City First Bank’s story is one of enduring commitment to underinvested communities. Our founders in Washington, DC and Los Angeles were local leaders who saw a need in the community for a bank that addresses the lack of access to capital in historically excluded and underinvested communities. We’ve been a mission-driven financial institution since our founding—becoming Washington, DC’s first bank certified as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI).
In 1993, two-dozen community members gathered in a church basement to serve the underserved neighbors in DC, and opened the doors as City First Bank in November 1998 with Debbi Hurd Baptist of Freddie Mac as CEO, Lloyd Smith of the Marshall Heights Community Development Corporation as Chairman, and some $9.4 million in investments from public and private sources. City First became the first bank in the nation’s capital certified as a CDFI, in 1999.
Broadway Federal Savings and Loan opened its doors to its first customers on January 11, 1947, in LA. Founded by three African American entrepreneurs, H.A. Howard, a real estate broker and investor who served as the bank’s first manager; Dr. H. Claude Hudson, a dentist, lawyer and civil rights advocate; and Paul Revere Williams, the premier African American architect in the United States, Broadway Federal was established to provide access to homeownership for returning African American soldiers of World War II.
In 1998, Broadway received the Social Compact Award for its community development partnership with the Inglewood Neighborhood Housing Services. It was recognized again in 1999 when it was the recipient of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco’s Community Partnership Award.
In 2021, we joined forces with Broadway Federal Bank, a fellow CDFI based in Los Angeles, in a historic merger. Together, we formed one of the largest mission-driven banks in the country—united under the City First Bank name.
Our nearly 80-year legacy is built on the vision of community and business leaders who believed in channeling capital where it’s needed most. That vision began in 1947, when leaders in Los Angeles founded Broadway Federal Bank to support homeownership and economic opportunity for returning veterans. Nearly 50 years later, a group of changemakers in DC came together with the same goal—launching City First Bank to drive investment in low-income communities.
Today, we continue to build on that legacy—providing capital, financial services, and trusted partnership to fuel progress in underinvested urban neighborhoods. Our purpose is clear: to expand economic opportunity through community-centered banking.
Baptist was the founding president and CEO of the first community development bank in the nation’s capital. She served as one of City First’s organizing directors and shareholders.
The founding organizing director for City First Bank, Smith’s pioneering leadership in housing, community and economic development in the Washington Metropolitan area yields a long and storied list of accomplishments.
Dr. Hudson founded Broadway Federal Savings and Loan and served as Chair of the Board of Directors for 23 years. From Marksville, Louisiana, the son of a slave, he dedicated his life to civil rights advocacy.