The Woodstock Institute is a Chicago-based research and advocacy organization that promotes left-of-center financial industry regulatory policies in Illinois and at the federal level. ¹ Its primary focus is to push regulators to require banks, credit card companies, and other financial services firms to do business with riskier prospective consumers.  ¹

Woodstock frequently negotiates “community benefits agreements” with banks and other financial institutions that are required to do so by regulators as a precondition for mergers, acquisitions or other transitions. ^{2  3} As a result, a significant portion of Woodstock’s funding comes from larger banks and financial institutions, which in turn make up a significant percentage of its board of directors. ⁴

History and Leadership

The Woodstock Institute was founded in 1978, taking its name from its original hometown of Woodstock, Illinois. ¹ It was created by temporary staffing company Manpower, Inc. founder Aaron Scheinfeld and his wife Sylvia, who took their inspiration from the Aspen Institute. ^{5  6}

In the 1980s, Woodstock Institute scholars coined the term “Community Development Financial Institution” (CDFI), which became the accepted term for local-level lenders in low-income communities. ⁷

As of 2025, the president and CEO of Woodstock was Horacio “Fred” Mendez, a financial industry professional who previously held community relations-focused roles at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Rabobank, and SVB Financial Group, as well as at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. ⁸ Mendez was also a senior fellow at the Aspen Institute from 2003 to 2008, where his financial industry research was funded by the U.S. Department of Treasury, Fannie Mae Foundation, F.B. Heron Foundation, and MacArthur Foundation.  ⁸

Seven of the Woodstock Institute’s 15 board members as of 2025 were employees of banks or other financial industry institutions, and another was a retired financial industry executive. ⁴

Advocacy

Community Reinvestment Act

One of Woodstock Institute’s favorite advocacy tools is the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA), a federal law that requires banks and other financial institutions to “meet the credit needs” of low-income communities. ^{9  10} The Woodstock Institute regularly engages with federal regulators at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and other agencies to promote more aggressive and expansive use of CRA requirements against banks and other financial institutions. ^{11  12}

Woodstock was also a strong supporter of the Illinois Community Reinvestment Act of 2021, a state-level version of the federal CRA. ¹⁰ In 2023, the Illinois Bankers Association expressed formal concern to state regulators that a number of the state’s CRA regulations inefficiently duplicated existing federal regulations, such as requiring banks to collect and report data that they already reported to federal CRA regulators and was already available to their state counterparts. ¹³

Cryptocurrency

Woodstock is opposed to what it contends is insufficient federal oversight of cryptocurrency, and claimed in 2025 that “the Trump Administration has clearly established themselves as an ally of the crypto industry.” ¹²

Opposition to Payday Loans

Woodstock Institute has advocated strongly against alternative non-bank financial services such as short-term “payday lending” loans, characterizing them as predatory and abusive. ¹⁴

These loans are also strongly opposed for competitive reasons by the kinds of financial institutions that are represented on Woodstock’s board of directors and published list of funders. ⁴

Woodstock was a major supporter of the Illinois Predatory Loan Prevention Act of 2021, which artificially capped short-term loan interest rates at 36 percent APR. ¹⁵ According to a 2015 analysis of payday loan policy published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, such a cap functions “as an outright ban.” ¹⁶ The authors also noted that the research into payday loans’ effects on consumers was not as universally negative as opponents such as Woodstock portrayed it to be, pointing to studies finding that such loans offered potential benefits such as reduced foreclosures, decreased bounced checks, and increased on-time bill payments.  ¹⁶

Community Benefits Agreements

The Woodstock Institute frequently negotiates “community benefits agreements” with banks and other financial institutions that are required to do so by regulators as a precondition for mergers, acquisitions or other transitions. ^{2  3}In fact, it and its partners were the first nonprofit organizations to negotiate such an agreement with First National Bank of Chicago in 1983. ⁶

For example, Capital One’s acquisition of Discover included what the lender described as a five-year, $265 billion community benefits plan of “lending, investment, and philanthropy” where the Woodstock Institute was one of four organizations to develop and lend its approval to the plan. ¹⁷ Woodstock president and CEO Horacio Mendez said that Capital One agreed “to collaborate on advocacy issues and policies that reflect our common interests” with Woodstock as part of the agreement.  ¹⁷

However, an analysis of a non-final version of that plan by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition identified less than $5 billion in what it described as “new value” from the agreement, as opposed to more than $260 billion that it contended would have been spent whether or not the acquisition took place. ¹⁸

Lobbying Expenditures

The Woodstock Institute engages in lobbying activities. Its IRS annual reports detailed spending $77,452 on lobbying in 2023, $229,814 in 2022, and $218,824 in 2021. ¹⁹

Opposition to 2025 Immigration Information Request

In June 2025, the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee requested information from more than 200 nonprofit organizations that had received federal funding as part of its investigation into whether federal grants to these organizations had ended up encouraging or enabling illegal immigration. ²⁰

The Woodstock Institute was one of more than 600 organizations to sign a letter opposing the House committee’s request for information, labeling it as Congress “using unchecked power to chill constitutionally protected activity.” ²¹

Funding

The Woodstock Institute has received significant funding from banks and other financial industry stakeholders, often through community benefits agreements those institutions have reached with state or local governments.  ¹ It also receives donations from private donors, including charitable foundations.

