A New Approach to Advancing Racial Economic Equity

Credit unions play a significant role in their communities and the everyday lives of people. So, the work is done, the credit union mission fulfilled, right? Actually, far from it. Current financial products and programs are insufficient and do not provide equal access.

While credit unions do fill a very needed role in the financial services sector, as an industry, credit unions have a gap in how their products and services are taken up in BIPOC communities and in building trust for their institutions among these communities. Likewise, there is great opportunity for credit unions to take intentional steps to fundamentally change the way they work to drive equitable progress by reimagining how they use their assets and capabilities.

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The Gap

Credit unions have not seen equitable outcomes for recipients of financial products and services focused on economic mobility, credit and capital access, and asset building. Reasons for these are racial, ethnic, cultural and include a failure to invite community members to develop or select the interventions that would benefit them.

Increasingly, leaders in the credit union industry are bringing action-oriented mindsets and strategies to internal and external transformation goals especially when it comes to advancing racial equity, diversity and inclusion, and helping to close racial equity gaps. And, they have recognized that their traditional ways of working to develop products and services for communities of color is not sufficient.

Advancing racial economic equity is a complex challenge. Evidence-based financial programs and products that improve the lives of residents in white neighborhoods and communities don't necessarily have the same results in communities of color.

History, more than choices, best explains the racial wealth gap today. A harmful assumption persists today that the Black-white wealth gap largely reflects choices, not history. At the root of this dynamic is the fact that the financial services systems have had the power and resources (quite literally) to develop products and services for or to BIPOC communities and individuals, instead of working to develop products and services with them.

At the same time, many BIPOC communities and residents can't access the financial services and products that they actually need or want, and thus they are limited in their opportunities for financial stability, resilience and wealth creation.

For this paradigm to change, we must integrate both technical and adaptive strategies. We must normalize grounding strategies and program design that enables families and individuals to build financial stability, resilience and wealth that supports their self-determination and centers their voice in solutions.

The Opportunity

For credit unions to truly fulfill a mission of improving the lives of those in their communities – everyone in their communities – they need to shift their orientation and product design to better promote and incorporate the equitable implementation and co-creation of programs in communities of color.

Credit unions that will be successful in this work must understand that relationship building happens at the speed of trust and recognize that there are significant limitations of change that can occur without meaningful engagement with community members.

The biggest opportunities for credit unions to make progress toward real, tangible and measurable outcomes will be available to those that:

Develop metrics of success that prioritize cultivating strong community relationships and community-driven solutions;
Make investments and decisions that advance equity;
Apply community-defined evidence to program and product design and delivery; and
Iterate and adapt to fit local, historical and cultural context.

The goal is to place community members and organizations – and their values and perspectives – at the center of financial product and program design and delivery.

A New Approach

Filene is building a support network and framework for credit unions seeking to prioritize this work and be successful in serving their communities equitably through the Racial Economic Equity (REE) Incubator. With a cohort of credit unions and community partners, the REE Incubator will help credit unions develop and refine co-created strategies for creating equitable financial opportunity within their communities.

The REE co-creation incubator introduces a new approach and practice within credit unions – one that prioritizes community-driven partnerships at the center of financial service product design as an element to decreasing racial wealth gaps.

Community partners and stakeholders will work alongside representatives of credit unions to conduct live tests of products, strategies and partnerships specifically designed to increase debt reduction and wealth building opportunities with communities of color. Filene believes that this approach will be effective in measurably closing gaps in racial economic equity and driving systems change to safe and accessible financial services designed by those who have been historically excluded.

The adage that we are stronger together is one we feel strongly about, and we know that the power of connection is one of the credit union industry's greatest assets. To best lead this work with credit unions and their communities, Filene has also brought in partners to strengthen, guide and inform the effort.

Urban Strategies, Inc. and Native Women Lead have deep experience working with community, and developing strategies at the levels of macro, organizational and local context, especially as it relates to structural racism and authentic co-creation. We are currently working with our partners to co-create content and will begin accepting applications to participate in the REE Incubator in mid-October.

This work is my life's passion, so please contact me at [email protected] if you are interested in learning more. This is just a starting point to drive lasting change that can transform financial systems to work better – I am looking forward to working with and learning with credit unions and community partners on the ground.