Level Field Facilities Fund Launches National Fund to Expand Equitable, Early-Stage School Facilities Financing
Level Field Facilities Fund (LFFF) today announced the launch of the LFFF National Fund, an innovative loan program designed as a dedicated source of flexible early-stage capital at scale for charter school facilities development. The $50MM National Fund is capitalized by five partners—J.P. Morgan, Enterprise Community Loan Fund, Nonprofit Finance Fund, Reinvestment Fund, and the Walton Family Foundation—and serves as the early-stage entry point in a broader facilities financing continuum, preparing schools to access construction and long-term capital.
The fund supports acquisition, predevelopment and leasehold improvements, and provides starter construction capital to support early-stage expansion, chronically underserved segments of the charter school financing landscape.
The LFFF National Fund builds on the experience of LFFF’s pilot fund, which deployed more than $19MM of critical project loans to high-quality charter schools, leveraging $110MM in total debt and demonstrating strong demand for early-stage facilities financing.
“The pilot fund showed both the scale of demand and the importance of getting early-stage facilities capital right,” said Shelly Cleary, President of Level Field Facilities Fund. “The National Fund builds on that experience by bringing greater scale and consistency to a part of the market that shapes schools’ long-term financial outcomes. The decision by our partners to scale this work reflects confidence in the model and in the role early-stage capital can play for schools, and we’re grateful for that.”
The pilot fund was supported by early investments from Reinvestment Fund, the Walton Family Foundation, and Nonprofit Finance Fund. With the fund fully deployed, LFFF launched the National Fund to expand this model and meet continued demand across more schools and markets.
“The pilot fund demonstrated the value of early-stage facilities capital, particularly for small and emerging charter schools,” said Nguyen Huynh, Strategic Program Advisor at the Walton Family Foundation. “Continuing that investment helps more schools move forward while bringing other lenders to the table.”
In addition to increasing access to capital, the National Fund is designed to strengthen an underserved segment of the charter school facilities market by supporting responsible borrowing and enabling schools to unlock larger-scale financing. By pairing early-stage capital with credit discipline, the fund helps preserve affordability as projects advance to construction and long-term financing, reducing risk for schools and the broader market.
“We’re proud to help create a practical bridge between school needs and institutional capital at a stage where that connection rarely exists, opening new doors for schools to thrive and expand,” said Jacky Cheng, Vice President of Community Development Banking at J.P. Morgan. “This fund empowers charter schools to focus on growth and excellence from the very beginning, building a strong foundation for long-term success.”
The five capital partners worked collaboratively to bring the fund to market, the Walton Family Foundation providing catalytic capital, J.P. Morgan serving as lead lender, Reinvestment Fund collaborating on the fund’s design, Enterprise Community Loan Fund providing structural leadership, and Nonprofit Finance Fund contributing flexibility and scale. Broadstreet Impact Services is also supporting the fund with a $1MM operational grant to help cover closing and ongoing costs.
“This fund brings focus and coordination to a part of the market that has historically been fragmented, helping early-stage capital work better for schools,” said Elise Balboni, EVP, Head of Lending and New Markets Investments at Enterprise Community Loan Fund.
As capital market shifts create new challenges for charter schools, LFFF’s National Fund offers a stable, mission-aligned source of early-stage financing. The fund is designed to be both selective and catalytic—serving strong schools while demonstrating that early-stage facilities lending can be scaled responsibly.
“Early-stage capital can be a real barrier for schools that are otherwise well positioned to succeed,” said Khaliff Davis, Managing Director of Fund Management at Reinvestment Fund. “This fund helps lower that barrier so schools can focus on students rather than piecing together early financing.”
Reducing that early barrier also helps projects move more effectively through the broader facilities financing pipeline.
“By strengthening the early-stage pipeline, this fund helps ensure that strong schools can access the facilities financing they need to grow responsibly,” said David Streim, Vice President at Nonprofit Finance Fund.
Fund outcomes will be measured through metrics that reflect student reach, financial leverage, and borrower experience, ensuring the fund remains responsive to both schools and capital partners. Learn more about the LFFF National Fund.
About Level Field Facilities Fund
LFFF is an innovative real estate fund established and managed in part by Level Field Partners to address critical financing gaps for scaling charter schools. LFFF provides early-stage, flexible loans to high-quality charter schools to enable and preserve project and financing options for their critical facilities projects. LFFF closed its initial LFFF pilot fund in 2021 with $14.5MM, and committed the full amount of the pilot fund within less than two years. Learn more at levelfieldfacilitiesfund.org.
