The Milken Institute and U.S. Small Business Administration Partnership for Lending in Underserved Markets (PLUM) initiative aims to increase the amount of capital reaching minority-owned businesses and the number of successful minority business enterprises in Black and Hispanic communities employing Black and Hispanic workers. PLUM offers insights on how to improve collaborative efforts in a given market and around specific capital access solutions.

The partnership has identified the following solutions to root causes of the minority capital access gap:

• Expand and customize technical assistance
• Overcome structural limitations of minority small business lending
• Improve transparency and efficacy of small business lender engagement
• Increase equity/patient capital in underserved markets
• Coordinate urban development
• Expand small business market opportunities
• Improve evidence-base for action 

Furthermore, PLUM's local pilot programs and national efforts have yielded many across-the-board lessons learned for collaboration:

• Overcome data deficits to identify opportunity
• Engage anchor institutions and local stakeholders and recognize competition
• Build wider and more targeted networks
• Use technology as a tool, not a solution
• Develop culturally-competent marketing, outreach, products, and services
• Identify champions to promote public policy