ISRF provides long-term, fixed-rate facility loans to nonprofit private schools — the schools universal scholarship programs depend on, but capital markets have left behind.
ISRF offers long-term, fixed-rate loans to qualifying nonprofit private schools in Florida. We exist because your school's financial health should not be limited by the cost of borrowing.
Learn About School LoansISRF is a direct structural replication of the Equitable School Revolving Fund. Program capital is deployed as school loans, bonded out by Capital Trust Authority, and recycled into the next cohort of schools.
Explore the Investment CaseISRF applies proven municipal bond mechanics to a market that has never had access to them.
Grants and PRIs flow into the ISRF Revolving Fund, LLC — a bankruptcy-remote Delaware entity — as the first-loss reserve layer.
ISRF lends directly to qualifying nonprofit private schools. Each loan is underwritten against five credit categories with institutional discipline.
Capital Trust Authority issues tax-exempt bonds backed by the loan pool, dollar-for-dollar. Bond proceeds replenish the Revolving Fund.
As schools repay their loans, capital cycles back into the fund. The same philanthropic dollar enables successive rounds of school lending.
The revolving cycle is what creates impact at scale. A $50M philanthropic commitment funds $50M in inaugural school loans. Capital Trust Authority bonds those loans out. The Revolving Fund is replenished. It lends to the next cohort. Over successive cycles, the same dollars enable multiples of their face value in total school lending.
This is not a speculative model. It is the identical structure used by the Equitable School Revolving Fund, which has deployed nearly $2 billion in loans to over 200 charter school campuses with zero defaults since 2017. ISRF applies that structure — unchanged — to nonprofit private schools.
Walton Family Foundation seeded the Equitable School Revolving Fund with $200M in 2017. ESRF now has 17 philanthropic funders, an investment-grade rating, and a track record that speaks for itself. ISRF was designed from the ground up to replicate that outcome for nonprofit private schools — a sector ESRF does not serve and nobody else has organized to serve at scale.
Nonprofit private schools — including faith-based schools — serve hundreds of thousands of scholarship students across Florida. But when it comes to facility capital, they are on their own. Bank loans with short amortization, high rates, and covenant structures designed for commercial borrowers.
ISRF exists to change that. We offer long-term, fixed-rate loans at below-market rates, structured to reflect what your school actually is: a stable, mission-driven institution with state-backed revenue and a community that depends on it.
ISRF is seeking $51.6M in combined philanthropic capitalization to launch the inaugural bond series and fund the organization to self-sufficiency. This is a first-mover opportunity in a market that ESRF proved can work — applied to a sector ESRF does not serve.
Deployed as school loans and bonded out dollar-for-dollar. Capital is recycled as loans repay — it does not sit, and it is not consumed. PRI-eligible for mission-aligned foundations.
Funds ISRF, Inc. from formation through organizational self-sufficiency, projected at Year 4-5. No staff hired until the inaugural bond closes — lean pre-launch by design.
As the fund matures and AUM grows through successive bond cycles, program capital investors receive a pro-rated return. The fund is designed to scale, not to wind down.
"Walton's $200M seed to ESRF was not charity. It was market-building. This is that moment for nonprofit private schools."
Public charter schools have the Equitable School Revolving Fund. School districts have the bond market. Nonprofit private schools — including thousands of faith-based schools serving scholarship students in Florida and across the country — have neither.
ISRF was founded to close that gap. We are a nonprofit social impact fund organized under Florida law, built on the same structural foundation as ESRF, and focused on a sector that universal scholarship programs have transformed but capital markets have not yet caught up to.
Our commitment is simple: make it easier and less expensive for nonprofit private schools to build, buy, and own the facilities their students deserve.
Our underwriting mirrors ESRF verbatim. We hold ourselves and our partner schools to the same standard that achieved zero defaults across $2 billion in lending.
Every loan we make puts more money in a classroom and less in a lender's pocket. That is not incidental to our work. It is the entire point.
We are not reinventing anything. We are applying a proven model to an underserved market. We say so plainly, and we mean it.
Co-founded 50/50. Governed equally. Every decision at ISRF reflects the conviction that the best outcomes come from balanced leadership.
ISRF was co-founded by two professionals with complementary expertise — one in municipal bond issuance, one in school finance underwriting — who share a conviction that nonprofit private schools deserve better capital.
Executive Director of Capital Trust Authority, a Florida conduit bond issuer. 10 years in municipal bond finance. $5.8B+ in tax-exempt bond issuance across Capital Trust Agency and Capital Trust Authority. B.S. Finance, Florida State University; MBA, University of West Florida.
Partner, First Tryon Advisors. Extensive credit underwriting background in nonprofit and education lending. Credit Committee Chair with final underwriting authority. National network across independent and faith-based school sectors.
Whether you lead a school exploring facility financing options or a foundation considering a program-related investment, we want to hear from you. ISRF is in formation — early conversations shape what we build.