CSFD is a certified national CDFI established in 2018, with a national footprint and a Midwest specialization, that provides affordable facility solutions to high quality charter schools in underserved neighborhoods.
We believe that investment in education pays the best return.
To facilitate community development through assisting public charter schools to finance facilities located in low-income, economically distressed neighborhoods.
To provide high performing public charter schools with comprehensive facility solutions to open and operate in safe, affordable, and state of the art facilities.
Your investment will help send more underserved kids to college. To invest in education:
Please contact [email protected] for further information.
Murat Arabaci – Interim Chief Executive Officer
As Interim Chief Executive Officer, Murat oversees CSFD’s operations, lending, strategy, and development, guiding the organization through this leadership transition with continuity and deep institutional knowledge.
Murat played a foundational role in the creation of CSFD, helping develop the organization’s vision and supporting its formation as a strategic consultant. He later served as a member of CSFD’s Board of Directors, providing governance and strategic oversight.
He brings more than a decade of executive leadership and real estate development experience from New Plan Learning, where he served as CFO and later President from 2006 to 2018. He led turnkey real estate development projects — including site selection, feasibility analysis, loan closings, and property renovation and construction — and worked closely with commercial lenders, investors, bond underwriters, and rating agencies to secure project financing.
Murat is an Assistant Professor of Finance at Rogers State University and earned his Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
Andrew Baldwin – Chief Credit Officer/Chief Lending Officer
As Chief Credit/Lending Officer, Andrew manages CSFD’s lending initiatives and assists the CEO with strategic growth of the organization. Previously, Andrew served as Chief Lending and Credit Officer at Partners for the Common Good (PCG). In over six years at PCG, Andrew played a key role in significant expansion of their lending activities, including building their New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program and leading the development of an innovative off-balance sheet fund designed to expand capital access for the CDFI industry.
Prior to joining PCG, Andrew was Director of Loan Originations at Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH). Over an eleven year period at CSH, he played key roles in the growth of lending and NMTC investing, geographic expansion, as well as new product development. Prior experience includes work in housing development and finance in Los Angeles, economic development in Upstate New York, and management consulting at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Andrew is also a former U.S. Army Officer.
Andrew has a BA in Economics from George Washington University and a Master in Public Policy degree from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
Jamie Prijatel – Director of Programs
As Director of Programs, Jamie project manages CSFD’s new initiatives and projects across states with governmental offices, charter schools, charter management organizations, and other key partners. Jamie leads and collaborates with the team to identify and write federal, state, local, and private grant opportunities and works closely with the team to advance and meet fundraising goals.
Before joining CSFD, as a consultant Jamie worked with client teams and partners to project manage and write state charter school start-up grant applications, private facilities lending applications, and private foundation grant applications generating private grants and loan awards of approximately $3,360,000M. In addition, Jamie acted as Interim Senior Loan Officer at a CDFI and underwrote three facility loans for two high-performing CMOs, one in Los Angeles and the other in the Bay area in the span of six months.
Prior to consulting, Jamie held various roles at the New York City Department of Education, including the roles of charter school Authorizer and Associate Director of New School Development. Jamie has experience working with various school model designs across the country, such as Career and Technical Education, Montessori K-12 education, agri-focused/PBL high school, blended learning, credit recovery, English Learner common language, and dual language (Spanish and English), diverse by design, and special education. Jamie has worked across the following states: Louisiana, New York, California, Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, Illinois, Texas, Arizona, and South Carolina.
Jamie has a BA in Psychology from Boston University and a Master in Public Policy and Administration degree from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs.
