The National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB) is a nonprofit organization consisting of over 200 nonprofit members in 46 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico dedicated to providing financial opportunities to Hispanic Americans. ¹ NALCAB is a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and also engages in activism through lawsuits against regulatory agencies and endorsements of federal legislation. ²

History

The National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders was founded in 2002. In 2003, NALCAB held its first national conference. ²

In 2018, NALCAB became certified by the U.S. Department of the Treasury as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), a designation that permits an organization to provide financial services to low-income communities with special regulations. ²

As of 2023, NALCAB has over 40 staff and more than 200 members across the United States and Puerto Rico. ²

Activities

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Lawsuits

In October 2020, the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders filed a lawsuit against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for a rule change that revoked a 2017 rule requiring “lenders to reasonably assess a borrower’s ability to repay the loan on its terms and barred lenders from attempting to withdraw from a borrower’s account after two such attempts had failed due to lack of sufficient funds.” NALCAB claimed that the CFPB’s rule change was “arbitrary and capricious and did not observe rulemaking requirements.” ³

In May 2019, NALCAB, the California Reinvestment Coalition, and two small businesses filed a lawsuit against the CFPB alleging the regulatory agency had failed to institute new regulations to enact Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which requires financial institutions to collect and report data in connection with credit applications made by women- or racial minority-owned businesses. In March 2020, the CFPB entered into negotiations with the plaintiffs to settle the lawsuit by instituting new regulatory guidelines for compliance with Section 1071. ⁴

Legislative Support

In March 2025, U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Representative Ralph Norman (R-SC) proposed bills to remove medical debt from credit reports. NALCAB endorsed the bill on its announcement. ⁵

In July 2021, U.S. Representative Steven Horsford (D-NV) introduced the End Double Taxation of Successful Consumer Claims Act, which would end liability for taxes and attorneys’ fees for individuals who win consumer protection lawsuits. NALCAB, along with other nonprofits including the National Consumers League and US PIRG, identified themselves as supporters of the bill in Rep. Horsford’s announcement. ⁶

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

In 2014, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development appointed NALCAB to analyze the City of Honolulu’s Block Grant program administration. ⁷

Capital One

In 2024, Capital One pledged to extend $286 billion in loans to low-income American communities. The design of the plan was developed in partnership with the NALCAB, NeighborWorks America, the Opportunity Finance Network, and the Woodstock Institute. ⁸

Funding

In 2023, the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders reported revenue of $9,765,064, spent $9,060,888, and ended the year with $18,305,695 in assets. ⁹

In 2023, NALCAB received a grant from the Truist Foundation worth $1.2 million. ¹⁰ Also in 2023, NALCAB received a grant from Wells Fargo worth $1 million. ¹¹

In 2022, NALCAB received a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation worth $4 million. ¹² Also in 2022, NALCAB was a beneficiary of Bank of America’s $25 million pledge to support nonprofits helping to develop racial and ethnic minority communities. ¹³

From 2022 to 2025, NALCAB received two grants from the MacArthur Foundation worth a total of $700,000. ¹⁰

Leadership

As of 2025, Marla Bilonick was the president and CEO of the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders, a position she has held since April 2021. In 2021, Bilock was appointed chair of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund Community Development Advisory Board. She also serves in an advisory capacity to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Previously, Bilonick worked in numerous roles at the Latino Economic Development Center from 2012 to 2021, finishing her time as executive director. ^{14 15}

1. ^[1] “National Association for Latino Community Asset Buil.” MacArthur Foundation. Accessed August 8, 2025. https://www.macfound.org/grantee/national-association-for-latino-community-asset-builders-41594/
2. “About Us.” NALCAB. Accessed August 8, 2025. https://nalcab.org/about-us/.
3.  Golart, Justin; Lacy, Michael E. “CFPB Moves to Dismiss Lawsuit But Supports Plaintiff on the Merits.” April 2, 2021. Accessed August 8, 2025. https://www.consumerfinancialserviceslawmonitor.com/2021/04/cfpb-moves-to-dismiss-lawsuit-but-supports-plaintiff-on-the-merits/.
4. Kaplinsky, Alan S. “CFPB and plaintiffs enter into settlement of lawsuit alleging wrongful delay in Section 1071 implementation.” Ballard Spahr LLP. March 2, 2020. Accessed August 8, 2025. https://www.consumerfinancemonitor.com/2020/03/02/cfpb-and-plaintiffs-enter-into-settlement-of-lawsuit-alleging-wrongful-delay-in-section-1071-implementation/.
5. “Congress Wants Medical Debt on Credit Reports To Keep Hurting Americans.” National Consumer Law Center. March 12, 2025. Accessed August 8, 2025. https://www.nclc.org/congress-wants-medical-debt-on-credit-reports-to-keep-hurting-americans/.
6. “Congressman Horsford Introduces Bill to Protect Nevadans from Unfair Double Taxation of Consumer Settlements.” Congressman Steven Horsford. July 19, 2021. Accessed August 8, 2025. https://horsford.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-horsford-introduces-bill-to-protect-nevadans-from-unfair-double-taxation-of-consumer-settlements.
7. Hofschneider, Anita. “Honolulu May Have To Pay $16M For Misuse Of Housing Grants.” Honolulu Civil Beat. September 20, 2016. Accessed August 8, 2025. https://www.civilbeat.org/2016/09/honolulu-may-have-to-pay-16m-for-misuse-of-housing-grants/.
8. “Capital One Commits $286bn to Underserved Communities.” Banking Exchange. July 22, 2024. Accessed August 8, 2025. https://www.bankingexchange.com/news-feed/item/10047-capital-one-commits-286bn-to-underserved-communities#:~:text=Capital%20One%20has%20launched%20a,was%20first%20announced%20in%20February
9. “National Association For Latino Community Asset Builders.” Form 990.” ProPublica. Accessed August 8, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/200774672
10. “National Association for Latino Community Asset Buil.” MacArthur Foundation. Accessed August 8, 2025. https://www.macfound.org/grantee/national-association-for-latino-community-asset-builders-41594/.
11. “NALCAB Awarded $1M From Wells Fargo To Support Financial Wellness and Asset Building in Latino and Immigrant Communities.” 3 BLMedia. October 19, 2023. Accessed August 8, 2025. https://www.3blmedia.com/news/nalcab-awarded-1m-wells-fargo-support-financial-wellness-and-asset-building-latino-and.
12. “Investing in Latino Communities.” Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. December 22, 2022. Accessed August 8, 2025. https://www.rwjf.org/en/insights/our-research/2022/12/investing-in-latino-communities.html.
13. Bernal, Rafael. “Bank of America to fund Black, Latino low-income financial institutions.” The Hill. September 8, 2022. Accessed August 8, 2025. https://thehill.com/latino/3634189-bank-of-america-to-fund-black-latino-low-income-financial-institutions/.
14. “Marla Bilonick.” LinkedIn. Accessed August 8, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/marla-bilonick-49a8a54/.
15. “Marla Bilonick.” NALCAB. Accessed August 8, 2025. https://nalcab.org/team_member/marla-bilonick/.