital, and Bridging Virginia.

  • As Regional Vice President of the Southern Region of NeighborWorks, Dr. Christie Cade and her staff provide an array of resources to lenders, developers, and community development partners in both urban and rural communities in 13 states throughout the Southern U.S. She is responsible for ensuring technical assistance and funding support for leadership development of staff, boards of directors, and local residents in the revitalization of their communities.

    Dr. Cade has more than 30 years of progressive leadership experience in the arenas of real estate development, financing, mortgage lending, corporate strategies and growth, business development and financial management, board governance, and leading high-performance teams. She currently serves on the Cadence Bank Community Capital Advisory Board, Georgia Advancing Communities Together Board of Directors, the Atlanta Nonprofit Collaborative, HouseATL Advisory Committee, Transformation Alliance Advisory Committee, Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition, and the Greater New Orleans Equitable Development Funders Roundtable. Dr. Cade holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Finance and a PhD. in Organizational Development and Leadership. She has also obtained several certifications in nonprofit leadership, real estate development and finance.

  • Matthew Ho has been in the Small Business and Commercial & Industrial (C&I) banking industry for nearly 10 years. He currently works as a Commercial Relationship Manager for First Community Bank serving the Richmond metropolitan area.

    Matthew is a Virginia native, born and raised in Centreville, he attended Virginia Tech, where he earned his B.A. degree in GIS and B.S. degree in Finance. While living in the New River Valley, Matthew joined a nonprofit economic development organization between 2014-2016 based out of Christiansburg, VA and soon after started working for a Virginia based CDFI in 2015. Matthew moved to Richmond, VA in 2016 as a Small Business Lender for the CDFI with a focus on nonprofit organizations, municipal lending, government guaranteed lending. He has intentionally worked with small and middle-sized financial institutions throughout his career as he wants his focus to be on fostering strong community relationships.

    Matthew helped lead TEDxRVA from 2017-2018 and was a mentor for AMP! Metro Richmond between 2017-2018. In his spare time, Matthew enjoys traveling and cooking.

  • Following retirement from an extensive career in public legal service for both state government (as Chief Deputy Attorney General in the administration of former Attorney General Mark Herring) and local government (as former Hampton City Attorney), Cynthia Hudson now performs legal and government affairs services as owner of Eppes-Hudson Law, PLLC. She also provides mediation and ombuds services as a member of The McCammon Group. This work follows her successful tenure in the government practice group of Sands Anderson PC.

    Cynthia’s experience, leadership and civic engagement have been recognized in several ways, including her induction as a Fellow of the Virginia Law Foundation (2015); receipt of the Oliver Hill Civil Rights Leader award from the Richmond Chapter of the NAACP (2018), and recognition in Virginia Lawyers Weekly's first Class of Influential Women of Law (2019). As a dedicated public servant, Hudson was also appointed by former Governor Ralph Northam to Chair the Governor's Commission to Examine Racial Inequity in the Law and by former Governor Terry McAuliffe as Co-Chair of his Commission on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She is also an appointee to the Board of Visitors of the College of William & Mary.

    Cynthia has served as well on the governing boards of a number of nonprofit organizations including the Virginia Law Foundation, the Virginia Bar Association, the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Hampton Roads, Peninsula Metropolitan YMCA, Transitions Family Violence Services, and Riverside Behavioral Health Center. Hudson received her undergraduate degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, and her law degree from the College of William & Mary.

  • Leah Fremouw is a familiar face in the economic development community and has a rich background stemming from multiple sectors. She currently serves as Bridging Virginia’s President & CEO - a newly established community development loan fund. In this role, she partners with businesses, nonprofits, and localities in a variety of industries and growth stages to support their capital needs and movement to the next level. In 2020, she led the relaunch of the Richmond region’s small business development center (SBDC) and in 2021 helped secure $10 million from the General Assembly to establish and fund the new VA CDFI Fund. Additionally, Leah helped found and chairs the newly formed VA CDFI Coalition, a nonprofit established to be the voice for the CDFI industry in Virginia.

    Prior to leading Bridging Virginia, Leah spent six years as SVP and Director of Community Innovation at Virginia Community Capital, a community development financial institution (CDFI) that provides loans and advisory services to communities in all regions of the Commonwealth. She led talent management and cultural initiatives for CarLotz, a fast-growing Richmond business, served as an organizational development consultant with the Performance Management Group at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), and for three years worked in the Richmond’s public housing communities. 

