Racial Equity

The National Black Bank Fund and Foundation (NBBF) are leading in the racial justice movement through economic justice.

In an op-ed co-authored by Aisha Nyandoro of Springboard to Opportunities and Trene Hawkins of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Ascend’s Marjorie Sims states the need to honor Black women with bold policies so that future generations can truly thrive: Centering Black women in policy is key to future families’ prosperity.

The COVID-19 crisis brings new urgency to our work to improve jobs, expand business ownership, and advance economic opportunity.

David Hardy has focused his career on closing educational gaps in school districts across the United States. In years spent working with communities that had been underinvested in, he was always looking deeper at the ecosystem surrounding the children at the schools he was leading.

Workforce practitioners have tried and tested a range of strategies to build more equitable and inclusive employment practices.

As the pandemic brought the systemic issues Joseph Tomás McKellar strives to dismantle into sharper clarity, he turned to those communities who were being impacted to listen to their lived experiences for guidance on the path forward.

The COVID-19 crisis brings new urgency to our work to improve jobs, expand business ownership, and advance economic opportunity.

In our second episode of #AscendTogether, Anne Mosle was joined by Meera Mani from The David & Lucile Packard Foundation, Michael Niyompong from the Mental Health Center of Denver, and Rumeli Banik from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Inc. In recognition of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, Anne and our special guests highlighted innovations and insights from AAPI leaders who are at the forefront of transforming systems and policy in community, health, and philanthropy. They also explored approaches for ensuring that the lived experiences of all children and families are represented in the broader agenda for advancing equity and economic mobility.

As part of a Children’s Institute national virtual conference, Sarah Haight joined a panel of prestigious national leaders to discuss personal reflections and how to better understand, serve, and support families through trauma-informed policies and practices.

In this episode of #AscendTogether, Anne Mosle was joined by Vinice Davis from Imaginable Futures and Waukecha Wilkinson, one of Ascend’s Parent Advisors. They discussed the needs and superpowers of parents who are pursuing their postsecondary education goals. Student parents represent 1 in 5 of the total undergraduate student population in the U.S. and are crucial in achieving economic security for families. Watch this episode to learn more about the experiences and challenges that these parents are faced with each day as they work to create a sustainable future for themselves and their families.