Live & Learn and Fresh Start Women’s Foundation have been named Bank of America’s 2021 Neighborhood Builders for their efforts to improve women’s personal and financial empowerment.

The highly competitive, invitation-only grant awards $200,000 to local organizations to expand their impact by covering leadership training for the organizations’ leadership. The program is America’s largest investment in nonprofit leadership development.

Since 2003, Bank of America has invested $6.8 million in 36 Phoenix-area nonprofits, through the Neighborhood Builder program. Through the program, Bank of America has invested more than $280 million in over 1,400 nonprofits in 50 communities nationwide.

Bank of America’s 2021 Phoenix-area awardees are both focused on empowering women in generational poverty in bettering their livelihoods and reducing their dependence on government programs.

Live & Learn

Focused on helping women in Maricopa County break the cycle of generational poverty, Live & Learn provides women with a two-year program – individualized to each woman – to give them the stability, career, and self-sufficiency to end their dependence on government assistance. Each year, the program helps 150 women and there are currently over 450 on Live & Learn’s waitlist. 

“Women living in poverty face complicated, systemic barriers to changing their circumstances and giving their children a better future. If we do not offer a viable opportunity for economic mobility, poverty only becomes more entrenched with each generation,” Live & Learn Executive Director Kristin Chatsworth said. “Bank of America’s funding will allow us to add to our staff, empower more women, and increase broader community awareness of the issues.”

Fresh Start Women’s Foundation

Fresh Start Women’s Foundation has been helping women gain the resources, skills, and sustained behavior changes needed to attain and acquire economic independence. 

By giving women economic and social stability, the nonprofit aims to give women the opportunity to pursue an education, which the group sees as crucial to economic mobility. “For many of the women we serve, the chronic stress of poverty day in and day out stifles their ability to effectively pursue education and employment opportunities, a limitation that ultimately leaves them and their children stuck in desperate circumstances,” said Fresh Start CEO and President Kim McWaters.

The organization was the first in Arizona to use Mobility Mentoring with Economic Mobility Pathways to help women disrupt intergenerational poverty.According to a press release, “Fresh Start will use the Neighborhood Builders grant to build capacity and expand their wrap-around services, supporting women on their journey to self-sufficiency, education and career advancement.”

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One of the largest banks in the world recently reported the hiring of 10,000 new employees, all from low-income neighborhoods. 

Bank of America’s new program helps provide long-term career opportunities for those who wouldn’t otherwise have the resources and support necessary to find higher-paying occupations with potential for long-term growth. 

The Pathway program focuses investment into five major markets in the U.S., including Phoenix. 

Not only did Bank of America achieve its goal of hiring 10,000 new employees from low- and moderate-income (LMI) neighborhoods, but they did it ahead of schedule. The program’s viability has led Bank of America to commit to hiring another 10,000 from LMI neighborhoods by the year 2025. 

How the program works

Bank of America has partnered with , an organization focused on bringing equitable access to economic opportunity and education for young adults. The group provides direct service to young adults of all backgrounds. Through strategic partnerships, including the one with Bank of America, Year Up is able to connect young adults who are struggling financially with talent providers, employers, and policymakers. 

Local partners of Bank of America have also stepped up in support of the Pathway program. Along with Year Up, companies including Dress for Success, St. Joseph the Worker, Boys and Girls Club, and A New Leaf have worked to provide the program with access to specialized education and training that is necessary to give participants a greater chance at long term career opportunities. Other partnerships include community colleges, UnidosUS, and the National Urban League. 

While Pathway has established a talent pipeline through these strategic partnerships, the main piece of the program is Bank of America’s in-house education platform called . The Academy is by Bank of America as “A best-in-class learning approach that is designed to set them up for success throughout their careers providing a full range of ongoing professional development programs using industry-leading innovation including client engagement simulators, virtual reality, interactive labs, boot-camps, and instructor-led coursework.” 

How it helps business 

The program does not simply provide jobs for those in low-income neighborhoods, it establishes a reliable pipeline of talent that can be used to fill jobs that have long-term career growth potential. 

“This work furthers the bank’s longstanding commitment to creating equal employment opportunities for all by building a strong, diverse talent pipeline through hiring and recruiting, including from LMI neighborhoods, continuing our ability to mirror the clients and communities we serve,” Bank of America said in a statement. 

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A new from Bank of America says that Latinos have contributed to Arizona’s Gross Domestic Product. 

Contributions are most prominent in Education & Healthcare (16.9% of Arizona’s Latino GDP), Finance & Real Estate (12.9%), and Professional and Business Services (11.8%). 

