Mayor Bowser Launches Black Homeownership Strike Force to Combat Racial Wealth Gap | mayormb – Executive Office of the Mayor
(Washington, DC) Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) kicked off the Black Homeownership Strike Force (BHSF) by announcing the members who will serve on the committee and work to identify actionable recommendations to increase and support homeownership for Black residents of the District of Columbia. The announcement took place on land that Mayor Bowser fought to reclaim as ANC Commissioner and Councilmember during the ribbon cutting for Riggs Park Place, a 183-unit housing community of townhomes, apartments, and retail located at the intersection of Riggs Road and South Dakota Ave, NE in Ft. Totten.
“The Black Homeownership Strike Force will address decades of racially discriminatory policies and practices that have hampered access to one of the most significant ways to build wealth for Black residents, which is homeownership,” said Mayor Bowser. “In partnership with the Strike Force, I intend to chart a path to rectify these problems with the recommendations and goals that emerge from its members and the public – and to set a 2030 goal for Black homeownership.”
The Strike Force is made up of government and public experts in housing and financial counseling, lending/underwriting, real estate development and services, as well as representatives from the faith-based, senior, immigrant, and LGBTQ+ communities and advocates and representatives that address social and racial equity.
The charge also includes providing recommendations for uses of a $10 million Black Homeownership Fund proposed in Mayor Bowser’s Fair Shot budget and creating a goal for increasing the number of Black homeowners in DC by 2030. The latter will be informed by the work of the National Black Homeownership Collaborative, which has identified seven steps to increase Black homeownership by 3 million net new homeowners nationally by 2030, an increase of more than 10 percentage points in the Black homeownership rate nationally: 3by30.org. The Strike Force’s recommendations are due in October 2022.
Mayor Bowser announced the Strike Force will be co-chaired by Anita Cozart, Interim Director of the Office of Planning, and Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler, Senior Minister of Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ. In addition, the following members will also serve on the Strike Force:
Public Representatives:
- Sheila Alexander-Reid, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Bias Sync
- S. Kathryn Allen, President of Answer Title (CBE)
- Sasha Angus, President and CEO of Manna Inc.
- Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, Chief of Membership, Policy and Equity at National Community Reinvestment Coalition
- Harrison Beacher, President of the Greater Capitol Area Association of Realtors (GCAAR)
- Ellis Carr, President and CEO of Capital Impact Partners and CDC Small Business Finance
- Ayana Douglas, Realtor at Compass
- Anne Ford, Community Member and Neighborhood Legal Services
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