Category: Social Justice and Economic Opportunity

Inside & Out: Education, Community and Opportunity for the Incarcerated

Posted on by NationSwell Team

On Wednesday, May 7, NationSwell community members gathered at Mount Tamalpais College in San Quentin Prison for a guided site visit to explore how education and growth programs can foster growth, resilience, and possibility for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals.

Led by Dr. Jody Lewen — founder and president of Mount Tamalpais College, the independent, tuition-free, accredited college that operates inside the prison — the experience offered a powerful look at how expanded access to quality higher education is about more than learning — it’s a bridge to community, purpose, and hope.

We’ve recapped some of the key insights from the day below.

Key Takeaways:

  • Education can be a counterculture
    In carceral systems designed to disconnect, education becomes radical. It’s not just about learning, it’s about reclaiming voice, building community, and engaging with the world in new, life-affirming ways.
  • The light of learning disrupts the system
    Mount Tamalpais College offers more than classes, it challenge the very logic of incarceration. Education is a “disturbance in the force.”
  • Healing requires space to reflect
    Access to education in prison opens the door to deeper psychological insight. It creates space to confront trauma, build resilience, and help others do the same.
  • The system is not rational
    The carceral state is not the product of coherent logic, but a patchwork of arbitrary decisions and policies. We must resist the illusion of inevitability and instead ask who benefits, who’s harmed, and what a more humane system could look like.
  • Human worth is inherent
    Regardless of our worst decisions, our pasts, or our circumstances, every person holds equal value and is worthy of dignity, respect, opportunity, and growth. Full stop. Systems can be designed to forget this. We can’t afford to.
  • Reentry is a collective responsibility
    The transition out of prison is complex. Career support and alumni services are critical and a space where deeper community partnerships can make a lasting difference. This is an area where Mount Tamalpais College could use our help!
  • Proximity is powerful—but depth is essential
    Connection starts with showing up, but it doesn’t end there. The question is: how do we move beyond observation into curiosity, action, and shared storytelling?
  • Let people tell their own stories
    Authentic storytelling fosters understanding, not just attention. How do we create space for people to speak in their own words?
  • Resist both romanticizing and othering
    Incarcerated people are often cast as either heroes or villains. The truth is more human, more complicated, and more deserving of our full attention. How do we shift society from sensationalizing the experience of incarceration to humanizing it?
  • Fair chance hiring is everyone’s work
    Every organization can audit, improve, and advocate. Whether it’s changing internal practices or supporting national reform, inclusive hiring must become standard.
  • Bridge-building means welcoming discomfort
    Can we broaden the aperture of experiences like this one? Can we invite in people with different ideologies and use shared reflection to build understanding across differences? What’s the first step? How do we take it?

Pathways to Economic Opportunity: Extern

Posted on by NationSwell Team

As wealth and income inequality continue to climb in the United States, some employers are developing innovative models and catalytic partnerships designed to bring new skills, job access, and ultimately economic opportunity to financially vulnerable and historically marginalized individuals.

With our Pathways to Economic Opportunity interview series, NationSwell is taking a closer look at some of the solutions companies are pursuing in service of leveling the playing field and expanding their talent pipelines. In spotlighting these partnerships, this series hopes to uncover the “secret sauce” that makes these solutions successful for the benefit of other employers and their leaders.

NationSwell recently sat down with the team at Extern — a mission-driven organization empowering students with hands-on professional experience while creating meaningful pathways to economic mobility for historically underserved talent. Extern developed the Externship – a new form of professional experience that its students say is a more flexible and accessible alternative to internship or co-op programs. Companies like PwC, The Home Depot, AT&T, HSBC, National Geographic, and The Nature Conservancy have leveraged Extern’s tech-enabled platform to deliver Externships to tens of thousands of young people.

Here’s what they had to say:

NationSwell: In your own words, can you describe the high-level problem that Extern is solving for? 

Matt Wilkerson, Founder and CEO, Extern: The challenge is clear: employers increasingly value work experience over credentials, yet most students don’t have access to the professional opportunities they need to succeed. Internships are shrinking, and career centers aren’t equipped to meet the demand for real-world preparation.

At Extern, we create new opportunities for students to gain professional experience while helping companies broaden their talent pipelines. Our team has a mix of tech, education, and corporate DNA which allowed us to develop a platform so companies can deliver Externships at scale. Externships go beyond traditional internships by offering accessible, structured work experiences that meet the needs of both students and employers.

As of this publication, we’ve officially served 50,000 students with six to eight week externship experiences since 2020; about 25,000 of those have been year to date, and we’ve worked with about 45 companies at this point. 

Extern works by standing up programs that connect students seeking real-world experience with companies seeking to recruit from diverse, underrepresented talent pools. The companies pay us to organize and run these experiences, and in exchange we absorb much of the recruiting, training, and management work that they would have had to do in a traditional internship.

For hiring managers, the professional experience section of a resume is often the most critical factor in recruitment decisions. Yet, systemic barriers leave millions of students—especially those from underrepresented communities—without access to these resume-building opportunities. Extern’s solution is to create and deliver new experiences that wouldn’t exist otherwise, ensuring more students are equipped to step into the workforce with confidence.

NationSwell: What are the primary differences between externships and internships, and what are the unique benefits of each for companies?

Wilkerson, Extern: Externships make professional experience more scalable and accessible. Unlike internships, which are often limited in number and require significant HR resources, Externships are designed to create flexibility and minimize the logistical burden on companies. 

The number of available internships is currently about 4 million each year, compared to about 20 million college students. So there’s a supply and demand issue to begin with, and part of the reason is that internships are hard to get set up on the employer side — it’s laborious to train students, to give them feedback, to manage these programs. The really big programs require enormous amounts of employee resources — many, many hours supporting individual students. At Extern, we take most of that load off of the employers.

NationSwell: Could you tell us a bit about how the program actually works, in practice?

Wilkerson, Extern: Over six to eight weeks, students work on real-world projects remotely with company support, removing geographic and logistical barriers to gaining work experience. For companies, externships reduce training and management overhead while delivering meaningful engagement with a diverse talent pool.

Take a head of consumer insights launching a customer research project: they may not have time to recruit, train, or manage interns on frameworks like survey design or ‘Jobs to Be Done.’ With Extern, they can launch projects quickly, spending just an hour every other week mentoring students while Extern handles the rest—recruiting, training, managing, and ensuring deliverables meet professional standards.

Extern streamlines the entire process: recruiting students through a single application, preparing them with targeted training on project-specific tools and methodologies, and managing daily operations like answering questions and reviewing work. By the time deliverables are presented, students have been guided to produce high-quality, professional outputs, freeing managers to focus on high-value mentorship instead of oversight.

For companies—whether or not they aim to hire college grads at scale—this creates a rewarding way to share expertise, connect with emerging talent, and build brand recognition.

NationSwell: How does your current funding model work?

Mike Eng, Senior Director of Partnerships, Extern: We’ve been fortunate enough to find some corporates who have been paying us to run these programs; that is predominantly where our funding comes from right now. Some of our biggest partners believe from a CSR perspective that they have a commitment to society — and to different stakeholders — to invest in initiatives like education and upskilling, and have funded programs where they want to create better career outcomes for specific demographic groups. They’re not necessarily looking to hire the students, and they are happy if the students go and work at different places. 

Other corporates work with us from the perspective of a pre-internship funnel, where some strategic leaders have recognized that they need to improve and find ways to differentiate themselves in the marketplace. By launching Externships with large cohorts they expand their brand recognition in competition with peers or different companies. They’re able to engage students a little earlier on and give them exposure to different career opportunities within the organization.

For example, we created a National Geographic and the Nature Conservancy externship that’s managed by us. These organizations want to bring young people into the field of conservation as part of their mission to inspire others to protect the natural environment, and so we’re running this program where students come in and get support and guidance toward careers at all these different places doing conservation work. 

NationSwell: How would you describe your theory of change?

Wilkerson, Extern: At a societal level, we’re addressing the disconnect between education and employment. For decades, the focus has been on earning costly degrees without ensuring job readiness, disproportionately affecting underrepresented students who face greater economic barriers.

