Abstract
This essay explores the enormous potential of social service organizations to contribute to people’s financial well-being. It is informed by the work of four pioneering organizations that use a racial- and gender-equity lens to advance financial well-being. It explores five strategies: (a) embedding financial development into social services; (b) focusing on youth transitioning to adulthood; (c) partnering with asset coalitions to expand financial opportunities; (d) partnering with financial institutions; and (e) developing fintech with equity. These approaches hold promise to help address the racial wealth gap and improve financial security.
Keywords
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Alexander
M.
(2010 ). The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness . New Press .
2.
Allam
Z.
(2020 ). The forceful reevaluation of cash-based transactions by COVID-19 and its opportunities to transition to cashless systems in digital urban networks . In
Allam
Z.
(Ed.), Surveying the COVID-19 pandemic and its implications: Urban health, data technology and political economy (pp. 107 –117 ). Elsevier . https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-824313-8.00008-5
3.Bank On . (n.d.). Banks and credit unions across the country are joining the Bank On movement . https://joinbankon.org/accounts/
4.Bank On . (2021 ). Bank On national account standards (2019-2020) . Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund . https://cfefund.org/bank-on-national-account-standards-2019-2020/
5.
Baptist
E.
(2014 ). The half has never been told: Slavery and the making of American capitalism . Basic Books .
6.
Baradaran
M.
(2017 ). The color of money: Black banks and the racial wealth gap . Belknap Press of Harvard University Press .
7.
Bird
K.
(2020 , December 1 ). Youth, equity, and the power of now: Our collective responsibility [Report/Brief]. Center for Law and Social Policy . https://www.clasp.org/publications/report/brief/youth-equity-and-power-now-our-collective-responsibility
8.Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System . (2021 , September 21 ). Statement by Chair Jerome H. Powell . https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/powell-statement-20200921.htm
9.
Bogle
M.
Scott
K.
González
J.
Theodos
B.
(2020 , June ). Leveraging fintech for financial health: Lessons from the Financial Health Network’s Chicago Nonprofit Fintech Distribution Pilot Program [Brief]. Urban Institute . https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/102404/leveraging-fintech-for-financial-health_0.pdf
10.Bureau of Labor Statistics . (2020 , July ). A profile of the working poor, 2018 [BLS Report]. https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/working-poor/2018/home.htm
11.Bush Foundation . (2021 , March 30 ). Our new investments in racial equity . https://www.bushfoundation.org/news/our-new-investments-racial-equity
12.Candid & Native American in Philanthropy . (2021 ). Building equity for Native communities: Equipping philanthropy with resources to maximize investments in Indigenous communities in the U.S . https://nativephilanthropy.candid.org/
13.
Capelouto
J. D.
(2020 , December 22 ). In “underbanked” Westside, program works to make residents more financially secure . Atlanta Journal-Constitution . https://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-news/in-underbanked-westside-program-works-to-make-residents-more-financially-secure/SNYHTPYHHETNGZKRNKVGTY/3552
14.
Carrigan
W.
Webb
C.
(2015 , February 19 ). When Americans lynched Mexicans . New York Times . https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/20/opinion/when-americans-lynched-mexicans.html
15.
Cassidy
C.
Heydemann
R.
Price
A.
Unah
N.
Darity
W.
