Blue Oak Advisory

Blue Oak Advisory provides operational expertise and asset management capacity for the community development sector. We help mission-driven organizations strengthen their operations and manage their loan portfolios, enabling them to focus on serving communities.

Services

SERVICES

Asset Management & Portfolio Monitoring

We provide direct asset management capacity and portfolio oversight for CDFI loan portfolios across sectors including affordable housing, child care centers, charter schools, health clinics, healthy foods, and other community facilities—spanning various loan products within complex structures that may include participations, co-lending, New Market Tax Credits, Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, and other public subsidies. Our services include:Hands-On Loan Monitoring
• Credit reviews and loan risk rating
• Modification underwriting
• Construction draw review and administration
• Borrower correspondence and relationship management
• Financial analysis and covenant monitoring
• Site visitsPortfolio-Level Credit Risk Assessment• Portfolio risk assessment and trend analysis
• Credit policy review and recommendationsWe tailor our approach to fit your needs—from ongoing capacity for your asset management team to targeted support navigating current market conditions.

Lending Operations & Process Optimization

We strengthen how community development organizations deploy capital and serve communities. Working at the intersection of people, processes, and technology, our services include:• Developing and updating credit policies and procedures
• Documenting workflows and solving process challenges
• Creating operational templates and guides
• Advising on staffing strategy and workload management
• Optimizing technology platformsWhether you're a CDFI managing complex loan portfolios or a community development organization deploying grants, programs, and technical assistance, we help you work more efficiently so you can focus on mission delivery.

MEET THE PRINCIPAL

Celeste Griffin Krishna, Founder and Principal Consultant

Celeste brings nearly 15 years of community development finance experience specializing in asset management, lending operations, and organizational infrastructure. Most recently, she served as Director of Asset Management and Loan Administration at Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF), where she led asset management and loan administration for a nearly $1 billion portfolio of on- and off-balance sheet loans, managing teams that provided credit monitoring, portfolio and construction disbursement administration, and loan closing support.At LIIF, Celeste oversaw the management of a complex loan portfolio of affordable housing, charter schools, child care centers, health clinics, and other community facilities—spanning predevelopment, acquisition, construction, permanent, and bridge financing products, including New Market Tax Credit and Low-Income Housing Tax Credit structures. She built operational infrastructure to support significant portfolio growth and increasing product complexity by developing credit policies and procedures, project managing Form Loan Document development, designing operational templates, and optimizing technology platforms.Her expertise includes direct asset management (credit reviews, modification underwriting, construction draw administration, covenant monitoring), portfolio-level risk assessment, compliance and reporting management (including credit audit and S&P credit rating processes), and process optimization across lending operations. She has deep experience in project management, staffing strategy, cross-functional collaboration, and building the tools and systems that enable mission-driven lenders to operate efficiently.Prior to LIIF, Celeste served as Closing and Portfolio Manager at Grow America (formerly National Development Council), where she managed an SBA 7(a) small business loan portfolio, closing over $40 million in financing.Celeste holds a Master of Science in Community and Regional Planning from the University of Texas at Austin and completed the Economic Development Finance Professional Certification from the National Development Council. Outside of community development finance, Celeste is a singer-songwriter and music producer. She has released six original studio albums and operates Frances Lakshmi Records.

Grounded Places

At the heart of Blue Oak is a shared hope that everyone lives, works, and ages in grounded places of well-being. We support mission-driven organizations in their efforts to provide the financing and programs that build affordable homes, thriving neighborhoods, and communities of opportunity.

CONNECT

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