Citi’s Action for Racial Equity Initiative Invests $1 Billion to Address the Racial Wealth Gap in the U.S. – Yahoo Finance
Year One Results Outpace Plan to Deliver on the Three-Year Commitment
NEW YORK, November 09, 2021–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Citi and the Citi Foundation announced today the Action for Racial Equity initiative has already invested $1 billion in strategic initiatives to help close the racial wealth gap and increase economic mobility in the United States in year one of a three-year commitment. Announced in September 2020, Citi’s Action for Racial Equity is a comprehensive approach to 1) provide greater access to banking and credit in communities of color, 2) increase investment in Black-owned businesses, 3) expand affordable housing and homeownership among Black Americans and 4) advance anti-racist practices in its company and the financial services industry. Citi is on track to far exceed its original $1.1 billion commitment.
Citi and the Citi Foundation’s initial goals through the end of 2023 included:
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$550 million to support homeownership for people of color and affordable housing by minority developers
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$350 million in procurement opportunities for Black-owned business suppliers
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$50 million in impact investing equity for Black entrepreneurs
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$100 million to support Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs)
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$100 million in Citi Foundation grants to support community change agents addressing racial equity
Citi exceeded its procurement goal for its investments in Black-owned suppliers, and the company is on track to meet the other commitments by the end of 2023.
“We are meeting the challenge of helping close the racial wealth gap with urgency,” said Jane Fraser, CEO, Citi. “In just one year since launching Action for Racial Equity, we have already invested $1 billion into initiatives expanding economic opportunity for communities of color. There is still more work to be done to advance anti-racist practices both within our firm and across the industry, and we look forward to continuing to evolve our approach to driving diversity, equity and inclusion for our colleagues, clients and communities.”
Building on the momentum of progress shared earlier this year, Citi has deepened its commitments in the last six months. Among the progress detailed below, Citi is creating a Diverse Financial Institutions Unit, a centralized team within the company focused on supporting MDIs that serve communities of color. The new team will support the recently launched Citi MDI Rotational Program, a first-of-its-kind initiative which embeds Citi’s executives within MDIs for up to a year to share expertise and help grow their business. Citi is also among the first 50 companies and first major …….
Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/citi-action-racial-equity-initiative-143000373.html