Movers & Shakers: Accion Opportunity Fund, Mark Nichols & DeeDee McIntyre

June 11, 2026

Bob Coleman
Founder & Publisher

Movers & Shakers: Accion Opportunity Fund, Mark Nichols & DeeDee McIntyre

Accion Opportunity Fund Welcomes Four Leaders in Impact Investing, Fintech and Community Development to Board of Directors

“We are honored to welcome Miljana, Raúl, Stephen and Vikas to our Board,” says Luz Urrutia, President and CEO of Accion Opportunity Fund. “Each brings valuable experience and perspective that will strengthen AOF as we continue to grow our reach, scale our impact, and support small business owners with the capital and resources they need to succeed.”

Accion Opportunity Fund (AOF), a leading national nonprofit lender and advocate for underserved US small businesses, announced the appointment of Miljana Vujosevic, Raúl Lomelí-Azoubel, Stephen Glaude and Vikas Raj to its Board of Directors. As members of AOF’s Board of Directors, they will support AOF’s mission to serve as a tech-enabled lender, educator, and advocate for small businesses nationwide.

Miljana Vujosevic brings extensive experience in impact investing and private credit. She is a Partner at Maycomb Capital, an impact private credit firm committed to expanding economic opportunity for all. She previously spent nearly a decade at Prudential Financial, where she helped build a $1 billion impact investment portfolio across private asset classes and impact thematics.

Raúl Lomelí-Azoubel brings decades of leadership centered on expanding economic opportunity through technology and community engagement. He is the Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Community Officer of Welcome Tech, a venture-backed mobile platform designed to help low-income and immigrant communities access trusted information, services and tools. Born to Mexican migrant farm workers, he has held leadership roles across the private, public and nonprofit sectors, including serving as Vice President at Wells Fargo and President of the Latino Education Achievement Project.

Stephen “Steve” Glaude brings a robust background of economic and community development experience across the government, private and nonprofit sectors. He currently serves as the President & CEO of The Coalition (formerly CNHED), a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing economic development solutions in Washington, D.C. A native Washingtonian, he has held numerous roles within the federal and local D.C. government, most recently as the Director of Community Affairs where he oversaw 13 agencies for the Executive Office of the Mayor.

Vikas Raj brings deep expertise in fintech and venture capital investing focused on strengthening household and small business financial resilience. He is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of ResilienceVC, which invests in early-stage fintech startups building responsible financial tools for low-income and financially vulnerable Americans. He previously served as Managing Director at Accion Venture Lab, where he led global investment work and helped scale 50 technology-enabled financial services companies.

Mark Nichols Joins U.S. Bank as Vice President and SBA BDO

Mark Nichols is a seasoned commercial finance professional with more than 20 years of experience helping small and mid-sized businesses access capital for growth, acquisitions, and expansion. During the past decade, he has focused primarily on SBA lending, building expertise in SBA 7(a) and 504 loan programs and becoming a recognized financing resource for business brokers, entrepreneurs, and acquisition-minded buyers.

Based in the Greater Tampa Bay area, Nichols specializes in financing business acquisitions, partner buyouts, owner-occupied commercial real estate purchases, franchise startups, equipment purchases, working capital needs, and ground-up construction projects. He has worked extensively with Business Brokers of Florida (BBF), IBBA members, and other referral partners nationwide, helping structure transactions that align with both SBA guidelines and borrower objectives.

Prior to joining U.S. Bank as Vice President and SBA Business Development Officer, Nichols served in SBA lending roles with F.N.B. Corporation and American Momentum Bank. He also founded Flexible Capital Solutions, a consulting firm that assisted clients with SBA, USDA, New Markets Tax Credit, and other commercial financing programs. Throughout his career, he has developed a reputation for taking a consultative, relationship-driven approach, investing time to understand each client’s goals before structuring practical financing solutions.

DeeDee McIntyre Named Director of Government Guaranteed Lending at First Peoples Bank

DeeDee McIntyre, MBA, is a government-guaranteed lending professional who has joined First Peoples Bank as Director of Government Guaranteed Lending and Senior Vice President, where she is focused on building and growing the bank’s government-guaranteed lending program.

McIntyre has spent more than two decades in commercial and government-guaranteed lending, most recently serving as Senior Vice President of Government Guaranteed Lending at Renasant Bank from 2004 to 2026. Her background includes leadership and business development roles with Embassy National Bank, Signature Bank of Georgia, and Touchmark National Bank, where she worked with SBA Preferred Lender and USDA Business & Industry lending programs.

Based in the Greater Columbus, Georgia area, McIntyre is known for her focus on expanding access to capital for small businesses and supporting economic development through SBA and USDA financing. Her work has included business expansion loans, equipment financing, community facilities lending, and other government-backed lending solutions designed to help businesses start, grow, and expand.

In addition to her banking career, McIntyre serves as a board member of the Georgia Lenders Quality Circle and has been an adjunct professor at Clayton State University. She holds an MBA in Business and Supply Chain Management from Clayton State University and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from Piedmont University.