At an individual level, Externships act as a catalyst for economic mobility, embedding future-ready skills through structured, real-world experiences that enhance education and give students a competitive edge. For example, we’re investing heavily in Generative AI training—covering prompt engineering, identifying hallucinations, and building chatbots—because we see it as a key skill for helping young people leapfrog the job market over the next few years.

This has a direct impact on learners from underrepresented populations, who ultimately have gotten left behind by this big push over the last few decades to go through higher education, take on more and more student debt to do so, and come out the other end with some kind of credential that’s supposed to mean something in the marketplace. 

NationSwell: What is the call to action for other leaders at other organizations who would hope to establish their own programs to improve either educational attainment or economic mobility?

Wilkerson, Extern: If you’re a company that has been thinking of standing up some sort of impact program, but you’re struggling with how to connect it to business value, the Externship model offers a powerful solution. If you have a corporate foundation or CSR team that wants to tie into business goals around recruiting, building employer branding, and engaging your employees, that’s where this program really shines. That’s our big call to action. 

NationSwell: Tell us a little bit about your learning curve — what have been the stumbles you’ve faced, or anything you’ve learned as you’ve grown this program? 

Wilkerson, Extern: One of our biggest hurdles has been convincing companies that externships are as effective as we claim. Employers are often skeptical that students can deliver high-quality work with minimal oversight. It sort of flies in the face of your intuition about how the world works. However, once the employees and managers experience the program firsthand, they see the value—and that’s why we’ve maintained such strong retention among our partners.

Degrees alone aren’t enough anymore. Employers need to prioritize real-world skills, and students need more opportunities to build them. Extern is uniquely positioned to address both sides of this equation.

NationSwell: Is there anything else that feels really important to mention here?

Wilkerson, Extern:  An Externship becomes this ability to train young people on future-ready skills. My current thesis is that companies aren’t going to embrace Generative AI fast enough — they’re dabbling in it, but employees actually need to be able to experiment and play with those tools. We’ve started to build out modules that can be delivered within the Externship that train students on this — we’ll teach them how to do something the regular way, and we’ll teach them how to use Generative AI to do it more efficiently, at higher quality — or do something that wasn’t possible before. 

Over the next few years, you’re not going to have enough candidates in the market who have developed these skill sets in a real professional experience. We can help students from underserved and underrepresented backgrounds essentially leapfrog the talent pool with these skill sets. So I’d say companies that believe in that, that want to invest in that, that want to run experiments, this is also a way to do that with a talent pool that’s hungry, and in many cases, actually knows more about how to use technologies like Generative AI better than the average employee. 

The Virtuous Cycle of Revitalization and Small Business Growth

Posted on by Syd Goin

There are 415 counties across the nation that qualify as persistently-poor, and in these areas, the average poverty rate is 26%, compared to 11% in the Midwest, 8% in the West, and just 2% in the Northeast. Small businesses are a critical component of an equitably thriving community, providing several essential benefits that increase districts’ livability and vitality, especially in historically divested neighborhoods that have been void of the resources and policies that allow for expansion and advancement. Supporting small business stamina and growth can spark a virtuous cycle of revitalization, bringing resources a district needs to incentivize people to stay, thus creating an environment ripe for small business longevity. 

To set this in motion, strategies for supporting small enterprise growth must go far beyond creating more equitable access to funding, grants, and other financial resources. Approaches must be community-centered and holistic, taking into account all the elements that make a locality a place where small businesses and their patrons can thrive. Through their Executive Fellowship Program, FUSE is working in cities across the U.S., like Jackson and Los Angeles, to jump-start the momentum for revitalization.

In the fall of 2023, the Jackson Redevelopment Authority (JRA) in Jackson, Mississippi, partnered with FUSE to promote equitable social and economic growth through a comprehensive urban renewal approach that includes housing, business development, infrastructure, and public spaces. A key focus is Farish Street, historically the largest economically independent African American community in Mississippi, which has suffered a decline since the years of white flight, followed by decades of divestment and many failed restoration efforts. The JRA’s unique, holistic approach to revitalization focuses on three key aspects. First, the area’s redevelopment plans align with the community’s vision for a lively entertainment district. Second, they welcome diverse small businesses to the area. Third, they gradually improve the street using a combination of private and public funds. This balanced approach meets community needs, attracts business interests, and ensures sustainable development.

One project that exemplifies the holistic, balanced strategy the JRA is taking is the plan to develop more public green spaces. Along with 2 C Mississippi, which focuses on climate mitigation and education, the JRA is working to turn three parcels of land into an urban forest with a stage for entertainment use. Not only does this plan respect the community’s request for bringing entertainment to Farish Street, public green spaces also encourage a host of health, climate, and socio-economic benefits that are invaluable for small businesses. Green areas encourage people to walk and congregate outdoors, boosting foot traffic and shopping and dining at local businesses. 
This initiative between the JRA and Jackson, catalyzed by the FUSE Executive Fellowship aims to bring together all the essential parts that allow a revitalization plan to succeed – bringing existing projects and programs together around community-identified common goals, understanding and solving for resource gaps, securing partnerships and funding, boosting operational capacity, and setting up the JRA with a full-spectrum game plan for continued and long-lasting redevelopment. This work is sure to continue as Yolanda R. Owens, the FUSE Executive Fellow leading the partnership, will join the JRA as COO once the fellowship concludes.

In Los Angeles, small business revitalization efforts have been county-wide after historic closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Small businesses in the area experienced one of the highest loss rates, with 15,000 small business closures across L.A. County. Businesses owned by people of color and women were particularly affected, exacerbating the already prevalent racial and gender inequalities —in 2020 alone, there was a 41% decrease in active Black business owners, a 36% decline in immigrant-owned businesses, and a 25% drop in women business owners. 

FUSE partnered with Los Angeles BusinessSource Centers in 2021 to build up capacity to provide small businesses, particularly those owned by women and people of color, with the technical and programmatic resources they need to thrive. The BusinessSource Centers act as a one-stop shop for small businesses, assisting with everything from faster and more efficient permit processing to increasing capacity in departments like Power and Water to work with owners directly on upgrading their electric systems and working with the Mayor’s office on deadline extensions and helpful programs. 
The focus on businesses owned by people of color and women taps into the virtuous cycle of restoring communities as 1) these businesses tend to reinvest more of their earnings back into the community through hiring local residents, donating to local charities, and investing in infrastructure and 2) they play a crucial role in encouraging inclusive economic growth and reducing the wealth gap, supporting local suppliers and providing opportunities for people of color and women.

FUSE Executive Fellowships spark the momentum for initiatives that have the potential to restore cities and towns through virtuous cycles of revitalization successfully. When centering the community, they help set up the pieces like community feedback processes, crucial partnerships with nonprofits that work with the community, identifying gaps in resources, and understanding what the community wants. In terms of small business support, they help cities identify what micro-entrepreneurs need regarding training, zoning, permitting, or fundamental partnerships such as distributors and suppliers. Learn more about how you can get involved at FUSE.org.

JPMorganChase Delivers Major Boost to Ohio’s Workforce Through Formation of New Regional Workforce Collaborative

Posted on by NationSwell Team

The $2.1 million commitment will advance career pathways and deepens the firm’s 155-year investment in Columbus.

NationSwell is honored to partner with JPMorganChase, One Columbus Foundation, Columbus City Schools District, Ohio Excels and Zora’s House in support of the critical work of the newly formed Columbus Regional Workforce Collaborative. Together, the Collaborative will bring in local stakeholders, drive equity by addressing employment disparities, and strengthen the systems needed to support both employers and employees as the Columbus Region’s economy continues to grow and flourish. 

“We are committed to transforming how we prepare our employees and others to compete for well-paying jobs and successful careers,” said Corrine Burger, Columbus Location Leader for JPMorganChase. “We’re proud to deepen our investment in the region by joining forces with some of our city’s leading business and community organizations, including NationSwell, to create a more prosperous and inclusive workforce.”

Read below to learn more. 

September 12, 2024 (Columbus, Ohio) — Today, JPMorganChase announced its support of a newly-formed regional workforce collaborative that will strengthen the Columbus Region’s economy by breaking down obstacles to employment, advancing equity, and equipping job-seekers with the skills and experience needed to thrive. The collaborative, funded by a $2.1 million commitment from JPMorganChase, will enable five organizations to better align the Columbus Region’s workforce system to address employment disparities, enhance workforce development, and create an environment where diverse individuals and families can fully benefit from the region’s economic growth. The funds will be distributed amongst the organizations to support their involvement and initiatives within the collaborative.

