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Lendistry CEO Everett K. Sands Recognized as an Entrepreneur of the Year 2024 Greater Los Angeles Award Winner

Kim Anthony • June 18, 2024

LOS ANGELES, CA  June 18, 2024 / Lendistry announces today that Everett K. Sands of Lendistry was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2024 Greater Los Angeles Award winner. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the preeminent competitive awards program for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies.


Sands was selected by an independent judging panel made up of previous award winners, leading CEOs and other business leaders. Candidates were evaluated based on their ability to create long-term value through entrepreneurial spirit, commitment to their purpose and the demonstration of growth and substantial impact, among other key indicators.

"As a small business lender, I see every day how much uncertainty and faith goes into becoming an entrepreneur, especially when your business was opened to disrupt a centuries old industry," Sands says. "This recognition from EY and our home region of Los Angeles means a great deal to me and to my team. To my fellow entrepreneurs, I say be delusional about your dreams and pragmatic about your execution."

Sands founded Lendistry, a small business lender and fintech, in 2015 to provide opportunities no lender like this had before with a leadership team that doesn't look like any other financial institutions in the country-more than half people of color, and more than half women. Using technology as the key to opening access to capital in underserved communities, Lendistry has deployed nearly $10 billion to more than 630,000 businesses. Looking forward, Lendistry plans to make a greater impact for small businesses entering the clean energy industry, supporting renewable energy projects, and making the green transition.

Entrepreneur Of The Year recognizes many different types of business leaders for their ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit. The program celebrates original founders who bootstrapped their business from inception or who raised outside capital to grow their company; transformational CEOs who infused innovation into an existing organization to catapult its trajectory; and multigenerational family business leaders who reimagined a legacy business model to fortify it for the future.

About Lendistry

B.S.D. Capital, Inc. dba Lendistry (lendistry.com) is a minority-led fintech that provides innovative lending products for small businesses and administers grant programs for government agencies nationwide. Headquartered in a Los Angeles Opportunity Zone, Lendistry uses technology and community partnerships to overcome systemic barriers to capital access. In 2024, Lendistry CEO Everett K. Sands was an Entrepreneur Of The Year® Greater Los Angeles award winner. Lendistry has both Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and Community Development Entity (CDE) certifications and is a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco. Lendistry SBLC, LLC is an SBA Preferred Lender and the nation's only African American-led SBA designated Small Business Lending Company. In collaboration with The Center by Lendistry, a nonprofit business education organization, Lendistry provides economic opportunities and progressive growth for underserved urban and rural small business borrowers and their communities.

About Entrepreneur Of The Year®

Founded in 1986, Entrepreneur Of The Year® has celebrated more than 11,000 ambitious visionaries who are leading successful, dynamic businesses in the US, and it has since expanded to nearly 80 countries and territories globally.

The US program consists of 17 regional programs whose panels of independent judges select the regional award winners every June. Those winners compete for national recognition at the Strategic Growth Forum® in November where National finalists and award winners are announced. The overall National winner represents the US at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year® competition. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.

About EY

EY exists to build a better working world, helping to create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets.

Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate.

Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards include presenting sponsors PNC Bank, Cresa, Marsh USA, SAP and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. In Greater Los Angeles, sponsors also include Edelman, Cooley, Los Angeles Business Journal, Vaco, ADP, Big Picture, and Rutan & Tucker.

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