Jr
(2019 , December ). Baby Bonds: A universal path to ensure the next generation has the capital to thrive [Report]. Insight and Duke University, Samuel Dubois Cook Center on Social Equity . https://socialequity.duke.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/ICCED-Duke_BabyBonds_December2019-Linked.pdf
16.Change Machine . (2019 ). Boosting workforce development: Improving workforce outcomes through the integration of financial security strategies [Report]. https://change-machine.org/app/uploads/2019/10/Boosting-Workforce-Development-FINAL-The-Financial-Clinic.pdf
17.Change Machine . (2021 ). Comments to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Re: Docket No. CFPB-2020-0034: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking . https://change-machine.org/app/uploads/2021/02/Change-Machine-Comments-Docket-No.-CFPB-2020-0034-ANPR-1.pdf
18.Consumer Financial Protection Bureau . (n.d.-a). The Bureau . https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/the-bureau/
19.Consumer Financial Protection Bureau . (n.d.-b). Your money, your goals . https://www.consumerfinance.gov/consumer-tools/educator-tools/your-money-your-goals/
20.Consumer Financial Protection Bureau . (n.d.-c). Payments to harmed customers . https://www.consumerfinance.gov/enforcement/payments-harmed-consumers/
21.Corporation for a Skilled Workforce & The Financial Clinic . (2017 ). When is more not extra? Effective strategies for financial security [Report]. https://change-machine.org/when-is-more-not-extra-effective-strategies-for-financial-security/
22.
Dewees
S.
Mottola
G.
(2017 , April ). Race and financial capability in America: Understanding the Native American experience [Insights Issue Brief]. FINRA Investor Education Foundation . https://www.usfinancialcapability.org/downloads/Native-American-Experience-Fin-Cap.pdf
23.
Echohawk
J. E.
(n.d.). Individual Indian Money (IIM) accounts—Cobell V. Salazar . Native American Rights Fund . https://www.narf.org/cases/cobell/
24.
Edwards
F.
Lee
H.
Esposito
M.
(2019 ). Risk of being killed by police use of force in the United States by age, race–ethnicity, and sex . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , 116 (34 ), 16793 –16798 . https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1821204116
25.
Edwards
K.
Finsel
C.
(2021 , March 11 ). Interim data report on Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition, Inc. (ONAC) Emergency savings account initiatives: 2015–2021 . Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition . https://oknativeassets.org/resources/Documents/ONAC%20ESA%20Data%20Report%20October%202020.pdf
26.Federal Communications Commission . (2021 ). Emergency broadband benefit . https://www.fcc.gov/broadbandbenefit
27.Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation . (2009 ). Alternative financial services: A primer . FDIC Quarterly , 3 (1 ), 39 –47 .
28.Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation . (2017 , October ). 2017 FDIC National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households: 2016 FDIC survey . https://www.fdic.gov/analysis/household-survey/2017/2017report.pdf
29.
Fergus
D.
Shanks
T. W.
(2021 ). The long afterlife of slavery in asset stripping, historical memory, and family burden: Toward a third reconstruction . Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services . Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/10443894211061283
30.The Financial Clinic . (2011 , February ). Scaling financial development: Improving outcomes and influencing impact . https://change-machine.org/app/uploads/2020/09/scaling-financial-development.pdf
31.
Finsel
C.
(2020 , January ). Native children’s savings initiatives in the United States . Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition . https://oknativeassets.org/resources/Documents/ONAC_Savings_Initiatives_Report_FINAL.pdf
32.
Finsel
C.
(2021 , September ). Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition’s Children’s Savings Account Program interim report . Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition . https://oknativeassets.org/resources/Documents/ONAC%20CSA%20Interim%20Report.pdf
33.First Nations Development Institute . (2009 ). Native American asset watch: Rethinking asset-building in Indian Country .
34.
Flitter
E.
(2020 , June 18 ). ‘Banking while Black’: How cashing a check can be a minefield . New York Times . https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/18/business/banks-black-customers-racism.html
35.
Goldin
C.
(1990 ). Understanding the gender gap: An economic history of American women . Oxford University Press .
36.
Grote
M. W.
(2020 , August ). From inclusion to equity: Making fintech work for low-income consumers . Change Machine . https://change-machine.org/app/uploads/2020/10/ChangeMachine_Paper_DCFintechWeek_InclusionToEquity_201013.pdf
37.
Guedel
W. G.
Colbert
J. D.
(2016 ). Capital, inequality, and self-determination: Creating a sovereign financial system for Native American nations . American Indian Law Review , 41 (1 ), 1 –49 .
38.
Hansen
E.