Led by One Columbus, central Ohio’s leading economic development organization, the new workforce collaborative will convene business, education, community, and elected leaders for facilitated discussions to modernize the regional workforce system strategy. Its focus will be on emerging industries that demand highly technical skills. Specifically, the collaborative will develop:

  • A landscape assessment of regional attributes and case studies of successes and pitfalls
  • A regional workforce roadmap that articulates business needs and priorities
  • Data and research on the needs of diverse community members
  • A comprehensive workforce system plan, with robust community input, identifying strategic implementation steps, critical partners, and potential resource alignment

“Today’s announcement will help to ensure the Columbus workforce is equipped with the knowledge, skills and experience needed to compete for high-quality careers in emerging industries, ” said Tim Berry, Global Head of Corporate Responsibility and Chairman of the Mid-Atlantic Region for JPMorganChase. “Drawing on our experience, we know it’s critically important to bring the right local stakeholders together to ensure the workforce has the skills needed to meet the evolving needs of the region.”

The Columbus Region is one of the fastest-growing economies in the nation. However, like many urban areas, the available job opportunities have not been equitably shared among all workers and residents, leading to a racial wealth divide. The workforce collaborative announced today will help address this challenge by preparing individuals for jobs that can jump-start careers.

“As an employer with such a long-standing history in Columbus, we’re proud to deepen our investment in the region by joining forces with some of our city’s leading business and community organizations to create a more prosperous and inclusive workforce,” said Corrine Burger, Columbus Location Leader for JPMorganChase. “Together, we’re making a difference and ensuring that every resident can thrive.”

“When it comes to workforce training, the Columbus Region is program-rich, but by addressing skill gaps within our workforce, we can advance opportunity for all residents,” said Kenny McDonald, president and CEO of the Columbus Partnership. “This new commitment from JPMorganChase will go a long way toward helping us strengthen the systems and strategies that will improve our workforce for both employers and employees.”

Partners Include:

  • One Columbus Foundation: One Columbus will lead the integration of workforce efforts across the region, aligning regional initiatives to meet the needs of emerging industries. By facilitating collaboration among businesses, educational institutions, and workforce partners, One Columbus will develop a more cohesive system that supports sustainable economic growth, enhances skill development, and ensures equitable access to job opportunities for all residents.
  • Columbus City Schools District: Columbus City Schools will support this project by ensuring connectivity between their high school redesign work and the opportunities and skills articulated by the business community throughout the process.
  • NationSwell: NationSwell will support OneColumbus with the overall project design, conducting research on challenges and opportunities, facilitating convenings, and developing key assets, including a regional workforce system roadmap.
  • Ohio Excels: Ohio Excels will provide project management support to One Columbus, ensuring alignment, coordination, and communication among all grant partners throughout the process.
  • Zora’s House: Graduates of Zora’s House Women of Color Equity in Design Institute (WECDI) — a program that upskills participants in design thinking skills and then embeds them in critical community conversations and projects to ensure that the lived experiences of women of color are adequately engaged and informing the work — will develop processes to ensure that the voices and experiences of women of color—the fastest-growing population segment in our region—are adequately addressed in strategy planning and design.

JPMorganChase in Ohio

JPMorganChase has a 155-year long history serving Columbus and has committed $11 million over the last five years to strengthening career pathways for Central Ohio residents. As one of the state’s largest private employers, JPMorganChase is proud to serve more than 18,000 employees, 725,000 consumer customers, and 59,000 business customers. As leaders in business, the firm works in partnership with local government officials, businesses, and nonprofits to advance inclusive economic growth and drive a stronger, more inclusive economy.

About JPMorganChase

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading financial services firm based in the United States of America (“U.S.”), with operations worldwide. JPMorgan Chase had $4.1 trillion in assets and $341 billion in stockholders’ equity as of June 30, 2024. The Firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing and asset management. Under the J.P. Morgan and Chase brands, the Firm serves millions of customers in the U.S., and many of the world’s most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients globally. Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co. is available at www.jpmorganchase.com

Atlanta Showcases Homeownership Solutions that Help Close the Racial Wealth Gap 

Posted on by Syd Goin

Innovative homeownership partnerships led by local governments can empower communities to overcome systemic barriers to generational wealth.

Home is not just where the heart is: homeownership is proven to build wealth for you and your family. Typically, individuals and families who own their homes accumulate more assets over time, and according to the Federal Reserve (2022), the median net worth of homeowners is nearly 40 times greater than that of renters. 

Unfortunately, rates of homeownership in the US are in lockstep with deep-rooted racial and economic disparities, creating a generation-over-generation racial wealth gap that negatively impacts BIPOC families. Rates of homeownership for white Americans are over 30% higher than for Black Americans, and rates among those in the highest income bracket are nearly double those in the lowest income bracket. 

Affordable housing and homeownership can support every community member’s quest for financial security, but producing more housing units is only part of the solution. Local leaders must tackle interconnected issues simultaneously, offer holistic support, and involve cross-sector partnerships and collaboration to ensure homeownership is equitable. 

Mayor Dickens of Atlanta understands this complexity and has set an ambitious goal to build or preserve 20,000 units of affordable housing in eight years. “We know that increasing the amount of safe, stable, and affordable housing will provide significant benefits throughout our community: increased economic mobility, a reduction in crime, better health outcomes, higher educational achievement. Our city cannot meet its fullest potential if our people do not have stable places to live and to lay their heads at night,” said the Mayor recently. In response to the challenge, the Mayor has established a new office dedicated to realizing the necessary affordable housing and addressing the root causes of the socioeconomic gap.

To shed more light on this solution, we spoke with Wesley Myrick, a former Fuse Executive Fellow, who serves on the Mayor’s Office Policy Team, Special Projects Division. We asked Myrick about the work involved in building safe and secure affordable housing, as well as the strategies his team is using to prioritize homeownership solutions that uplift diversity and legacy communities, rather than allowing gentrification and disenfranchisement.

NationSwell: Wesley, it is great to speak with you today and learn more about innovative approaches to homeownership. Let’s start with your role on the Mayor’s Office Policy Team, Special Projects Division.  What does it involve?

Wesley Myrick: I serve on the housing team which has three divisions: Special Projects, Innovation Lab, and General Housing Policy. I joined the Director of Special Projects, who manages large-scale displacement initiatives like Forest Cove. That property was condemned due to the state of disrepair it was in, so the city stepped up to relocate families, acting as a champion for them and the larger community. 

We also work on the Rapid Housing Initiative, which is focused on the quick delivery of highly dignified, comfortable homes for those experiencing chronic homelessness. One example of this is an apartment project called, The Melody, which opened in January of this year and consists of 40 units of permanent, supportive housing.

NS: Obviously safety and shelter are essential for everybody. But tell us more about why affordable housing is a key component when thinking about supporting thriving communities? 

WM: First and foremost, what are thriving communities composed of? It’s people. It’s families. It’s diversity. Affordable housing enables the creation of diverse communities, where residents include not just high-income or low-income earners, but a genuinely mixed and inclusive population. That’s significant because corporations, supportive services, and other general services need the full gambit of individuals in a community. 

Affordability at every income stream allows people to live wherever they want to live within the city. This matters because it means every community has people who are invested in being there and not just relegated to that neighborhood because it’s all they can afford. This leads to higher instances of pride and of people building community because they want to be there, which attracts businesses and developments of other things people want in a community. In Georgia, the roughly 40,000 stable, high-quality affordable housing units produced through the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program between 2001 and 2019 boosted the state’s economy by $12 billion and created 4,284 new jobs annually, and led to increased property tax revenue for local governments. 

This all starts with housing. When communities have affordable housing that is accessible to a mix of people who want to live and invest there , industry is attracted, amenities arrive,  and people stay. Then, fifteen years go by and families have raised kids in a home, in a place they feel connected to that just 20 years ago may not have been a great place to be.

NS: Feeling pride and invested in a place is so important! Plus, affordable housing can be a path towards home ownership which encourages equitable economic mobility.  Does this factor into the strategies that you all are putting in place when it comes to housing?

