Founded by community economic development, business, and philanthropic leaders, the Economic Equity Network initiative is undertaking a new approach to the regeneration of disinvested communities of color.
In particular, the Economic Equity Network was created to help deploy Opportunity Zone capital the way it was intended: to reverse the legacy of redlining and redress the racial wealth gap, by stabilizing communities of color and rejuvenating the health & economic outcomes for future generations. Our Initiative posits that, to drive impact, OZ capital must meet the self-determined business and economic development investment goals that communities prioritize, while also reflecting the diverse attributes of urban & rural communities, coastal & rustbelt cities, transitioning upward & long-disinvested cities.
Uniquely, our Initiative aims to assemble an emerging Network of investors of color and women, along with other nontraditional investors, entrepreneurs, long-time business and property owners, professionals, and community and philanthropic leaders. Our focus today is on “setting the table:” convening leaders from diverse sectors and perspectives to have a dialogue and collaborate to identify community needs for jobs, business growth, and sustainable real estate and affordable housing development. Ultimately, we’ll equip this Network with new tools of community reinvestment, changing the paradigm from one of subsidy and federal micromanagement to a new, intersectional, from-the-ground-up public-private partnership that experiments & replicates success in neighborhood after neighborhood. By focusing on the people who should be equitably included in these investments, this Network can ultimately reimagine, reinvest in, and lift up communities of color.
To achieve all of these ambitious goals, we are hosting a series of regional OZ Community Wealth-Building Roundtables to gather ideas, learn more and create momentum, leading up to a national policy summit. Our first Roundtable was held in Oakland, California in October 2019.
We are eager to hear your ideas and build together a new Economic Equity Network.
The Economic Equity Network sponsors, founders, and founding philanthropic partners
Kofi Bonner, FivePoint
Bruce Katz, Drexel Nowak Metro Finance Lab
Roberta Achtenberg, former Commissioner, US Civil Rights Commission
Fred Blackwell, San Francisco Foundation
James Head, Eastbay Community Foundation
David Plouffe, Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative
Ruby Bolaria Shifrin, Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative
Lori Bamberger, Economic Equity Network
Contact Us
To learn more, don’t hesitate to get in touch