(2017 , November 13 ). The forgotten minority in policy shootings . CNN . https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/10/us/native-lives-matter/index.html
39.
Huang
J.
Sherraden
M. S.
Sherraden
M.
(2021 ). Toward finance as a public good (CSD Working Paper No. 21-03). Washington University, Center for Social Development . https://doi.org/10.7936/p8dd-p256
40.Inclusiv . (2019 , September 19 ). Pathways to financial empowerment [Social and Financial Impact Brief]. https://www.inclusiv.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Pathways-Impact-Brief-2019.pdf
41.
Jorgensen
M.
Akee
R. K. Q.
(2017 ). Access to capital and credit in Native Communities: A data review [Report]. Native Nations Institute . https://nni.arizona.edu/publications-resources/publications/papers/accessing-capital-and-credit-native-communities-data-review
42.
Liu
S.
Parilla
J.
(2020 , September 17 ). New data shows small businesses in communities of color had unequal access to federal COVID-19 relief [COVID-19 Analysis Report]. Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program . https://www.brookings.edu/research/new-data-shows-small-businesses-in-communities-of-color-had-unequal-access-to-federal-covid-19-relief/
43.
Loke
V.
Choi
L.
Larin
L.
Libby
M.
(2016 ). Boosting the power of youth paychecks: Integrating financial capability into youth employment programs (Working Paper 2016-03). Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Community Development Investment Center . https://www.frbsf.org/community-development/publications/working-papers/2016/may/boosting-the-power-of-youth-paychecks-integrating-financial-capability-into-youth-employment-programs/
44.
Loke
V.
Choi
L.
Libby
M.
(2015 ). Increasing youth financial capability: An evaluation of the MyPath Savings Initiative . Journal of Consumer Affairs , 49 (1 ), 97 –126 . https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12066
45.
Lui
M.
Robles
B.
Leondar-Wright
B.
Brewer
R.
Adamson
R.
(2006 ). The color of wealth: The story behind the U.S. racial wealth divide . New Press .
46.
Martinchek
K.
Carther
A.
(2021 , February 25 ). Native communities face sustained challenges to building financial resilience . Urban Wire . https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/native-communities-face-sustained-challenges-building-financial-resilience
47.
48.MyPath . (2021 ). Youth economic bill of RYTS (real youth troubles and solutions) . https://mypathus.org/youtheconomicrights/
49.National Association of Social Workers . (2021 ). 2021 blueprint of federal social policy priorities: Recommendations to the Biden-Harris administration and Congress . https://www.socialworkers.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=KPdZqqY60t4%3d&portalid=0
50.National Congress of American Indians . (2020 , April 18 ). NCAI statement on the release of sensitive tribal data . https://www.ncai.org/news/articles/2020/04/18/ncai-statement-on-the-release-of-sensitive-tribal-data
51.National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions . (2015 , January ). From distrust to inclusion: Insights into the financial lives of very low-income consumers . https://www.inclusiv.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Insights-Into-the-Financial-Lives-of-Very-Low-Income-Consumers-Jan-30-2015.pdf
52.New internship program for social work students at Clark Atlanta University . (2018 , December 28 ). The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education . https://www.jbhe.com/2018/12/new-internship-program-for-social-work-students-at-clark-atlanta-university/
53.Nonprofit Leaders in Financial Technology (nLIFT) & Aspen Institute . (2018 , Autumn ). Fulfilling the promise of fintech: The case for a nonprofit vision and leadership . The nLIFT Manifesto . https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/nLIFT-Manifesto-FINAL.pdf
54.Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition . (n.d.-a). What is Native Bank On ONAC? https://oknativeassets.org/our_work/Native-Bank-On-ONAC
55.Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition . (n.d.-b). ONAC provides seven programs . https://oknativeassets.org/our_work/ONAC-programs/
56.Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition . (2019 ). ONAC Children’s Savings Account Program 529 plan investor education booklet . https://oknativeassets.org/resources/Documents/ONCA%202019%20Investor%20Education%20Booklet_HighRes_Online%20Version.pdf
57.Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition . (2020 a, September 24 ). Going remote: Providing native-specific financial education and coaching in a virtual setting . https://oknativeassets.org/page-8689/9262946
58.Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition . (2021 a, January 31 ). Resource guide for Native women entrepreneurs . https://oknativeassets.org/page-8689/10051528
59.Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition . (2021 b). Get banked Indian Country: An initiative of Native Bank On ONAC . https://bit.ly/ONACGetBanked
60.Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition . (2021 c). Get banked Indian Country: Claiming the Child Tax Credit (CTC) . https://bit.ly/ClaimCTC
61.Prosperity Now . (2018 , January ). Coalitions are helping families thrive—Get involved today! https://prosperitynow.org/sites/default/files/PDFs/01-2018_Coalitions_Making_the_Case_One-Pager.pdf
62.
