Celebrate progress, explore new research, and help fuel our mission this holiday season.
No images? Click here
DECEMBER 2025 NEWSLETTER
A Note from Our President & CEO
As we close out 2025, I want to thank you for being a part of the Prosperity Now community and reflect on the momentum we’ve built together.
This year, we worked alongside partners across the country to strengthen the systems that support families and communities. From advancing practitioner-led research and expanding small business support, to testing new tools and sharing lessons from the field, our focus remained consistent: learning what works and helping strong ideas travel further.
Looking ahead to 2026, we will continue deepening collaboration, piloting new approaches, and sharing insights that help partners adapt to changing conditions and emerging needs. Thank you for being a part of this work and for the role you play in shaping what comes next.
— Marisa Calderon
What We’re Learning About Emerging Financial Tools
Earlier this month, Prosperity Now, in partnership with Blockchain Foundation and Intersect Public Affairs, convened a research briefing to preview early findings from our national study on how CDFIs, MDIs, and other small financial institutions are evaluating decentralized finance (DeFi) tools.
The discussion highlighted a growing gap between how consumers are already engaging with digital financial tools and how institutions are working to assess the questions, risks, and possibilities this creates for their daily work. As Prosperity Now President and CEO Marisa Calderon noted, “Consumers are stepping into unfamiliar digital finance spaces before institutions have the information they need. That dynamic alone underscores why structured education and clear frameworks matter.”
Supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the full report will be released publicly in January.
Prosperity Now is working with Families and Workers Fund and Pacific Coast Ventures to strengthen how small and medium-sized businesses support workers while remaining competitive and sustainable.
This work focuses on practical, employer-informed approaches to job quality, including steady hours, predictable pay, and opportunities for growth. With support from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, partners are translating research into tools that business advisors and employers can actually use.
At the 2025 Prosperity Summit, practitioners explored these ideas through Advancing Job Quality Labs, sharing what works, what doesn’t, and where advisors can make the biggest difference.
Spotlight: 2025 Rise Challenge Finalists
Behind every Rise Challenge finalist is a story rooted in community, lived experience, and a commitment to building better pathways forward.
At the 2025 Prosperity Summit, Prosperity Now recognized Keepingly, Network Navigator, and Parlay Finance for their work supporting families and entrepreneurs. From advancing household financial resilience, to expanding access to business knowledge, to helping families navigate economic challenges, these leaders are designing solutions that show how entrepreneurial leadership can reshape opportunity and broaden what financial resilience looks like for families nationwide.
📣ICYMI
Small Business Lending Data and Section 1071
Prosperity Now recently submitted a comment letter in response to proposed revisions to the small business lending data collection rule under Section 1071 rule of the Dodd-Frank Act. The letter highlighted the importance of transparent, consistent data to better understand small business lending markets and inform how practitioners, researchers, and institutions assess access to credit.
This input reflects Prosperity Now’s ongoing work to bring field-informed insights and data analysis into conversations about how systems operate in practice.
A Season of Giving
As the year comes to a close, we’re reflecting on what it takes to sustain this work. Research, tools, practitioner networks, and shared learning do not happen on their own.
Support from individuals and partners allows Prosperity Now to test new ideas, share what works, and strengthen the systems that communities rely on. If this work resonates with you, we invite you to support it as we head into the
new year.
