San Jose – November 06, 2026 -- Accion Opportunity Fund (AOF) and Ripple won a Bronze Anthem Award for "Unlocking Opportunity Together," a campaign built on a partnership that has supported 1,568 loans and $104.2 million in funding to small businesses. The award falls in the Campaign (Non-Profit) category for Humanitarian Action & Services at the 6th Annual Anthem Awards.
Ripple's $15 million RLUSD donation is the largest from a fintech to a CDFI
The campaign grew out of the AOF-Ripple partnership, which began with Ripple's $15 million contribution to AOF, made in its RLUSD stablecoin. The companies describe it as the largest donation ever from a fintech to a community development financial institution (CDFI).
The partnership reports the following results:
- 1,568 loans
- $104.2 million in funding
- 3,943 jobs supported
- $208.4 million in economic output
- 67,868 learners engaged
Campaign spans six channels and features borrowers' own accounts
The integrated campaign runs across a dedicated partnership website, video, social, email, earned media and live events. It presents, in business owners' own words, the effect of affordable lending and the Ripple Digital Leap Forward Accelerator.
Shandra Turner, founder of The Bougie Grazer in Atlanta, said that before the program she was guessing at business decisions. She now uses analytics to decide when to pivot, a skill she credits to the accelerator. Other featured businesses include Sandwich Girl Cafe, TheraMotive, Bencasso, Apollo Office Systems and Southside Mobile Veterinary Services.
Elizabeth Ross-Ronchi, AOF's Chief Marketing, Product Strategy & Communications Officer, said the most effective way to show what access to capital enables is to "let small business owners tell it themselves."
Anthem Awards drew more than 2,500 submissions from 43 countries
The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences selects Anthem winners. The 6th Annual Anthem Awards drew more than 2,500 submissions from 43 countries, the organization's largest competition to date.
Judges include executives from Land O'Lakes, IBM, Yale School of Public Health, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the United Nations Development Programme. Other honorees in the same category include Doctors Without Borders, Habitat for Humanity International, World Food Program USA and Petco Love.