As the Principal of Aquaria Funding Solutions, Roberto Barragan is responsible for formulating
Community Reinvestment Act solutions for financial institutions, raising small business loan capital and grant support for Community Development Financial Institutions and originating and funding small business loans to women and minority owned small businesses in low and moderate income communities nationally.
He has assembled a team of experienced of CDFI professionals, that over the past 20 years raised over $100 million from banks, government and foundations, built one of the largest small business CDFI in the country and lent $300 million to small businesses.
Mr. Barragan was the President of Valley Economic Development Center (VEDC) for the last 17 years. He managed the largest small business development non-profit organization in Los Angeles, managing a $11 million budget with 80 employees in 8 offices in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York City, Miami and Chicago. His team served over 3,000 businesses yearly with financing, training and direct business assistance. Roberto led VEDC to build $70 million in assets with a small business loan portfolio of $35 million.
He led VEDC to national prominence as a highly regarded Community Development Financial Institution originating $25 million annually in small business loans. His staff lent almost $100 million to women and minority business owners in the last 10 years, and launched numerous community and business programs including Business Opportunity Funds in Chicago and New York, the Pacoima Development Federal Credit Union, the National African American Small Business Loan Fund, the Women’s Small Business Risk Mitigation program, and the National Micro Finance Fund among many others. Roberto and his team expanded its portfolio composed of community-based loan funds in Los Angeles, Chicago, Las Vegas, Reno, Salt Lake City, Miami and the New York Tri-State area. Over the last 21 years, Roberto has helped hundreds of thousands of businesses to succeed. His commitment to diverse communities is evidenced by the $13 million lent to the African American communities and $35 million lent to Latino business in the last 10 years.
Mr. Barragan is also the founder and President of the San Fernando Valley Financial Development Corporation, a SBA 504 lender headquartered in Los Angeles County. In 2005, he founded the Pacoima Development Federal Credit Union by raising $2 million in deposits, $500,000 in capital and securing a charter from the National Credit Union Association
He has over 30 years experience managing non-profit organizations, including the last twenty involved in community economic development, technical assistance to for-profit and non-profit entities and financial resource development. Mr. Barragan is a nationally recognized expert on loan funds and microlending, and is a regular lecturer and media expert on these subjects.
Mr Barragan has a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University and studied Marketing and Real Estate financing at the University of California, Berkeley, Hass School of Business Administration.
Mr. Barragan just ended a 12 year tenure on the Board of Directors of California United Bank serving on its Audit, Loan, ALCO, Compensation and Governance, and Executive Committee. He was part of a leadership team that grew the bank from startup to $3 billion before selling this year at almost 3 times book value.
Mr Barragan has served on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors Community Advisory Council for the last 2 years and will serve as its Chairperson in 2018.
Keith Rogers
Keith Rogers has worked closely with small businesses in Pasadena and surrounding San Gabriel Valley cities since 1995.
As former Executive Director of Pasadena Development Corporation (PDC), he was the administrator for PDC’s lending programs and technical assistance services. The City of Pasadena provided CDBG resources for a viable “High Risk” micro-lending program to startups and existing businesses looking for capital infusion.
Mr. Rogers established partnerships with major banking and financial institutions, raised millions for lending programs and provided economic development solutions for over 1200 businesses in the Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley cities. His team lead business and marketing plan assistance, credit counseling and business matchmaking services. Programs were developed to educate business owners on access to capital, economic updates and business growth strategies over the years. Hundreds of entrepreneurs participated and received over 2 million in funding.
Formerly, Senior Business Development Officer with Valley Economic Development Corporation, one of California’s largest non-profit small business lenders; Mr. Rogers is a Senior Consultant within the SBDC network and Owner of KAR Enterprises, an independent consulting firm for businesses denied capital from Banks.
Mr. Rogers is a graduate of University of Phoenix with B.S. in Business Management and has licenses/certifications in lending, insurance and emergency management mitigation.
NILIMA KAPOOR
Nilima Kapoor has over 20 years of experience in providing technical assistance to small businesses.
Ms. Kapoor’s knowledge ranges from assisting start-up businesses to growing them. She is skilled in handling loan workout, portfolio management, and compliance and monitoring of special assets portfolio. Ms. Kapoor has expertise at assessing and analyzing issues with problem loans and developing strategies to work toward resolution. Currently, Ms. Kapoor serves as consultant to the Pacoima Development FCU and Prestamos CDFI, LLC.
Prior to her consulting work, Ms. Kapoor worked at the Valley Economic Development Center, Inc. (“VEDC”) for 17 years. At VEDC, Ms. Kapoor served in multiple capacities with her final position being the Director of Special Assets & Risk Management. During her tenure at VEDC, Ms. Kapoor consulted with business owners and taught workshops at various Small Business Development Centers, Women Business Center and Los Angeles Business Source Centers.
Ms. Kapoor graduated from Loma Linda University, La Sierra Campus with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. Ms. Kapoor earned a Master of Business Administration from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California and studied abroad at the Otto Beisheim School of Management in Germany and the University of Melbourne in Australia. Post graduation, Ms. Kapoor was selected to serve as a MBA Enterprise Corps (now Pyxera Global) volunteer in Bulgaria training and advising entrepreneurs on marketing, accessing capital and accounting, and monitoring existing portfolio for USAID.
An active voice among banking and credit institutions, Ms. Kapoor served on the Supervisory Committee of the Pacoima Development Federal Credit Union. Ms. Kapoor headed the VEDC sponsored IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program for over 10 years. Ms. Kapoor has experience representing agencies at public forums, on panels, to the local media, at Blue Ribbon Commission, and her dedication to the community was recognized by various entities.