Bank Black and Green Webinar: Power of Philanthropy

With each passing day, the damage that the mainstream financial industry is causing to BIPOC and working class communities becomes more and more undeniable. Commercial banks, whose services are used by the vast majority of philanthropic institutions, make investments in extractive industries such as fossil fuels, weapons and real estate speculation – the very industries that their grantee partners fight tirelessly against.

Fortunately, there is a growing number of values-aligned banks and credit unions that are shifting the flow of capital away from these oppressive industries. Among them are Minority Depository Institution MDIs, defined as financial institutions that are at least 51% owned or governed by minority individuals, that are investing in the public health and safety of frontline communities.

As stewards of accumulated wealth that is tax-sheltered for the public good, foundations have a critical role to play in ensuring that their banking activity is supporting the creation of resilient, local economies that allow BIPOC and working class communities to thrive, rather than fueling the oppressive extractive industries that are causing harm.

Join us for a conversation about how philanthropic institutions can amplify the impacts of their grantmaking through better banking decisions. Weissberg Foundation, a private family foundation, will share the story of why and how they moved their deposits to City First Bank, a Washington, DC-based Black-owned bank. City First will describe how they have used those deposits to provide a community partner with a non-extractive loan that is making direct, on-the-ground impact.

Participants will leave this webinar with a concrete understanding of the tangible impacts that philanthropic institutions can make by moving their deposits to MDIs, and immediate steps they can take to move their money for good.

Presented in partnership with Hip Hop Caucus.

SPEAKERS

Cynthia A Newell | SVP, Chief of Staff at City First Bank 

Ricshawn Adkins Roane |  Weissberg Foundation Executive Director

Omar Karim | Banneker Ventures President

Stephone Coward | Economic Justice Director · Hip Hop Caucus