There are eight states in the U.S. that are home to approximately three-quarters of the Latino population (Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, New Mexico, New York and Texas). These states have a Latino GDP of $2 trillion dollars. According to the study, if that figure were separated into a country of its own, that GDP would sit at the eighth-largest in the world, above Brazil and South Korea.

Compared to the , the Latino GDP was the fastest growing, maintaining a pace that was 21% faster than India’s and 30% faster than China’s. If the Latino population of the aforementioned eight states were a single state, it would produce a state GDP that would be second only to California.

The biggest impact comes from personal Latino consumption, which totaled more than $60.7 billion in 2018 alone.

Latinos are also making large contributions to the state outside of the economy. The Latino labor force grew at a rate that was

An additional assessing why Latinos are making such an outsize economic impact found that, accompanied with the growth denoted in the Bank of America study, the growth of the affluent Latino community is outpacing the growth of the affluent general population.

Affluent Hispanic/Latino households have grown by 81% since 2015, whereas the general population has seen an increase of 53%. 

were largely focused around an increased presence of family. Based on a representative sample of 512 affluent Hispanic/Latino households, the study found that family is a key motivating factor in creating financial stability. 

More than one-third of affluent Hispanics say that providing for their family is a top motivator. On top of that, they’re three times more likely than the general population to be driven by a desire to make their family proud. 

The testimonials included in the report include stories from first and second generation immigrants. Daisy Zuccardi, a first generation immigrant said, “I’m very grateful for the people who helped me when I first came to this country. So I would like to give back,” a common sentiment echoed in many of the interviews.

Both studies predict their identified trends will continue for quite some time. 

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As the Covid-19 vaccine rolls out, the long-term health and economic impacts from the pandemic will continue to be felt for months to come, particularly in Arizona’s Native American communities.

To help, Bank of America has directed more than $13 million to tribal nations in Arizona and the U.S., which were disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus. A main goal is to improve racial equality and opportunity, said Benito Almanza, the bank’s Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­arket president. 

“The historic, systemic challenges our Native American communities struggle with were further exacerbated by the ongoing pandemic,” Almanza said. “There is an urgent need to invest in tribal and native-owned small businesses, healthcare and jobs development to mitigate some of the enormous economic and health risks these communities face, on and off reservation lands.”  

Arizona is one of three states with the largest Native American population. The largest tribe, the , lies mostly in Arizona. The Navajo Nation and other tribes are benefiting from the funds including the White Mountain Apache, San Carlos Apache, Tohono O’Odham and Pascua Yaqui. 

Investing in Native-owned banks, career pathways part of funding mix

The funds are a mix of capital investments into Native-owned banks to help finance healthcare facilities and businesses as well as grants to nonprofits and institutions addressing the health, hunger and jobs-related needs in these communities. Bank of America also has programs for low interest loans to help business owners. 

In Arizona, the bank directed $865,000 to local organizations such as , , St. Mary’s Food Bank, United Food Bank, Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, and funds to help educational completion and career pathway programs for Native American students with Mesa Community College and Mesa-based United .  

Among the funds was $10 million to , the only national American Indian-owned community development bank in the country, to provide capital for small businesses, consumer lending needs, affordable housing, and community facilities such as schools and healthcare clinics. 

Part of bank’s commitment to advance racial economic opportunity 

Funding for capital investments into Native American Community Development Financial Institutions and workforce pathways for Native American students is part of the bank’s overall efforts to advance economic opportunity and racial equality.

According to the National, many Native Americans experience lower life expectancy, lower educational achievement levels, high unemployment rates and are among the poorest populations in the U.S.  

The prolonged pandemic has exacerbated the need for critical services and support for this vulnerable population, Almanza said. 

The Navajo Nation, for example, has experienced more coronavirus cases per capita than nearly any other place in the U.S., and during the height of the pandemic the rate of infection among the Navajo people was more than eight times the overall rate in New Mexico alone.

“Now more than ever, there is a tremendous need for more investment in and resources for Native American communities,” Almanza said. 

Bank commits $1 billion to improve racial economic equity

The funding is part of an overall commitment made by the bank last year to direct $1 billion in funding over four years to advance racial equality and economic opportunity. To learn more about the bank’s efforts, visit:

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As the pandemic highlights racial inequities in the nation, Bank of America (BofA) is focusing much of its philanthropy on people of color, including preparing community college and university students for higher paying jobs in high demand industries.   

In Arizona, BofA is giving a total $1 million to Pima Community College (PCC) in Tucson and Arizona State University (ASU) Downtown in Phoenix as part of a nationwide jobs initiative to help Black and Latino communities, which have been disproportionately impacted by the virus. 

“We remain committed to helping address the barriers to sustainable employment that exist for many communities of color,” said Adriana Kong Romero, the bank’s market president in Tucson, where community college students of color have very low rates of graduation. 

