NLC, United Way Host Summit to Help Local Leaders Promote EITC and Asset Building

The first-ever EITC Summit, sponsored by NLC and United Way of America, gave city officials the opportunity to learn effective strategies from national experts on asset building and discuss collaborative approaches with nonprofit and business leaders from their communities.

Video of summit sessions is available for viewing at nlctv.org.

Power of Partnerships
Mayor Ron Dellums of Oakland, Calif., set the tone for the summit by underscoring the challenge that many cities face in their efforts to reduce poverty. Dellums highlighted financial stability as a key component of any anti-poverty strategy, stressing that poverty is “multidimensional and multigenerational.” He challenged municipal officials to take the lead in combating poverty because “people live their lives at the local level, they do not live their lives at the state or federal level.”  

Several other municipal leaders spoke of their experiences in helping residents achieve financial stability.

Mayor Melvin L. “Kip” Holden of Baton Rouge, La., who chairs NLC’s Council on Youth, Education, and Families, gave compelling testimony to the power of partnerships. In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, his city and the local United Way worked hand-in-hand to meet the needs of thousands of displaced low-income families.

Mayor Marciela Morales of Port Hueneme, Calif., described how she has used resources from NLC’s Institute for Youth, Education, and Families (YEF Institute) to launch an EITC outreach campaign in partnership with local stakeholders.

San Francisco Treasurer José Cisneros shared his innovative work with Mayor Gavin Newsom to develop a local, city-funded 10 percent match to the federal EITC. By increasing the number of EITC applications, this “Working Families Credit” brought an additional $15 million in federal money to the city’s low-income families since January 2005. Cisneros also discussed “Bank on San Francisco,” an initiative launched last year to connect 10,000 “unbanked” low-income San Francisco residents to mainstream financial services.

“I am pleased that cities across the country are focused on asset building,” said Cisneros. “Bank on San Francisco has proven successful because of the collaboration among banks and credit unions, community groups, the city and regulators to address the unmet needs of the unbanked. It’s a model that I hope gains a foothold across the country.”

City Panelists
Many other city officials participated as speakers and workshop panel experts highlighted the efforts underway in their cities. 

•    Commissioner Jonathan Mintz of New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs spoke about the role of the city’s new Office of Financial Empowerment in helping residents become financially stable;

•    Councilmember Sheila McNeil of San Antonio discussed her city’s efforts to connect families to mainstream financial services through the development of a low-cost alternative refund anticipation loan;

•    Dennis Campa, director of community initiatives for San Antonio, highlighted the importance of using data and research to engage communities in EITC and asset-building work;

•    Commissioner Dean Lovelace of Dayton, Ohio, gave participants useful information about how to start an EITC campaign;

•    Councilmember Erik Cole of Nashville, Tenn., shared his experiences in building a local EITC campaign; and

•    Alderman Van Johnson II, of Savannah, Ga., spoke about the need to incorporate workforce development strategies into asset-building work, using Savannah’s partnerships with employers and the city’s sector-based training initiative as examples.

Asset Project
In conjunction with the Summit, the YEF Institute convened members of its Cities Helping Families Build Assets Project to discuss evaluation of their work, and the impact of their efforts on families in their communities. Participants also discussed recent trends in the asset-building field.  

Since 2005, with support from the Ford Foundation and Annie E. Casey Foundation, the project has allowed YEF Institute staff to work with six competitively selected cities and eight faculty cities to build municipal leaders’ capacity to help families save and build assets.

Project city representatives in attendance included officials from Burlington, Vt.; Seattle; Orlando, Fla.; Louisville, Ky.; and Savannah. Participants from faculty cities San Antonio and San Francisco also attended.  

NLC-United Way Partnership
The EITC Summit was hosted through a partnership between NLC and United Way of America to emphasize the importance of collaboration between cities and community leaders in expanding families’ access to key financial supports.

Other partners represented at the summit included Bank of America, the Internal Revenue Service, H&R Block, Wells Fargo, IBM, and Nets to Ladders, a company that helps broaden access to benefits.

The summit also served as a launch for United Way’s Financial Stability Partnership, a new nationwide initiative to promote the long-term financial stability and independence of low- to moderate-income individuals and families.

Details: For more information or assistance in promoting asset-building, or to access an EITC Toolkit for municipal leaders, visit www.nlc.org/iyef or contact Sarah Bainton at (202) 626-3044 or bainton@nlc.org.