Pursue Economic
Justice
Some say the racial wealth gap is too big to solve; we believe it’s too urgent to be ignored. And we’re taking action.
At the Greater Washington Community Foundation, we see both the region’s tremendous prosperity and its deep disparities.
By almost every measure — education, income, housing, health, and wealth — our community’s Black, Brown, and other communities of color are significantly lagging behind their White neighbors.
We believe that by improving the economic stability, mobility, and prosperity of our neighbors and communities facing the deepest disparities, we will ultimately improve the quality of life for everyone who lives, works, and raises a family in this region.
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The first step on the road to economic justice requires we continue to invest in meeting our neighbors’ basic needs. These needs include (but are not limited to) housing stability, education, workforce training, food security and health access – such as investments made through our Partnership to End Homelessness and other initiatives.
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Having met our neighbors’ basic needs, the next step is to help them progress from economic survival to economic growth. This approach requires that we be bold, purposeful, and innovative in our investments – ensuring that they are both community-focused and community-led.
In some cases, this will require us to think outside the box of what is considered ‘traditional philanthropy’ – investing in proven strategies and launching new initiatives such as Guaranteed Income Pilots. It also requires us to invest in and lift up new and exciting initiatives towards systemic change – such as those embraced by our Health Equity Fund.
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The final element in closing the racial wealth gap, requires us to look to the future by investing in innovative initiatives that create, facilitate, or increase wealth building opportunities for individuals and communities of color. This includes (but is not limited to) investments in education, homeownership, entrepreneurship, business ownership, and community wealth building.
As with Economic Mobility, this requires us to be creative and proactive in seeking out innovative investment opportunities and such as our Brilliant Futures and Children’s Savings Pilot Program.
Strategies Towards Economic Justice
The Community Foundation actively pursues powerful, innovative, strategies to promote economic justice in the parts of our community that are experiencing the deepest disparities in homeownership and income. These strategies are made possible in part by the“Together, We Prosper” Campaign and include:
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Guaranteed Income Pilots
Direct cash assistance for a limited period of time is one of the best tools to help low-income earners achieve self-sufficiency. Guaranteed income can enable a person to pay down a debt, move into permanent housing, further their education to secure a better job, or stop working a second job and instead be home for family dinner and homework time. The Community Foundation is proud to be among the first philanthropic funders of direct cash assistance initiatives in our region, with ongoing initiatives in DC, Maryland, and Virginia.
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Children’s Savings Program
This financial instrument provides young children with savings accounts that they can redeem at graduation to pay for higher education, purchase a home, start a business, or take other steps toward securing their future. Researchers for the Annie E. Casey Foundation found, through economic modeling, that children’s trust accounts with an initial deposit of $7,500 could reduce the racial wealth gap in a community by as much as 28%.
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Community Wealth Building
The Community Foundation will work to increase opportunities for Black and Brown people to create, influence, control, and benefit from the financial and corporate entities that produce and sustain wealth. This means expanding entrepreneurship, microenterprise, worker and employee ownership, community land trusts, and other shared equity practices.
Our Work in Action
Health Equity Fund
The $95 million Health Equity Fund is designated to improve the health outcomes and health equity of DC residents. Created against a backdrop of urgent healthcare needs in the District of Columbia, the Health Equity Fund will address health disparities and social and structural determinants of health for historically underserved District residents. Mindful that health and wealth are inextricably connected, the strategy for this fund is to use an economic mobility frame to address the root causes that are causing health challenges in the first place.