Other Financial Empowerment Projects

Economic Mobility Ambassador program (EEMI Ambassadors)

Funded by the National League of Cities' Equitable Economic Mobility Initiative (EEMI), the Community Workforce Ambassador program took place in a set of targeted neighborhoods in the region of the Aggie Square Innovation Center Project.

Aggie Square is a multi-billion-dollar development in Sacramento’s Oak Park neighborhood that broke ground and is anticipated to provide many employment opportunities over the next 2-5 years and beyond. Oak Park and the surrounding neighborhoods are at high risk of gentrification and displacement without concerted preventative efforts, and this EEMI project was an element of those efforts.

The Ambassador program employed neighborhood residents as paid Community Ambassadors to work in various target neighborhoods within four ZIP codes considered to be the priority outreach region for Aggie Square: 95817, 95820, 95824, 95828. The intent was to help targeted residents (particularly women and BIPOC) build increased short- and long-term financial health and stability, which is the overarching goal of our inclusive economic development team’s work. This aim requires a multifaceted approach that addresses the various elements impacting financial health.

The Ambassadors will be equipped to work with residents, City staff and community partners/leaders to address both the links and the gaps between community needs and existing resources for local workforce and entrepreneurial training and development, and financial coaching.  

CityStart initiative

The CFE Fund’s CityStart initiative, supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, offers local governments a structured approach to identify financial empowerment goals, convene relevant stakeholders for sustainable success, develop actionable strategies, and ultimately craft a blueprint that is rooted in local insights and opportunities – all with a deliberate racial wealth equity lens.

This two-phase action engagement connects critical insights about the impact of financial instability on municipal governments with tangible, sustainable strategies to improve families’ financial lives. The first phase of the initiative is a learning phase, where the CFE Fund and municipal partners look to analyze the local landscape, including systemic wealth extraction and accumulation impacting racial wealth equity; collect relevant data; and engage in intensive stakeholder roundtables to identify key challenges and opportunities.

This also includes a deliberate resident engagement effort. Based on issues identified in the learning phase, as well as administration priorities, the CFE Fund works with local government partners on a design phase to craft a comprehensive, government-led financial empowerment blueprint.

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