    Leah’s commitment to her community brings her out of the office and into initiatives moving the greater region and state forward. She sits on the board of the ChamberRVA, and is a member of Virginia Tech’s Center of Economic and Community Engagement Advisory Board. Leah launched a nationally known podcast, Renegade Capital in 2021, helped lead TEDxRVA from 2012-2017, and served as Chair for Impact 100 Richmond from 2014-2016, where she supported strategies to raise large grant funds for local nonprofits. Leah earned her Bachelor and Master degrees at VCU, where she was twice recognized as an L. Douglas Wilder Graduate Scholar (2008-2010). In 2019, Leah was a recipient of the VCU Top 10 Under 10 award and was appointed by Governor Ralph Northam to the state-wide Growth and Opportunity Virginia (GO Virginia) Board. She was reappointed to the GO Virginia board in 2021 and will serve four more years.

  • Phil joined Capital One’s Small Business Bank in early 2019 where he currently leads fraud strategy and analysis; credit strategy, analysis, and operations; and data science, strategy, and risk management. Phil is the Small Business Bank Senior Credit Officer (SCO) and Divisional Data Risk Officer (DDRO). From 2017 to 2019, Phil led Capital One’s first Enterprise External Fraud Risk Management function which included identifying, assessing, and driving mitigation of enterprise external fraud risks across and within all of Capital One’s lines of business.

    From 2013 to 2017, Phil led Fraud Risk Management for Capital One’s US Card business where he was responsible for protecting customers from fraudulent activity by designing, implementing, and monitoring fraud defenses across the portfolio. Prior to 2017, Phil held various roles at Capital One in Customer Acquisitions and Operations including Product Development for Capital One’s upmarket US Consumer Card business.

    Prior to joining Capital One, Phil led operations strategy and analysis for FedEx and also worked as a consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers and IBM. Phil received his undergraduate degree in Economics from William and Mary and his MBA from Wharton. Phil is married and has 19-year-old boy-girl twins. Outside of work, Phil enjoys playing music, cooking, and running

TEAM

  • Abdulahi is an Economics major at the University of Richmond with a concentration in Finance and Data Analytics. Abdulahi has been on the universities’ Dean’s List since freshman year. He is also a member of Omicron Delta Kappa and Phi Eta Sigma Honor Societies.He has job experience in both for-profit and non-profit organizations. Since January 2023 he has been working at MBL as a finance intern and mentor. In the summer of 2023 Abdulahi interned at Amref Health Africa as a finance intern. He has previously completed a rotational internship at Horra Real Estate in the Marketing, Finance, and Administration departments.

    Abdulahi is interested in the financial services industry especially about investment banking. Consequently, to enhance his knowledge, he has been attending Business/Banking Bootcamps and Training the Street Workshops. He has passed the Excel competency Exam at the University of Richmond and has also received the Bloomberg Market Concepts certification.

  • Leah Fremouw is a familiar face in the economic development community and has a rich background stemming from multiple sectors. She currently serves as Bridging Virginia’s President & CEO - a newly established community development loan fund. In this role, she partners with businesses, nonprofits, and localities in a variety of industries and growth stages to support their capital needs and movement to the next level. In 2020, she led the relaunch of the Richmond region’s small business development center (SBDC) and in 2021 helped secure $10 million from the General Assembly to establish and fund the new VA CDFI Fund. Additionally, Leah helped found and chairs the newly formed VA CDFI Coalition, a nonprofit established to be the voice for the CDFI industry in Virginia.

    Prior to leading Bridging Virginia, Leah spent six years as SVP and Director of Community Innovation at Virginia Community Capital, a community development financial institution (CDFI) that provides loans and advisory services to communities in all regions of the Commonwealth. She led talent management and cultural initiatives for CarLotz, a fast-growing Richmond business, served as an organizational development consultant with the Performance Management Group at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), and for three years worked in the Richmond’s public housing communities. 

    Leah’s commitment to her community brings her out of the office and into initiatives moving the greater region and state forward. She sits on the board of the ChamberRVA, and is a member of Virginia Tech’s Center of Economic and Community Engagement Advisory Board. Leah launched a nationally known podcast, Renegade Capital in 2021, helped lead TEDxRVA from 2012-2017, and served as Chair for Impact 100 Richmond from 2014-2016, where she supported strategies to raise large grant funds for local nonprofits. Leah earned her Bachelor and Master degrees at VCU, where she was twice recognized as an L. Douglas Wilder Graduate Scholar (2008-2010). In 2019, Leah was a recipient of the VCU Top 10 Under 10 award and was appointed by Governor Ralph Northam to the state-wide Growth and Opportunity Virginia (GO Virginia) Board. She was reappointed to the GO Virginia board in 2021 and will serve four more years.

  • Melody Joy Short has a long history of uplifting small businesses and entrepreneurs across Virginia and beyond. As Director of Business and Community Engagement, Melody leverages her expertise in business and brand development to support Bridging Virginia’s clients and partners.

    Melody jump-started her career in the Urban Marketing Department of Sony Music Distribution. Her career in the music industry afforded her the opportunity to establish relationships with small business owners in the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and Southwest markets. This proved pivotal to Melody’s career, because it’s where she developed a passion for supporting small business owners. As an entrepreneur and co-founder of the Richmond Night Market, she puts her passion into practice, supporting small business owners and independent artists with public relations, marketing, business development, and more.

