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Investors Want to Align Their Dollars with Racial Justice Demands

Oscar Perry Abello

September 08, 2020 |

Next City |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

Investors are using their clout to call for racial justice through the investment consulting firm Activest. The firm is attracting millions of dollars from companies that want to make fiscal justice investments. In a bid to use investments to fuel the grassroots criminal justice movement, Activest is alerting municipal bond investors when the city of Chicago uses those bonds for police brutality settlements. Activest has lined up $100 million from investors who want to make fiscal justice investments through municipal bonds which would then allow them to have a say over how it is, or is not, spent.

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How investor pressure prompted oil majors to wake up to climate change

Attracta Mooney

August 31, 2020 |

Financial Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom

Due to pressure from shareholders and asset managers to invest sustainably, there has been a rapid growth in environmental, social, and government investing. Assets in sustainable mutual funds globally reached $1 trillion in the second quarter of 2020 and fund managers rolled out 107 new sustainable funds in Europe. Despite this increase in interest, shareholders continue to grapple with balancing sustainable considerations with investment decisions.

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We Know How to Fix Student Debt

David Byrne

July 31, 2020 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

A study found that students without debt ended up with a higher income than students with debt, an overall benefit to the larger economy. In the U.S., "44.7 million American adults are saddled with student debt totaling $1.6 trillion.” This article explores what other countries like Germany, New Zealand, and South Korea, among others have done to lower the cost of university tuition and thus student debt.

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This is what one of the world's largest experiments in basic income looks like

Márvio dos Anjos Meaghan Tobin

July 23, 2020 |

Rest of World |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Brazil, Marica

Mumbuca is a digital currency used in Maricà’s basic income program. Residents, with few eligibility requirements, can qualify for a monthly stipend to purchase goods and services using a smart phone or a card. The currency runs on the digital platform E-dinheiro and can only be spent in the city limits. Individuals cannot swap Mumbucas for national currency, but businesses can after a 48-hour waiting period and a 1% fee. Local currencies, which are popular in Brazil, help residents increase personal savings and, with increased stipends during the Covid-19 pandemic, allowed informal workers to stay home.

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How Public Banking Could Make Black Lives Matter

Rickey Gard Diamond

July 08, 2020 |

Ms. Magazine |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Black banks have been held up by leaders and celebrities in the community as a way to end Black poverty. Previous efforts have been made in the 1960s when Black banks gave loans to community members after being denied home loans from white banks. But those loans lost money when housing values declined as a result of redlining policies that damaged public schools. Black banking therefore was not the answer to ending Black poverty and bridging the gap between white and black wealth. One law professor believes the answer lies in public banking which is funded by tax revenue and acts as a public utility.

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Coronavirus crisis in France: The battle to save the livelihoods of the self-employed

Ingri Bergo

May 22, 2020 |

The Local |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: France

The French government has spent billions to keep small businesses afloat during the coronavirus lockdown in hopes that the stopgap funding will ensure a quick economic recovery once the health crisis abates. The funding has been on a national and regional level, with extra funding for those who have been rejected for bank loans and are suffering the most. Small businesses are also exempt from rent, gas, or electricity payments until the country reopens. The distribution of funding has come with its challenges as some business fall through the bureaucratic cracks.

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This Nonprofit Helps Small Business Aid Go Where it Usually Doesn't

Oscar Perry Abello

May 21, 2020 |

Next City |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Minneapolis, Minnesota

An American nonprofit called the Community Reinvestment Fund expands access to small business loans by partnering with almost two dozen groups across the country to set up and scale up their community development lending. Founded in 1988, the group essentially takes on the risk of a SBA license so that others could benefit from their license. They created an online platform called Spark that redesigned the user interface of the existing loan processor platform to better facilitate the exchange of money. They have now supported loans for 1,000 communities across 49 states.

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Community Development Lenders Turning to Fintech for a Boost During Crisis

Oscar Perry Abello

April 30, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

CNote has provided a source of funding for federally certified Community Development Financial Institutions by pooling cash from foundations, bigger banks, philanthropists, and donor-advised funds to counter the lack of available cash flow experienced by CDFIs, which are lenders but not banks. Federal COVID-19 funding set aside $30 billion specifically for CDFIs that overwhelmingly lend to women- and minority-owned businesses, which face persistent racial and gender biases and are unable to successfully tap into lending and grants such as the Paycheck Protection Program through traditional lenders.

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Banking on community, local lenders secure PPP loans for businesses

Mara Abbott

April 29, 2020 |

Buffalo Bulletin |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Johnson County, Wyoming

Community banks in Wyoming were able to better serve local businesses in securing federal funds from the Paycheck Protection Program. The smaller banks were able to quickly pivot their staffing and operations need to process the overwhelming number of applicants, resulting in an approval rate of 100 percent in some counties. Personal connections in the smaller communities also led banks to work overtime and do everything in their power to help local businesses, in contrast to big banks which appeared to prioritize clients with higher net worth, according to reports.

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Working Capital for Economic Justice Comes in Handy During a Crisis

Oscar Perry Abello

April 28, 2020 |

Next City |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

A nonprofit called Common Future is acting quickly to support business owners during the coronavirus crisis. Their board allocated a set amount of money specifically to keep on hand as a rapid response fund, and by early April 2020, they distributed $250,000 in emergency funding to seven organizations. The recipients are intentionally from disadvantaged communities, like rural, black, Indigenous, and other hard-hit demographics. Each organization used the money in different ways to support their target communities. Common Future also set aside 6 months' worth of operating expenses as a buffer.

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