WM: This is a perfect example of why our department is structured the way it is. The Office of the Chief Policy Officer has five different divisions working in tandem. We have a housing team, strategic partnerships and strategic initiatives, a youth and education team, a neighborhood economic development team, and an ombuds team. Each team is tasked with ensuring Atlanta is the best place in the nation to raise a family. 

The housing team works on housing unit production and preservation. We have a safe and secure housing program that examines why legacy residents are housing insecure and aligns city processes so that more people remain housed in their family homes without it being overly burdensome to do so. This ensures that regardless of your zip code, you can stay in the city and helps households of more modest means retain control of generational assets.

For the neighborhoods team, this means making significant financial and infrastructure investments into historically diverse communities to attract industry and jobs. For the strategic partnership and initiatives teams, this means convening our corporate and philanthropic communities to make investments into programs and communities that help stabilize and propel communities across the city. For our youth team, this means ensuring that youth have the best possible programs to help support their educational goals and workforce readiness through the summer jobs program and Year of the Youth. Lastly, our Umbuds team helps to catalog recurring shortfalls of government policy or practice as delivered directly from the electorate so that we can better produce what communities need to thrive.

NS: I’m glad you mentioned the different sectors. What do you see as the role of the private or philanthropic sectors when it comes to this work? Can you give an example of  a successful partnership?

WM: There are limits on what public funds can be used for and how we can disperse them, whereas private money is much more flexible. We launched a $200 million fund last year in partnership with the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta, supporting the production of affordable housing units. While that amount of money is a significant investment it’s, unfortunately, still not enough. We need the philanthropic community to make those investments in housing where the government can’t. 

NS: Atlanta is growing as an economic and cultural hub. What are some of your key policy recommendations for establishing a secure future for Atlanta residents, especially legacy communities who are at risk of displacement?  

WM: A cornerstone of our work has been building trust with communities, which is why we not only work across departments but also have dedicated personnel who work on these things. We currently have an anti-displacement grant that partially helps support Owner-Occupied Rehab Programs, which we are able to connect residents with and has been valuable for our senior community members who need our support to ensure ordinances are not violated. Oftentimes, properties fall into disrepair, not because there are bad actors, but because there’s simply a lack of resources. Mitigating these barriers when we can is something we’re very proud of and want to keep doing more of.

NS: You wrote an excellent piece on the City of Atlanta’s  Faith-Based Development Initiative, which encourages faith-based communities to grant use of their underutilized land to affordable housing developments. What were some of your biggest takeaways from this initiative?

WM: I’ve learned that there are opportunities to create various housing types across the city at every level. For example, one house of worship has been rehabbing and renting single-family units using community development block grants and home funds, with the objective of providing them at affordable rents for those who need them. Simultaneously, they are working on a vision for a small multi-family community. 

We’ve been fortunate that in addition to houses of worship, other city, state, and private-sector organizations have answered our call. We launched the Faith-Based Development Initiative in partnership with Enterprise Community Partners, a national leader in faith-based development, and a CDFI, so they fund affordable housing across the country. The other lesson is that community building doesn’t mean building buildings – it’s really about building hearts and minds around what’s possible and helping execute that. 

NS: Land acquisition is one of the most costly elements of development, so efficient use of vacant publicly-owned land for housing development is key in increasing the availability of affordable housing. How have you tackled that in Atlanta?

WM: We chartered an organization called The Atlanta Urban Development Corporation (AUD), specifically tasked with managing the redevelopment of public land through the issuance of Request for Proposals (RFPs) to solicit, review, and select a development partner. They issue the RFPs, review them, figure out how to finance and fund them, and co-develop them with the organizations that respond to the RFPs. Thomasville Heights is their most recent RFP, focusing on mixed-income housing developments. Since they’re new and small, they’re also more nimble to move on projects. An important policy consideration is how you can expedite some of this public plan work. Create a mechanism by which you can successfully develop your project, and the developers will respond because the process is laborious – we found a way to make it less laborious with the AUD. 

We have some good examples of how the government is doing all it can in collaboration  with private partners to fill gaps while ensuring the work is community-owned and community-driven. For instance, the Midtown Fire Station, a vacant two-story firehouse that sits in Midtown Atlanta, is considered one of the most valuable plots of land in the country. The plan is to rehab the station and develop 20 to 30 housing units above it, which will be majority affordable in a part of town that’s not easy to afford. Adding one more unit makes a difference because that’s one more family that’s housed. For policymakers we have to remember that the units are important not because they are units but because they house people. 

Pathways to affordable housing are key to unlocking equitable homeownership, and social mobility, and a step toward combating the historic causes of the ever-present and widening socioeconomic divide across the country. Bringing affordable housing projects and initiatives to fruition, as evidenced by leaders in Atlanta, Georgia, will require a blend of innovative, strategic cross-sector partnerships and a revamping of local government offices and functions. FUSE offers a unique model for cross-sector collaboration to address a wide range of issues affecting growing towns and cities across the US. Learn more about their past and current initiatives by visiting https://fuse.org/.

Say ‘Hello Alice’ to the innovator at the heart of the small business economy

Posted on by Amy Lee

In May 2024, a platform for entrepreneurs called Hello Alice hit the headlines when a federal judge threw out the case against them that tried to claim its grant program for Black business owners was discriminatory.  The judgment was a win for diversity, equity and inclusion and the sanctity of the American Dream,  but the bigger story behind it is the scale of impact that Hello Alice has managed to achieve for small business owners since its inception in 2016.

We recently had the pleasure of speaking to Natalie Diamond, Vice President Of Business Development at Hello Alice, to give us a deeper insight into their unique for-profit impact model that empowers the largest community of small business owners in the country, and the ways in which they partner with enterprise leaders to drive a trust-based ecosystem that benefits everyone. 

NationSwell: Welcome Natalie. To kick us off, why don’t you tell us a little about Hello Alice’s mission in your own words.

Natalie Diamond: Hello Alice is a one-of-a-kind platform serving more than 1.5 million small business owners across all fifty states. We are committed to equitable access to capital and to supporting any entrepreneur with a good idea. As a women and minority owned and run business ourselves, we are passionate about supporting all small business owners — especially those in the New Majority, aka women, people of color and young people. Socially disadvantaged small business owners face persistent and glaring disparities when securing capital, which prevents them from growing their companies, reaching their full business potential, and supporting their communities. Our mission is to help increase access for the entire small business community. 

We have a unique model: by servicing our enterprise partners with valuable targeted marketing and impact opportunities, we are able to provide our growing community of small business owners with everything they need to scale their businesses, free of charge. Specifically, we help all small business owners with business and financial education as well as funding by offering a variety of services and programs including a loan center, grant programs, educational courses and boost camps, financial health tools, and curated opportunities. 

NS: You mentioned your unique model, aligning small business growth and equity goals. Tell us a little more about Hello Alice’s approach and how you engage businesses to drive impact.

ND: We recognized early on when we first began Hello Alice that financial institutions and enterprises wanted to help small business owners, but there wasn’t an efficient and trusted community platform to reach them. Enterprises also didn’t understand the needs of small businesses to adapt and improve their support initiatives, services, products, and programs for this demographic. Data and measurement of these impact initiatives and programs were missing.

We saw a great opportunity to connect small businesses and enterprises and empower them to help each other, which starts by building trust across the small business ecosystem. We now have seven years worth of data and expertise and a trusted community of over 1.5 million diverse entrepreneurs, each with a robust data profile that powers smart recommendations and relevant resources, from capital opportunities to products and solutions that will help take their business to the next level. The result is healthier small businesses with more money and opportunity to invest in services from the companies they transact with.  

Our team partners with marketing and impact leaders at a wide array of financial institutions and enterprises, to offer different types of programs and products for small business owners. We have a very tailored approach — understanding what kinds of small businesses our enterprise partners want to engage with and drive impact for, what they want to offer, and what data they are looking for in return, so we can create unique opportunities for them. Some examples of these programs and tools include the Business Health Score™ by the Global Entrepreneurship Network, the Hello Alice Small Business Mastercard, and various boot camps offering skills to small business owners hosted in partnership with FedEx, Antares Capital, and others. 

NS: Hello Alice recently secured a win in the case brought by America First Legal, relating to your grant program for Black small business owners, funded by Progressive insurance. What was the significance of this win and the team’s reactions? 

