Louisiana AFN is a regional chapter of grantmakers who advance equitable wealth building and economic mobility. Members include private, public, corporate, and community foundations, public-sector funders, and financial institutions who want to help Louisianans secure economic stability, for now and for years to come. Louisiana AFN connects funders and their peers in the nonprofit, public, and private sectors. Together they share promising programs and smart strategies, gather knowledge to make their grantmaking more effective, and work to increase investments in asset building.
Louisiana AFN was launched in April 2019 as a regional affiliate of national AFN. Membership is open to funders who invest in a range of initiatives that build assets for Louisiana, from early childhood education, college access, or workforce development to health, financial capacity, or micro-enterprise. Grantmakers investing in Louisiana should contact Brandon Rapp or Abby Hughes Holsclaw if interested in joining this chapter.
Regional Focus Areas
- Financial technology
- Emergency savings
- Financial access
Upcoming Events
Check back soon for information on upcoming events.
CLICK HERE for more information and resources from our past events.
Chapter Highlights
Louisiana AFN Housing Tour & Community Leader Conversations
On September 20, Louisiana Asset Funders Network hosted a two-part program in Baton Rouge: a bus tour to explore housing and a community dialogue on asset building and economic mobility. The program provided an opportunity for funders to connect with community leaders and other funders and to learn more about asset building and equitable wealth building initiatives in the Baton Rouge community. This included a bus tour of the Baton Rouge area and a set of discussions with community leaders to learn more about how community leaders explore asset-building and economic mobility within their organizations.
Funders Launch New Effort to Help Louisianans Build Emergency Savings
Louisiana-focused funders and financial institutions will invest more than $1 million to expand financial coaching services across the state to help Louisianans build emergency savings and increase their financial health. LEARN MORE
Louisiana AFN Building Savings Summit
Missed the Summit? Learn more!
Session 1 Financial Coaching in Action: Roundtable
Session 2 Leveraging Fintech to Promote Financial Health
Session 3 Leveraging Policy for Change: Where We Are and Where We Are Going
Connecting Philanthropy and Financial Institutions through Fintech
As a follow up to the release of 2021’s Philanthropy and Fintech: Identifying Opportunities for Engagement, LA AFN launched a series of webinars in 2022 designed to increase understanding around potential fintech solutions among philanthropy and practitioners across the state.
These sessions focused on the importance of utilizing fintech in LA and how to incorporate fintech into funders existing or emerging grantmaking strategies as well as municipal programming. LEARN MORE
Philanthropy and Fintech: Identifying Opportunities for Engagement
NEW REPORT!
LA AFN and the Financial Health Network is pleased to share our new brief created in response to growing interest in fintech across the state. Designed as a guide for funders, it provides a brief overview of fintech and its application in the financial health field, examines possible applications to Louisianans’ financial health challenges, and seeks to encourage funders to engage with fintech to support their grantmaking goals. LEARN MORE
How We Work
- Connect: Members support peer-to-peer learning and cross-sector collaboration. Members identify and leverage replicable and scalable high-impact strategies and innovative approaches to connect and inform influential funders of actionable investments. Members provide an insightful voice to inform both regional and national conversations.
- Build: We work to increase the number of grantmakers and resources focused on strategies that help low and moderate income people build and protect assets. Members leverage one another’s interests and investments and actively look for additional funders willing to co-invest in Louisiana.
- Inform: Members learn from one another and other stakeholders as they seek solutions to local challenges. The chapter hosts issue-based programming and calls-to-action that reflect research and philanthropic thought leadership that highlights actionable roles for philanthropy. The chapter gathers local leaders and national experts together to share data and ideas, promote innovative approaches, and help establish common language to build collaboration.
- Influence: We raise the visibility of asset-building strategies within the broader community of foundations, public-sector funders, and financial institutions. Members seek opportunities to accelerate economic prosperity while also reducing racial, ethnic, and gender wealth gaps in areas such as improved savings for low to moderate income families and increased Fintech opportunities.
Upcoming Events
Steering Committee
The Greater New Orleans Foundation
Louisiana Association of United Ways
Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
Huey and Angelina Wilson Foundation
Capital Area United Way
Entergy
United Way of Southeast Louisiana
Hope Credit Union
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Pelican State Credit Union
Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
United Way of Northwest Louisiana