Rendón
A.
(1971 ). Chicano manifesto . Macmillan .
63.
Rothstein
R.
(2017 ). The color of law: A forgotten history of how our government segregated America . Liveright (W.W. Norton & Company) .
64.
Schramm
P.
(2020 , October ). Native Voluntary Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program experiences of providing remote and/or socially distanced services during the COVID-19 pandemic [Handout] . Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition . https://oknativeassets.org/resources/Documents/Native%20VITA%20Site%20Experiences%20with%20Providing%20Remote%20and%20Socially%20Distanced%20VITA%20Services.pdf
65.
Scott
D.
(2020 , November ). Native women business owners: Building assets, strengthening their communities, and working to close the women’s wealth gap [Summary Data Report]. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition . https://oknativeassets.org/resources/Documents/ONAC%20Data%20Summary%20Report%20Native%20Women%20Business%20Owners.pdf
66.
Sherraden
M. S.
Birkenmaier
J.
Collins
J. M.
(2018 , April ). Financial capability and asset building in vulnerable households: Theory and practice . Oxford University Press .
67.
Sherraden
M. S.
Huang
J.
Ansong
D.
(in press). Financial capability . In
Bailey
D.
Mizrahi
T.
(Eds.), Encyclopedia of macro social work . Oxford University Press .
68.
Steuerle
C. E.
(2016 , April 27 ). Prioritizing opportunity for all in the federal budget: Executive summary . Urban Institute . https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/publications/prioritizing-opportunity-all-federal-budget-executive-summary/full
69.
Theodos
B.
Stacy
C. P.
Daniels
R.
(2018 , November ). Client led coaching: A random assignment evaluation of the impacts of financial coaching programs . Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization , 155 , 140 –158 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2018.08.019
70.
Treskon
M.
Congdon
W. J.
Martinchek
K.
Carther
A.
(2021 ). Integrating financial capability into employment services: Literature synthesis (OPRE Report No. 2021-04). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation . https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/opre/integrating-financial-capability-march-2021.pdf
71.U.S. Commission on Civil Rights . (2018 , December ). Broken promises: Continuing federal funding shortfall for Native Americans [Briefing Report]. U.S. Commission on Civil Rights . https://www.usccr.gov/pubs/2018/12-20-Broken-Promises.pdf
72.
Villazor
R. C.
(2010 , June 7 ). Rediscovering Oyama v. California: At the intersection of property, race, and citizenship . Washington University Law Review , 87 (5 ), 979 –1042 . https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_lawreview/vol87/iss5/2
73.
Wagner
K.
Finsel
C.
(2021 ). Distributing emergency cash assistance to Native families during a pandemic . Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition, Inc . https://bit.ly/ONACecash
74.
Warren
J.
(2010 , June 7 ). A victory for Native Americans? The Atlantic . https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2010/06/a-victory-for-native-americans/57769/
75.White House . (2021 , March 31 ). Fact sheet: The American jobs plan . https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/31/fact-sheet-the-american-jobs-plan/