ND: We were thrilled when this case was dismissed, as it marked a huge win for the broader small business community. The case had the potential to pull even more funding opportunities from small business owners and impact how private businesses decide to distribute funds and contracts. With all of the challenges small business owners are facing these days, from labor shortages to heightened interest rates to inflation, litigation like this only adds to the pile of obstacles they encounter in trying to scale and survive. Small businesses are the engine of our entire economy and the dismissal allows the engine to keep running smoothly for now. 

NS: Are there any partners of Hello Alice that have been particularly supportive throughout this fight?

ND: We had some amazing partners and friends who were extremely supportive throughout this process. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed an amicus brief for us, which they rarely do for lawsuit cases. In the midst of this lawsuit, we were still able to raise our series C round. We’re incredibly grateful to all of these investors and friends for continuing to believe in Hello Alice’s mission and standing with us. Many of our financial and enterprise partners joined us for thought leadership roundtables in cities like Chicago, LA and NYC to ensure we continue to identify new solutions that we can collectively put into action for greater impact.

NS: As you say, the win was so important since small businesses face huge challenges despite their vital role in our economy. What are the largest struggles small businesses are facing today that Hello Alice is helping with? 

ND: Inflation and heightened interest rates continue to be two of the largest economic challenges small business owners face across the country. This, combined with difficulty in accessing capital and credit, greatly hinders any entrepreneur’s ability to accelerate their business growth.

Certain small business owners also face a lack of representation and support in business networks, leading to challenges in finding mentorship, investors, and other key industry players. 

The growing hill of litigation threatening programs and funding for small business owners is another challenge that has become increasingly concerning. Programs that small business owners have relied on for years are paused or going away completely, leaving gaps in financing that aren’t being filled. 

NS: What has been the impact of Hello Alice’s grant programs that are funded by your enterprise partners?

ND: We’ve seen an amazing impact from our grant programs, with over $45 million in capital distributed, and we hear equally wonderful feedback from our small business community. Oftentimes, small business owners aren’t able to access traditional loans or are only offered predatory loans. Other times, they are not able to access credit due to past circumstances that led to poor credit scores or they are denied for other reasons. Grants are an ideal source of funding for these business owners and are often a lifeline for businesses that need a jumpstart to scale. Many of our small business owners who receive grants have expressed the same sentiment, that if not for the grant, they would have had to close down their businesses. But with them, they were able to overcome their obstacles at the time and continue supporting their own communities and families.  

With the launch of our Business Health Score™, our grant programs have an even greater impact across the small business ecosystem. All small business grant applicants are now able to track, measure and receive tailored recommendations for how best to improve the health of their business. While only a small percent of applicants will receive the grant capital, our tools and technical assistance are now able to get more businesses healthy and eligible for capital products. This has also been especially critical for our enterprise partners looking to measure the success of these programs. Our Business Health Score™ collects comprehensive data to measure the impact of social initiatives, providing clear evidence of success for their investment in impact.

NS: Thank you for your time Natalie. Let’s end with a call to action: What ways can other companies advocate for and support small businesses?

ND: Enterprises and any type of corporation can support small businesses in a number of ways. Capital access is consistently the number one challenge for most underrepresented businesses, so starting a grants program is a direct path for support. Enterprises can host small business events and look internally across their subject matter experts to create mentorship programs and encourage their own executives to provide valuable lessons and advice to entrepreneurs. Companies can also begin supplier diversity contracting, ensuring diverse-owned small businesses, suppliers, and vendors are incorporated into their supply chain and business practices. 

Hello Alice are currently working with the NationSwell Studio. Our award-winning Studio develops clear strategies, compelling stories, and illuminating Collaboratives that move influential audiences to action while driving impact. Learn more.

The NationSwell Council on influencing social and economic mobility in America

Posted on by NationSwell Team

In Q2, members of the NationSwell Council and team set out across the U.S. for a Salon series dedicated to exploring Mobility in America.

Specifically, our members were interested in unpacking the role our education, government, communities, and families have to play in influencing social and economic mobility — and how our own personal narratives are indelibly intertwined with broader mobility trends.

The series brought us face-to-face with transformative leaders from diverse sectors, sparking discussions that were as rich as they were enlightening. Some of the Council members who were in attendance came together to describe the most actionable insights, resources, and practices that were shared during the events — our full recap appears below.

Key Insights and Questions:

  1. Mentorship is vital to economic and social mobility
  2. We’ve created a narrative of a post-secondary path that is not the reality for most
  3. Policy and legislation are key for advancing mobility
  4. AI will change how society calibrates social mobility
  5. Is social mobility a proxy for proximity to whiteness?
  6. How much coercion are we willing to assert to increase social capital?
  7. Psychological barriers to success can be overcome by strategies that address the mental models of family and community 
  8. Is scale the enemy of impact?
  9. To be truly inclusive, DEI initiatives must include the ex-offender population 
  10. How do we shift narratives when media norms aren’t built for narrative shifts?

What leaders who attended are saying:

NationSwell asked members in attendance to respond to two key questions:

  1. In your own work, how can you support the strength, the visibility, the power, and the influence of ideas, individuals, and institutions from outside the dominant frames that shape and distort our world—be they whiteness, US exceptionalism etc. 
  2. In your work, how can you support and elevate the ideas, individuals, and institutions that are often overlooked or marginalized by mainstream perspectives? (Who can you lift up and how?)

Brian Lovins, President, Justice System Partners

At JSP, we work closely with justice involved individuals and find that while our society says they believe in 2nd chances, we often create significant roadblocks to bringing people back to our communities after a prison sentence. Two major challenges–housing and employment. We have amazing people who have served their sentences and need legitimate pathways forward so they can be their best self. Finding ways to eliminate the labeling of people as ex offenders, convicts, and inmates; centering their humaness, giving grace, and providing direct paths to housing and employment would be great first steps. 

Baffour Osei, Robotics Lab Manager, Princeton University

In your own work, how can you support the strength, the visibility, the power, and the influence of ideas, individuals, and institutions from outside the dominant frames that shape and distort our world—be they whiteness, US exceptionalism etc. 

We can intentionally create spaces and validate them with the authority structures that currently exist in our organizations. E.g. We’ve created a spontaneous book club in our lab focused on our library of books of autobiographies, analyses, etc. around individuals and groups of people from various socioeconomic backgrounds, ethnicities, religions, nations, and other dimensions of diversity. Conversations centered around these topics don’t usually happen in engineering settings and so this library along with the spontaneous book club events are meant to change that by creating spaces where these conversations that touch all of us can happen. We’ve had books donated to our library by other guests and faculty as well and continue to seek ways to grow attendance and encourage our lab residents to come and keep returning. I think a big portion of this is my attendance as the manager of the space and also getting faculty to attend as well as encourage their lab groups to attend. People will leave our robotics program to become leaders in academia and in industry and so it’s imperative that they have proper social frameworks with which to engage their future mentees, coworkers, and customers in person and with their products and services.

In your work, how can you support and elevate the ideas, individuals, and institutions that are often overlooked or marginalized by mainstream perspectives? (Who can you lift up and how?)

We can and have been doing this with the spontaneous book club. Among the books in our library are Crippled, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Freedom is a Constant Struggle, The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine, Viral Justice, The New Jim Crow, and so many more titles. The Spontaneous Book Club structure allows our patrons to pick any book, read for 40 minutes, and then share what we read with the group and discuss. This allows us to learn about different authors’ perspectives on different topics and view tying lines between our various books since we’re all reading something different. Topics that we would’ve never discussed all of a sudden arise in these conversations and many of our patrons have shared taking action and changing behaviors as they learn new information. Our patrons also share how their personal experiences are reflected in these writings or may even contradict some of them. The point is this setting opens up all of these conversations and elevates these ideas, individuals, and institutions for discussion and adjusted behavior moving forward with a new respect and honoring for elements that have been invisible to us in the past.

Kanene Holder, Manager, Create Labs Ventures

As a former educator turned diversity trainer and ethical AI advisor, I’m often called in to manage a crisis. Too often it’s too late. My answers don’t focus on fixing the issue, but rather on preventing the issue and building the capacity to navigate disequilibrium. 

