Barãta Arabo Bey | Source | Director of Community Finance at CNote

Barãta Bey has been deeply engaged over the past 12 years with the long-term challenge of community development. Steeped in team and program building, he has worked with business executives and community leaders to support Community Reinvestment Act lending and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and has experience developing small business ecosystems, minority homeownership programs, minority lending opportunities and financial empowerment education.
As director of community finance at CNote, Bey leads the development of the company’s Impact Cash™ product for corporate and other institutional investors that want to support financially under-resourced communities across the U.S. while generating returns on cash allocations. Funds committed through CNote’s platform increase the deposit base at impact-driven banks and credit unions, which helps fuel affordable housing and small business loans and provide a just alternative to predatory lending.
Through his work, Bey expands CNote’s network of community financial institutions, identifying their strengths and needs. As “connector in chief” of this portfolio, he cultivates relationships with banks and credit unions with an eye toward introducing them to CNote’s corporate partners in hopes of unlocking other sources of funding like community grants.
Viewing his professional life as a form of ministry, Bey believes in creating a level playing field in American society, saying, “It all comes back to helping people in marginalized situations. When you break it down, it’s like you’re running the 100-yard dash: they have a straight line but you’ve got barbed wire in your lane.”
Before joining CNote, Bey worked in a series of banking positions with a focus on community engagement. He was a community development officer and DEI champion at Huntington National Bank in Pittsburgh; a community development manager at FirstMerit Bank in Michigan; and a financial center manager and CRA champion at Fifth Third Bank in Pittsburgh. His accomplishments include the creation of a county workforce development ecosystem in Pennsylvania for minority students; managing and underwriting Paycheck Protection Program loans for minority-, women- and veteran-owned businesses; and helping to create a business incubator. Additionally, he implemented programs to identify gaps in CRA lending, philanthropic giving and DEI initiatives and has led outreach programs to support volunteerism, employee engagement and civic leadership.
In addition to his work at CNote, Bey is president of the board of NeighborWorks Western Pennsylvania, a member of the National Black MBA Association, treasurer of the Alpha Omicron Lambda chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, vice president of the Mon Valley Initiative (a nonprofit improving the lives of people living along the Monongahela River) and a coach for the Pittsburgh Passion women’s professional football team.
He holds an MBA in finance from the Keller Graduate School of Management as well as bachelor’s degrees in accounting and biology. While attending college, he worked in several roles in residential and rehab facilities run by a large social services agency in the Pittsburgh area and launched within it a revenue-generating project that addressed navigating public transportation. He is an Army veteran and a member of the Sigma Beta Delta Honor Society.