As part of the workforce initiative, BofA is working with major employers and the nonprofit to target specific hiring needs and create a clearly defined career pathway to future employment, bank officials said.

PCC College sets sights on workforce for manufacturing, IT, medical  

PCC will use the funding to accelerate the development of its implementation of “micro pathways” such as non-degree, certificate, and apprenticeship opportunities in manufacturing, IT, construction, logistics, and emergency medical services.

Great need in community colleges 

While some PCC students transfer to a university to continue their education, fewer than 16 percent earn a certificate or degree within six years at the college. 

Nationally, less than 40 percent of the community college students earn a certificate or degree within six years. For students of color, graduation rates are particularly low – 11.1 percent for Black students and 18.6 percent for Hispanic. 

“This funding will allow us to close critical skills gaps and open new opportunities for Pima graduates,” said PCC Chancellor Lee Lambert, who has been focused on becoming a top producer of highly skilled technicians for industries like aerospace, defense, manufacturing, and healthcare.

ASU push to produce more professionals of color 

ASU intends to use the funding to continue to encourage and guide students of color to become professionals in technology, medicine, engineering, education, design and other industries. 

Among the companies partnering with ASU to prepare and recruit students are ON Semiconductor, Intel, Salt River Project, Arizona Public Service, ADP, Enterprise, Vanguard, State Farm, Ball Aerospace, PepsiCo, and Texas Instruments.

President Michael Crow has long stated that Arizona’s future lies in creating a path for the state’s large Hispanic population to achieve academic and career success. 

Under his vision, Latino student enrollment has almost doubled in the past 12 years with approximately 15,700 Hispanics enrolled in fall 2018. Today, more than 40 percent of students are from underrepresented populations, and of all undergraduates, 35 percent are the first in their family to attend college. 

“There is an enormous amount of work to be done to reach all of the learners who have the drive and desire to attend college, and this contribution by BofA helps more of them achieve their dreams,” Crow said.  

Bank commits $1 billion to advance racial economic opportunity 

The workforce initiative is part of BofA’s recent $1 billion, four-year commitment to advance racial equality and economic opportunity. Of that, $25 million is going to upskill and reskill students of color. The initiative includes partnerships with nearly two dozen community colleges that serve predominantly Black and Hispanic-Latino students, public Black colleges and universities and public Hispanic-serving institutions. 

Ultimately, the goal is to place them in higher paying and family sustaining jobs, bank and college officials said. 

To read more about BofA’s efforts to help students of color, go to: .

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As the United States embarks on the path to economic recovery, the nation’s banks are preparing for an unprecedented post-pandemic boom. Financial institutions are anxious to invest in job creators and workers alike to help fuel a hoped-for V-shaped recovery.

The is clear, according to economists eyeing a rapid recovery: as nations emerge from self-imposed lockdown, they will see tremendous growth.

Despite predictions of up to 20% national unemployment in May of 2020, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics earlier this month that the United States’ unemployment rate dropped from 14.7% in April to 13.3% in May. The economy a whopping 2.5 million  jobs within four weeks.

This all unfolds in the background of another glaring issue facing America. With the murder of George Floyd at the hands of now-charged Minneapolis police officers sparking national outrage, a movement to end police brutality and eradicate racism has swept across every corner of the United States.

Financial institutions and job creators are taking notice, seeking to make more opportunities available for people of color and aiming to be a part of the solution.

Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf “commit that [Wells Fargo] will do all we can to support our diverse communities and foster a company culture that deeply values and respects diversity and inclusion.” 

Scharf says that Wells Fargo will take part in creating an “economy that allows each person to succeed through hard work and creativity and to lead a life of meaning and dignity.”

This is in addition to the bank’s “residential property foreclosure sales, evictions, and involuntary automobile repossessions.”

Bank of America

Bank of America has a $1 billion commitment to economic opportunity initiatives over the next four years. The comprehensive program will focus on four main areas: health, job training, small business support, and housing. 

“Underlying economic and social disparities that exist have accelerated and intensified during the global pandemic,” CEO Brian Moynihan said. “The events of the past week have created a sense of true urgency that has arisen across our nation, particularly in view of the racial injustices we have seen in the communities where we work and live. We all need to do more.”

Recognizing the reality of racism and actively working to solve it, this initiative is focused towards empowering communities too often ignored.

Western Alliance

Western Alliance Bank its intentions to reinvest in America. They have pledged $2 million “to help mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic on its local communities, and to strengthen those communities as they emerge from the crisis.”

The bank also $150,000 directly to Arizona’s Coronavirus Relief Fund.

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