Linkedin is filled with infographics and cheat sheets to maximize productivity and leverage IQ to boost KPIs but rarely are there tools to unleash EQ- emotional intelligence. This overemphasis on people being an ends to a means and a series of data points and accountability measures can trigger mental health issues due to their rigid adherence and reward for those who “succeed” at all costs. The costs include frayed relationships with family, friends, their self concept and their health.

The culture of work is starting to evolve beyond the ruinous compartmentalization that forces people to choose between their personal and professional goals, but not fast enough. GenZ is leading the charge but too often a culture undergird by a Puritanical work ethic is weaponized to shame them into submission rather than make accommodations that would benefit the mental health of all workers. 

Additionally post Covid, I observe what I call “the trauma class”. People who regardless of social economic status are experiencing trauma and triggering the trauma of others. Trauma is no longer relegated to a tragic few or a large majority of those experiencing poverty. The trauma class is diverse. From those who experience school shootings to the opioid crisis and dealing with mourning due to Covid or not being able to afford healthcare, increasingly trauma looks like you and me. Even. when you are minding your own business, isolation from trauma is becoming more difficult. Due to rising rates of homelessness you might experience vicarious trauma as you witness the mental breakdown of someone on a train or in the street. 

The solution is a paradigm shift that centers soft skills and is trauma informed to ensure people feel valued regardless of their ability to “perform”. Having a workplace that is conditional on performance is one fueled by fear which too often metastasizes into stress, resentment, overwhelm, burn out or worse. A workplace that values the whole human being can inspire more innovation, creativity and resilience because fear is replaced with trust. Leaders that master emotional intelligence can model how to balance personal and professional goals and co-create healthy ways for coworkers to deal with stress, grieving, health and other issues. Mental health can be a culture of wellness if designed with human potential and connectedness in mind.

Susan Mason, Founder, Susan Mason Consulting

In your own work, how can you support the strength, the visibility, the power, and the influence of ideas, individuals, and institutions from outside the dominant frames that shape and distort our world—be they whiteness, US exceptionalism etc.

I focus on amplifying diverse voices and perspectives. This includes:

  • Prioritizing Underrepresented Narratives: Centering the experiences and insights of people impacted by the system first, instead of as an afterthought. 
  • Encouraging Proximity: The lived experiences of others helps the dominant culture understand exactly how systems impact individuals and communities. This promotes a deeper understanding of systemic issues. 
  • Strive to Operationalize: By consistently integrating best practices, organizations can move from constantly being in the education phase to truly achieving equity and inclusion. Inclusion is the only way to move past the dominant frames mentioned above; while learning is essential, incorporating these principles is the key.

In your work, how can you support and elevate the ideas, individuals, and institutions that are often overlooked or marginalized by mainstream perspectives? (Who can you lift up and how?) 

  • Promoting Inclusive Practices: Keep sounding the alarm that organizations must prioritize operationalizing diversity, equity, and inclusion.
  • Collaborative Projects: Partner with organizations that want to elevate their inclusion and create joint initiatives.
  • Advocacy and Awareness: Use my platform to raise awareness about the systemic issues faced by people with conviction histories and continue to push for inclusion.

Errika Moore, Executive Director, STEM Funders Network

On many occasions, philanthropy is automatically invited to the table when unfortunately fellow community partners are not.  Thus, philanthropy must leverage its circle of influence to effect change, ensure more inclusive dialogues, and create equitable space at traditionally exclusive tables. In my role as a leader in and representative of a philanthropic organization, I encourage our partners to give grantees access to their circles of influence to enhance their strategic partnerships, openly market their grantees to provide visibility, and overtly stand with their grantees to empower them during challenging times.  We are currently operating within a troubling and divisive landscape within education.  Thus, this is an opportunity for philanthropy to serve as champions for justice reflecting persistence amid resistance.  In this heightened capacity and positioning, we can support the strength, the visibility, the power, and the influence of ideas, individuals, and institutions from outside the dominant frames that shape and distort our world. The decisions we do or don’t make now will have multigenerational effects.

In my role with the STEM Funders Network, I have the opportunity to illuminate the ideas and initiatives of marginalized organizations or organizations that represent and support marginalized communities.  The STEM Funders Network is a community leader and partner. As such, it has an obligation to community service and uplift. As I engage in events like the Science Summit hosted by the Simons Foundation, the NSF ADVANCE Equity in STEM Community Convening, or the CONECD conference I meet organizations and STEM leaders from around the country that are making a difference and making an impact.  Through our social media platforms, via our Power of Positive InfluenceTM webinar series, or through partnerships with national media leaders such as STEM Magazine we have an opportunity to leverage our social capital and give voice and agency to overlooked, under-resourced, and marginalized organizations or communities. Not because they “need” us to…but because their great work deserves elevation and illumination.  So often our systems give credence to mainstream or “big box” entities and devalue leaders in marginalized communities.  Philanthropy has an opportunity to be a catalyst for innovation, a change agent, and a positive disruptor of systemic challenges. 

Resources shared:

Fresh Perspectives Unlock Creative Wealth-Building Solutions in Cities Across America

Posted on by Syd Goin

Most Americans live in cities; in fact, almost 90% of us will be city residents by 2050. Yet, every community is different and requires locally relevant solutions to the challenges and opportunities they face due to geography, history, industry, and many other place-based factors. City leaders with a local focus and lived experience in the communities they serve have never been more vital and influential in helping communities thrive across the U.S. 

Mayor Quinton Lucas of Kansas City, for example, has led the way on free public transportation and the creation of a Housing Trust Fund that has so far allocated about $19 million to support affordable housing projects and create nearly 1,000 affordable units, in a city where he grew up and experienced homelessness. But, resources in these public sector teams are stretched, capacity is limited, and space for creativity to solve systemic issues is hard to come by. 

The danger of never making space for creative thinking in local government or empowering city leaders to try new approaches is that inertia is inevitable. If neighborhoods in cities across America are to break out of cycles of inequality and build resiliency and generational wealth, we must embrace new ideas that challenge the status quo. 

In that vein, innovative impact leaders are creating ways to overcome capacity hurdles and support the important role that city government plays as a change agent. FUSE is a national nonprofit with a mission to increase the effectiveness of local governments in building more equitable communities. They have a unique method of empowering public sector teams to be the source of creative, community-led solutions for wealth-building among underserved populations. 

The FUSE Executive Fellowship Program hires diverse private-sector professionals and embeds them in government agencies on a full-time basis. These fellows bring new ideas, research, and action, all in service of advancing racial equity and addressing pressing challenges facing city communities. This allows FUSE to pursue creative approaches and public-private partnerships. Many fellows continue working in the public sector after their projects are complete, creating a unique pathway for private-sector professionals to make career moves and fulfill their desire to achieve greater impact in the communities where they work and live. 

The interventions by the FUSE Executive Fellows always begin with deep community listening, which is the genesis of fresh ideas: from the community, for the community. They integrate insights with data and human-centered design to help address seemingly intractable problems. For example: How can you preserve affordable housing and promote climate resilience in Durham, NC? How can you ensure everyone has access to fresh food in Birmingham, AL? How can local government use data and analytics to reduce reliance on incarceration and drive criminal justice reforms throughout LA County? How can county leadership help bridge the digital equity divide in Central Texas? And — in many places — how do you shift a workforce into a new era of needs and opportunities, post-pandemic?

Washington, D.C., witnessed a tremendous loss of jobs during the pandemic, particularly within the hospitality and leisure industries. The District’s Workforce Investment Council partnered with Karla Yoder, FUSE Executive Fellow to create a strategic plan to create a more resilient local ecosystem, for workers and employers. Yoder’s work not only highlighted how workers earning low wages were bearing the brunt of job losses but also noted accelerated shifts in the workforce landscape, with demand surging for workers in healthcare and technology. These factors underscored the need for employers to embrace skills-based hiring in order to service new and growing needs. In response, Yoder designed recovery initiatives tailored to D.C.’s workforce, including career coaching for unemployed residents and fostering partnerships between employers and skill-training providers.

FUSE Executive Fellow Daniel Han’s work with the City of Long Beach is another great example of innovative solutions supporting those at the highest risk of economic disruption. He helped the City connect nontraditional, community-based lenders to small business owners of color who were struggling to access capital. “The one thing that remains consistent is the critical leadership role that local government has in being a social innovator, change agent, and advocate for creating an inclusive platform for small businesses to thrive in the community,” said Han.