Its disclosed list of funders includes the Aspen Institute, Associated Bank, Big Cat Foundation, BMO, Byline Bank, Capital One, Chicago Community Loan Fund, Chicago Community Trust, Chime, CIBC, Citi, DailyPay, Inc., EarnIn, Evergreen Bank Group, Field Foundation of Illinois, Fifth Third Bank, First Mid Bank & Trust, Grand Victoria Foundation, Huntington Bank, JPMorgan Chase, MacArthur Foundation, Marquette Bank, Mastercard, Midland States Bank, Northern Trust, Old National Bank, Old Second National Bank, Oportun, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, PNC Bank, Polk Brothers Foundation, Providence Bank & Trust, Self-Help Credit Union, US Bank, Wintrust, Woods Fund of Chicago, and Zillow. ¹

1. “About.” Woodstock Institute. Accessed November 24, 2025. https://woodstockinst.org/about/.
2. Mayo, Richard. “Community Organizations Celebrate Huntington Bancshares’ $16 Billion Community Development Plan.” Woodstock Institute, May 20, 2016. https://woodstockinst.org/press-release/community-organizations-celebrate-huntington-bancshares-16-billion-community-development-plan/.
3. Severson, Jenna. “Fifth Third Commits Additional $2 Billion to Benefit Underserved Chicago Communities.” Woodstock Institute, October 30, 2018. https://woodstockinst.org/press-release/fifth-third-commits-additional-2-billion-benefit-underserved-chicago-communities/.
4. “Board and Staff.” Woodstock Institute. Accessed November 24, 2025. https://woodstockinst.org/board-and-staff/.
5. “City Activist Sylvia Scheinfeld, 87.” Chicago Tribune, August 10, 2021. https://www.chicagotribune.com/1990/02/18/city-activist-sylvia-scheinfeld-87/.
6. “History.” Woodstock Institute, 2023. https://woodstockinst.org/history/.
7. “Home: Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.” U.S. Department of the Treasury. Accessed November 24, 2025. https://www.cdfifund.gov/.
8. Mendez, Horacio. “Horacio ‘Fred’ Mendez.” LinkedIn. Accessed November 24, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/horaciofredmendez/.
9. “Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).” Federal Reserve Board – Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Accessed November 24, 2025. https://www.federalreserve.gov/consumerscommunities/cra_about.htm.
10. “Community Reinvestment Act.” Woodstock Institute. Accessed November 24, 2025. https://woodstockinst.org/community-reinvestment-act/.
11. “Woodstock Institute, Horacio Mendez – Rin 3064-ZA39.” Federal Register, October 21, 2025. https://www.fdic.gov/federal-register-publications/woodstock-institute-horacio-mendez-rin-3064-za39.pdf.
12. Mayo, Robert. “Second Comment Letter on Acquisition of Burling Bank by Levelfield Financial.” Woodstock Institute, March 14, 2025. https://woodstockinst.org/financial-institutions/second-comment-letter-on-acquisition-of-burling-bank-by-levelfield-financial/.
13. Settanni, Carolyn. “IDFPR Notice of Proposed Rules Bank Community Reinvestment 46 Ill. Reg. 19794.” Illinois Bankers Association, December 16, 2022. https://gotoiba.com/uploads/pdf/Illinois_Bankers_Association_-_Proposed_Illinois_CRA_Rules_Comment_Letter.pdf.
14. Adams, Brent. “Borrowers Beware! With Stimulus Payments Coming, Don’t Let Payday Loan Grinch Steal Holiday.” Woodstock Institute, December 23, 2020. https://woodstockinst.org/predatory-lending/borrowers-beware-holiday/.
15. “One Year Later: A Virtual Briefing on the Predatory Loan Prevention Act.” New America, March 23, 2022. https://www.newamerica.org/chicago/blog/virtual-briefing-on-the-predatory-loan-prevention-act/.
16. DeYoung, Robert, Ronald J. Mann, Donald P. Morgan, and Michael R. Strain. “Reframing the Debate about Payday Lending.” Federal Reserve Bank of New York, October 19, 2015. https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2015/10/reframing-the-debate-about-payday-lending/#.ViVIMH6rTct.
17. “Capital One Announces Five-Year, $265 Billion Community Benefits Plan in Connection with Discover Acquisition to Advance Economic Opportunity and Financial Well-Being.” Capital One Financial Corp. Accessed November 24, 2025. https://investor.capitalone.com/news-releases/news-release-details/capital-one-announces-five-year-265-billion-community-benefits/.
18. Hill, Kevin. “Analysis: Capital One-Discover ‘Community Benefits Plan’ Contains Less than $5 Billion in New Value ” NCRC.” National Community Reinvestment Coalition, August 11, 2024. https://ncrc.org/analysis-capital-one-discover-community-benefits-plan-contains-less-than-5-billion-in-new-value/.
19. “Woodstock Institute.” ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, January 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/362907408.
20. Christenson, Josh. “Exclusive: House Panel Demands Records of More than 200 Ngos That Nabbed Billions of Taxpayer Dollars to ‘fuel’ Border Crisis.” New York Post, June 11, 2025. https://nypost.com/2025/06/10/us-news/house-panel-demands-records-of-over-200-ngos-that-nabbed-billions-of-taxpayer-dollars-to-fuel-border-crisis/.
21. “Letter from NGOs.” House Committee on Homeland Security, July 16, 2025. https://democrats-homeland.house.gov/imo/media/doc/letter_from_ngos.pdf.