    Melody is the Co-Founder of The JWC Foundation and served as the former Director of Marketing & Communications at the Metropolitan Business League. She is also the former Director of Marketing and Business Development for the largest collection of Black-owned Inns in the United States, Akwaaba Bed & Breakfast Inns and was featured as part of the cast of their television show, on the OWN Network, Checked Inn. Melody proudly serves on the board of the Afrikana Independent Film Festival, The Valentine Museum, ChamberRVA and CultureWorks. She is also a graduate of Morgan State University’s Earl Graves School of Business.

    Melody balances all this while managing her most important role of all—mother to 15-year old Nia Abiose.

  • Narily Alvarez is a dedicated marketing professional and a recent graduate from Virginia Commonwealth University. Leveraging her bilingual proficiency and strong communication skills, Narily is passionate about assisting companies in reaching diverse audiences. During Her time at VCU, she conducted extensive market research initiatives for the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, resulting in the cultivation of a broader and more diverse audience. Additionally, she devised strategies that significantly boosted business profits for Foley’s Café through advertisement tactics and supply chain management.

    Prior to joining Bridging Virginia, Narily worked at VCU Housing, managing social media platforms and organizing engaging events to enhance resident engagement and community building. Passionate about mentorship and community involvement, Narily also served as a You First Mentor at VCU Residence Life, providing guidance and mentorship to first-generation college students in academic, personal, financial, and career-related matters

  • Elizabeth brings nearly a decade of experience as a social impact professional and academic to help organizations connect people, increase engagement, and inspire action. Elizabeth works with Bridging Virginia as a consultant regarding partner outreach and impact reporting. Previously she worked as Chief of Staff at Adasina Social Capital and as Senior Program Officer at Confluence Philanthropy.

    Elizabeth is also the Founder of Narratur Studio, a consulting firm that works with organizations who seek to improve and expand their impact storytelling across a variety of mediums. Having worked across impact investing, philanthropy, and the non-profit sectors, she is passionate about creating content that resonates across audiences. Elizabeth received an MA in Folklore from the University of California, Berkeley and a BA in Anthropology from Trinity University. Originally from Louisiana and Texas, she currently lives and works in Sacramento, CA.

  • Rufus E. Tyler joined the MBL team as our Capital Access Manager for the Richmond and Tri-cities area of Virginia in November of 2024. Rufus comes to the team after working his most previous years in Wealth Management for Scott and Stringfellow, Truist Wealth Management as Jr. Associate Advisor, and Virginia Credit Union as Business Banker. 

    Rufus collegiately attended Southside Virginia Community College, Virginia State University, and Harvard Business School where he pursued his (AAS) Degree in Business Management, (B.A) Business Management, and certificate in management and leadership (CSML).

    In his spare time, he enjoys serving his community as part of the Chamber of Commerce of Prince George County Virginia, playing piano for my church, and most of all spending family time with Kenzie, Karter, and Rasheva.  Rufus favorite quote is " Everyday is a gift that's why its called the present".

  • For more than 15 years Chris Cain has been on the front lines helping people open businesses by educating them on business planning, helping navigate the business loan process, and creating a living, breathing entrepreneur ecosystem. Her experience running nonprofits and building rich ecosystems, driven by economic development, makes her uniquely qualified to raise the profile of any organization she works for and increase its impact. She knows firsthand how the power of community development can improve the lives of our neighbors. She sees education, support, and access to capital come together to help people become self-sufficient, while also giving them a sense of place and ownership side-by-side with those they care about most. Chris is delighted to be the Director of Capital Access here at Bridging Virginia. 

    She is currently serving on the Board of Directors for the Virginia CDFI Coalition, Friends of the Richmond Public Library and Forward Cities. Chris is committed to social justice and has a mission to inspire people to take action through storytelling and by painting a vivid picture of how we can all be better together.

  • Michelle Jones has over 10 years of experience in the banking industry with a concentration in operations and compliance. Originally from New Jersey, Michelle moved to Virginia 6 years ago and worked for a CDFI lender and bank in critical roles to help guide the strategic plan. Michelle is currently enrolled in the Rutgers University’s BA Program and her role at Bridging Virginia as the Director of Operations is to help guide the organization to establish and uphold its responsibility to support small business owners and communities.

  • The Olea Group provides underwriting services to CDFIs across the U.S., and has been Bridging Virginia’s underwriter since our founding in 2022. Outsourcing our underwriting to The Olea Group makes sure that each loan application we receive is analyzed objectively, quickly, and according to our unique risk appetite. As a missional underwriter with decades of experience, The Olea Group is an important partner in helping us build communities where everyone can thrive.