Just recently, FUSE Executive Fellow Kay West embedded with the City of Fort Worth to help revitalize their Economic Development Department’s “Business Assistance Center” to better support small businesses and entrepreneurs. West’s engagement with the community led to changes that made the Center more accessible, responsive, and fortified — including streamlined processes, more flexible opening hours, a more user-friendly “one-stop shop” web experience; and community convenings to foster inclusivity. “It brings me much joy to serve as a community quarterback to propel impact and bring national resources to my city,” said West, who continues to help communities and economic development organizations advance small enterprise initiatives and build capacity for equitable entrepreneurship programs.

The FUSE Executive Fellowship is one of a variety of exciting new localized wealth-building and social innovation models that are emerging. These programs show how fresh perspectives and an injection of creative capacity can make significant changes in large systems. Other models include building strength through networks that share insights and support between cities, like the Strong Cities Network that exists to help leaders address all forms of hate and polarization; or lifting up the voices of the unheard across a state in order to drive policy change, as demonstrated by End Poverty In California, which was founded by the Michael Tubbs, former Mayor of Stockton, California. 

We need this variety of solutions and an upswell of energy behind local government action to address a holistic issue like wealth building in underserved communities. Housing, education, workforce development, financial inclusion, small business support, digital equity, social cohesion, place-making, culture building — all of these elements and more are part of empowering a community to define its own future and build economic and social resilience. Funders and impact partners often struggle with how to help drive this type of cohesive community impact, when they are focused on one or two issues. 

The FUSE Executive Fellow model offers inspiration for one way forward: harnessing the power of creative individuals to integrate local knowledge, skills from the private sector, and collaborative coalition-building to turn the vision of community wealth-building into concrete policies and initiatives. From helping the City of Houston to create a comprehensive digital inclusion strategy that prioritizes those marginalized households that lack broadband access, to partnering with Cincinnati to help create 4,000 quality green jobs as part of a just transition to the green economy, to empowering Mayor Dickens in Atlanta to launch the Faith Based Development Initiative to create thousands of affordable housing units, the FUSE approach is effectively fast-tracking local government innovation across America. 

In a year when national elections will be held in at least 64 countries around the world, it is vital to remember that change starts at home—and local leaders are the ones whose decisions will have the greatest impact on daily lives. In this context, it’s energizing to see impact leaders like FUSE rally behind local government teams and innovate to allow creative, community-driven approaches to wealth building to flourish in cities across the U.S.

Visit fuse.org to learn more about their Executive Fellowship program.

What Makes a Joyful Community?

Posted on by Alesha Washington

This question stays top of mind for me. A joyful community is at the core of Seattle Foundation’s vision as we strive for shared prosperity, belonging and justice in the region.

I’ve also been reflecting on a joyful community due to an experience hosted by NationSwell. In March, I joined a gathering of corporate and philanthropy leaders in Montgomery, Alabama to reflect on the civil rights movement and the journey towards justice in the United States.

I have history with the south, as a part of my family has roots in Mississippi. Walking around Montgomery somehow felt like being home again with people and a culture so familiar to me. It also brought me proximate to the places – like the Bricklayers Hall which served as the headquarters for the Montgomery bus boycott – that were important meeting grounds for the civil rights and social justice gains that we are fighting to protect today.

While in Montgomery, we toured the Legacy Museum, created by Bryan Stevenson and the Equal Justice Initiative. As I walked through the exhibits, I reflected on the lasting impact of the institution of slavery in this country – Jim Crow laws, school segregation, redlining, the criminal justice system, and so on. As I exited, there was a quote that summed up the museum’s purpose and commitment to justice – that the children’s children of those who endured these times, could one day live unburdened by the legacy of slavery.

That struck me – to live unburdened by the legacy of slavery. My time in Montgomery invited reflection on that legacy in my own life.

My paternal grandfather came to Cleveland from St. Louis when he was a young man. He and my grandmother settled in the City of East Cleveland, a predominantly Black community, and invested in real estate to ensure no one in the family would ever go without a home. Not too long ago, out of curiosity, I asked my aunt what prompted my grandfather’s move to Cleveland. Her response – a group of white men threatened to kill him. He was fleeing for his life.

My maternal grandfather was a farmer in a small town in Mississippi. It’s where my mom was born, raised, and learned to work on a farm. I remember spending a few summers on that land. I was also aware that my grandparents likely did not own the land on which they lived and raised their children and some grandchildren. And discussing why was not a conversation that the elders in my family openly had.

In 1989 when I was six years old, my mom married an incredible guy who became my bonus dad. His name was Eddie. He was funny and quirky. He was also white. In three states in this country from the 1980s, 1990s, and as late as 2000, my parents could have been jailed because of the illegal nature of their interracial relationship.

At 41 years old, I hold this history and memory in my body that is defined by the impacts of slavery, white supremacy, and institutional racism. What would it feel like to be unburdened by this?

I believe it would feel like joy.

Joy has been at the center of my work for some time now because it is a way to bring people together. Regardless of lived experience or status, joy evokes a certain feeling, even a sound. Through joy, we find warmth, laughter and belonging. For some, joy is rooted deeply in faith; and in it, we find strength. Joy is something that no one can take away from us. For others, joy is an act of resistance (as first coined by poet Toi Derricote), and liberation. We have the right to exist and to be free.

We all deserve access to a safe home, connection and belonging, and resources to live our best lives. We also deserve to live in communities unburdened by racism, othering, discrimination, and violence. These are all building blocks to a joyful community.

So, how do we get there?

A part of the solution is for all of us to do better in valuing and honoring the humanity of our neighbors who are different from us. The other part – and this is critical – is meaningful, equitable, and sustained policy and systems change. The burden and legacy of slavery is clearly found in systems and policies that were designed for only some to succeed. To realize a joyful community of shared prosperity and belonging, we must change that.

Seattle Foundation recently completed a strategic plan outlining the work we will do over the next three years to move towards making the vision of a joyful community a reality. We will make bold moves in innovative financing for affordable housing production, climate justice, and increased access to make childcare more equitable. Throughout our grantmaking and advocacy, we will remain committed to racial equity and justice, community organizing, and policy reform. We’ll remain steadfast on this journey until every individual has true agency and power over the direction of their lives and systems are not barriers to their success.

The path ahead will be difficult but I will not be deterred because I know what I’m after – joy. Not just for me, but for generations to come. Generations of babies that will one day grow and thrive as adults whose experiences are not altered by the impacts of systems that have failed to serve them. Future adults who will be able to move through this world without fear, with true freedom, and full of joy.

Pathways to Economic Opportunity: Barclays and COOP Careers

Posted on by Anthony Smith

As wealth and income inequality continue to climb in the United States, some employers are developing innovative models and catalytic partnerships designed to bring new skills, job access, and ultimately economic opportunity to financially vulnerable and historically marginalized individuals.

In a new interview series, Pathways to Economic Opportunity, NationSwell is taking a closer look at some of the solutions companies are pursuing in service of leveling the playing field and expanding their talent pipelines. In spotlighting these partnerships, this series hopes to uncover the “secret sauce” that makes these solutions successful for the benefit of other employers and their leaders.

The first installment featured the Dow Last Mile Fund for Manufacturing & Skilled Trades. Here, in the second installment, NationSwell sat down with members of the teams at Barclays and COOP Careers (COOP) — a nonprofit that aims to provide training, job skills, and peer connections in order to help vulnerable populations overcome underemployment — about their partnership and newly-launched Financial Services track.

Here’s what they had to say:

Bird’s Eye View: Through its partnership with COOP, Barclays aims to equip the next generation of finance professionals with the abilities and networks they need to overcome underemployment while developing a robust network of diverse talent in the financial sector.

In 2023, the partners announced a new Financial Services track designed specifically to help participants find careers in data analytics and finance. The partnership’s pilot semester, which kicked off in August 2023, welcomed 35 students through two separate cohorts, and a spring semester began in mid-February.

