WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jan 25, 2022–
On Tuesday, JPMorgan Chase announced a $75 million, five-year commitment in philanthropic capital and flexible low-cost loans to the Greater Washington region. These investments are drawn from critical lessons learned from the firm’s business growth and community investments in the Mid-Atlantic region over the past five years.
Wards 7 & 8 in Washington D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland will each benefit from $20 million from the new commitment, while the remaining $35 million will be divided up across the region including to places such as Richmond, Virginia. This new commitment brings the firm’s total investments focused on Black, Hispanic, Latino and other underserved communities in the region to $125 million by 2025.
Prior to the pandemic, almost one-fifth of the D.C. population was living in poverty. The racial wealth gap was eight times greater than the national average, with white households in D.C. having 81 times the wealth of Black households — and the pandemic has only widened the gap ( Urban Institute ).
“Business must do its part to help solve challenges facing the customers and communities it serves,” said Peter Scher, Vice Chairman, JPMorgan Chase & Co “Addressing inequities requires concerted and sustained efforts by public and private sector partners that seek to build wealth for Communities of Color. This new commitment, along with what we’ve learned from growing our business and community support here, will hopefully be a model for others to follow and help create meaningful, lasting, and equitable change in the region.”
Creating a More Equitable Greater Washington Region
From the firm’s initial $10 million commitment, it has learned a number of lessons which will inform its business and philanthropic investments, collaboration with business and community partners and policy support going forward:
1) Regional collaboration is necessary to bridge the racial wealth divide
2) Invest in women of color, who are key drivers of household economic mobility
3) Change systems by removing embedded barriers through intentional and integrated investment, philanthropy and policy
4) Invest in diverse-led organizations and business that are “by and for” communities of color
Some of the firm’s new philanthropic investments, which have been informed by these lessons, include support for an effort to connect women to wealth building opportunities, and a long-term affordable housing initiative that seeks to advance systems change.
Connecting Women to Wealth-Building Opportunities in the Region
As part of JPMorgan Chase’s annual competition to source innovative and sustainable ideas to advance equity in communities across the U.S., the firm sourced proposals for projects designed for and by Black and Latina women to address racial and gender wealth gaps.
Two of the six winning collaborations are from Washington, D……..
