Based in northeast Tennessee, Appalachian Opportunity Fund (AOF) seeks to foster financial health and community wealth in rural Central Appalachia. AOF is pursuing this mission by providing People-Centered Financial Coaching to low-income single mothers and others excluded from the financial mainstream. The Executive Director, a Vanderbilt Law alum, benefitted from Vanderbilt’s advisory resources when AOF was established in March 2019. With a small grant, AOF’s first priority is to build funds to pay for a new Financial Coach. Specifically, they would like to hire a person who is female and African American and have identified a candidate to fill the position. This will enable them to better serve the local African American community which, statistically, has a greater need for AOF services than the Caucasian community.