Fast Stats: 

  • Every spring and fall, COOP convenes peer cohorts of 16-18 diverse, low-income college grads in New York, California, Illinois, and Florida, focused on three distinct areas: data analytics, digital marketing, and financial services. 
  • In addition to virtual training and skill-building, the program matches motivated first-generation college graduates with alumni coaches to support them in building the professional tools and networks they need for the careers they deserve. 
  • Within 12 months of program completion, four-in-five COOP alumni are fully employed, earning a median of $52,000 per year (median pre-program earnings are $12k (inclusive of both folks that enter the program under or unemployed).
  • COOP’s “head-heart-hustle” approach to curriculum design is 200-hours long and focuses on providing a mix of hard and soft skills, as well as near-peer guidance, social capital, and industry connections.

The Secret Sauce: 

“That’s what it’s all about for us: building social capital. We believe it’s the connections that make a difference in finding that first — or next — great job.” – Patricia Malizia, Senior Director of Marketing and Communications, COOP Careers

1. NationSwell: What’s the origin story of the relationship between Barclays and COOP?

Sarah Wessel, Managing Director of Partnerships at COOP Careers:

The relationship started as a partnership brokered through Robin Hood. The first couple of years were mostly focused on philanthropic support from Barclays, with some volunteer engagements mixed in.

As we got to know each other better, the Barclays Citizenship team approached us to discuss a more formalized partnership between our two organizations, which began maybe three or four years ago. 

Over time, given Barclays’ role in the sector, we realized it was a great opportunity for Barclays to become the lead partner for a new financial services track just as they were thinking deeply about how to diversify their talent pipeline and help more individuals launch careers in financial services.

The partnership has just grown immensely over the last 18 months.

John Kenny, VP, Citizenship team at Barclays:

At Barclays, our Citizenship strategy is focused on employability. Through our LifeSkills program  we’re really focused on how we can help upskill individuals who have historically faced barriers to work and help create pathways into meaningful employment. 

So we look to work with the most impactful partners in this space, and we’ve been so impressed by COOP’s completion  rates, placement rates, and with what COOP participants have gone on to do post-program. 

2. NationSwell: It sounds like the Financial Services track was born out of a trusting partnership and an unmet need. Who were the key stakeholders involved in the early formation of the new curriculum, and what was the critical piece of information that signaled that this was the right time in both programs’ relationship together to launch something new? 

Sarah Wessel, COOP Careers:

It was less about one moment and more about how all of these things converged: strong early partners in the finance sector like Barclays, and a lot of knowledge from our alumni due diligence across the industry. We told ourselves that if we want to scale 10x in New York, we must find a way to access the financial services industry because it is the largest upwardly mobile employer market here. 

And the COOP theory of change is all around social capital and alumni peer mobilization. So everything we do is focused on what our alumni can come back and teach students, and how they can help provide them an entry point into upwardly mobile careers. We view trends in our alumni community as a barometer for how we should be approaching program evolution.

The impetus for this belief that we could help others with entry into the field was when our existing alumni were finding some success in finance jobs. There is a real need, and the talent we were already training was obviously a good fit for the roles that financial institutions are looking to fill. 

If we give our participants more context on the cultural environment in finance and the types of roles they would be applying for, that would really help them feel more confident about  applying for these roles at a larger volume.

3. NationSwell: Sarah, you described a particular need you discovered through all the learning you just walked us through. How is that now reflected in the experience that a participant has in the program? What are the key elements of that journey for them? 

Sarah Wessel, COOP Careers:

Our 200-hour curriculum is oriented around three pillars: head, heart, and hustle.

Head covers the technical skills, and we were able to add quite a number of modules specific to the analytics skill set that they will need going into roles very specific to banking and finance — hard skills such as Excel, SQL, and Tableau 

Heart helps to strengthen soft skills, such as communication, conflict resolution, and time management.

Hustle is about growing job-hunting skills like resume and cover letter writing, email etiquette, and collective networking to start their job search with a plan, a portfolio, and support from peers — and connections.

4. NationSwell: What sort of fingerprint does Barclays have on the curriculum or on the experience program participants are having in the financial services track? 

John Kenny, Barclays:

We’ve brought together leaders from different businesses and functions across Barclays to share their view on what types of skills are important to learn and refine, and then we’ve collaborated with the COOP team to inform the curriculum. That level of collaboration speaks volumes to how COOP is hyper-focused on equipping grads in the program.

We’ve also created guest lecture opportunities, where we have members of our team give seminar-style talks to COOPers, others have taken part in career chats, and dozens have help the COOPers prepare through in-person mock interview sessions held at our office. 

5. NationSwell: How do you select participants? What are the criteria that you’re using? 

Sarah Wessel, COOP Careers:

Any participant interested in applying for COOP fills out a form on our website. From there, they sign up for an info session, which is held in a group format and typically virtual. During that info session, all interested applicants learn about COOP and different career tracks, and they hear alumni that speak about their experience in the program and what they’re doing now so folks can start to understand what they might be interested in pursuing.

The eligibility requirements are that candidates have to make less than $50,000 a year; they have to be able to commit to our program, which is four months long, Monday through Thursday, at night; and then they have to meet two out of the three other requirements to be considered: identify as a first-generation college graduate; have been Pell Grant eligible while they were going through college; or identify as a person of color. 

Over 95% of our participants identify as people of color, and around 85-90% identify as first-generation college graduates. 

If everything looks good and it seems like they’re still motivated to apply, they go forward to a group interview. In this interview, they are given an assignment they have to complete ahead of time and then talk through their process live.

We have a long waitlist, but if you get through the process, we have a pretty high acceptance rate.

There isn’t a second layer of screening that we’re looking for, but there are some personality traits that we’re interested in, because our model is built upon paying it forward. So when looking at who’s really interested in being a part of our program for the long haul, we strongly consider whether they are ready to make the time commitment. 

What I think is really special about COOP is the relationship between the alumni near-peer coach and a cohort member and how they pull them into their industry and help them build their career for the first few years. 

6. NationSwell: What happens after someone completes the program — what sort of support are they receiving on a go-forward basis to take that big step into a career path? 

Sarah Wessel, COOP Careers:

Our program is designed to follow people forever. Folks end up feeling like they can lean on each other throughout their career, which I think is really special.

But in terms of official support from the organization, every single one of our alumni is assigned an alumni manager who is responsible for supporting them with getting their first good job. They meet one-on-one with their alumni manager as many times as they want to do mock interviews, resume reviews, job searching, and talk through any challenges they might be facing. The alumni manager also helps them with negotiating their first offer if they need help with that.

Our alumni managers recently hosted a workshop on overcoming rejection and keeping your motivation high in the job search, which is something that, especially this past year, has been really pertinent to a lot of our participants.

Patricia Malizia, Senior Director of Marketing and Communications at COOP Careers:

We also send an alumni email newsletter every month, which we recently restructured to better serve our alumni. We created a job resources page to ensure all alumni know about the jobs that are open and available. 

We also have a whole section on our website dedicated to supporting our alumni, which we just relaunched to serve our alumni even better. And we have blogs on our website about some of the things that Sarah mentioned, like developing your  resume and cover letters.

Matthew Snitkey, Director, Barclays

We have had the opportunity to hire 11 COOP alumni into Barclays across several teams, including Global Markets Operations. The support and preparation COOP provides is evident and tangible. We’ve been so impressed with how COOP alumni have hit the ground running and have brought diversity of thought and positive results in our process, workflows and controls.

7. NationSwell: What do you think is most helpful for other leaders to know about the DNA of this partnership?

John Kenny, Barclays:

We so often hear people on the Barclays side — including senior leaders and hiring managers — saying how impressed they are with the drive of COOPers. These are folks who have gotten their degrees, many of whom are working full-time, and then dedicate several hours each night to additional intensive learning for extended periods of time. And I think that, in and of itself, exemplifies a level of commitment and a level of interest in the sector that they’re building on at COOP. 

Sarah Wessel, COOP Careers:

The relationship-driven way we’ve built this partnership is a missing link for first-generation college students. Yeah, there’s a need for some skills and aptitude, but as John said, many participants have the drive and the ability to do any number of things — what they need is access. And what Barclays has really done is find a way to provide that access.

Barclays has been open to believing talent can come from anywhere, and that it’s part of their responsibility as corporate citizens to find ways to get all of their staff involved in different communities and provide that access. These students have the ability already — they just need somebody to vouch for them and give them that first good opportunity to succeed. Finding meaningful work is hard. Why should it be lonely?