In accordance with federal laws and U.S. Department of the Treasury policy, this organization is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. To file a complaint of discrimination, write to: U.S. Department of the Treasury, Director, Office of Civil Rights and Equal Employment Opportunity 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20220; or send an e-mail to: crcomplaints@treasury.gov.

We started by addressing one clear gap. We learned the gap was even bigger.

Freedom Equity was created in Central Ohio in response to a persistent reality: too many strong small businesses were being overlooked, underfunded, or offered financing on terms that made sustainable growth harder. Freedom Equity was launched by the Franklin County Business Growth and Equity Alliance—led by Franklin County, the Columbus Urban League, and One Columbus—with founding partners contributing capital, staff, and in-kind resources to build this work.

That history remains central to who we are. It taught us something broader as well.

Business owners can be excluded from affordable capital in many ways — because of where they are located, the size of financing they need, limited conventional banking relationships, inflexible underwriting, expensive existing debt, or financial products that simply do not fit the realities of the business.

As Freedom Equity has grown, so has our understanding of the role we can play.

We are still a community-based lender. But our work increasingly extends beyond making loans. We help business owners understand their options, strengthen their readiness, access practical support, and connect to other sources of capital and opportunity when those resources provide a better fit.

Freedom Equity has learned from four years of lending what capital access actually requires. We are evolving from being primarily a source of loans into a more complete source of responsible capital, practical support, and trusted connections.