CINCINNATI — A new program aims to help Black families and communities in Cincinnati close the wealth gap while becoming more financially stable.

Cincinnati is one of three cities selected to take part in the CityStart initiative, a program from the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE Fund). It’s designed to help local leaders develop and put in place strategies focused on improving the financial resilience of local families.

Now in its seventh year, CityStart plans to turn its attention to improving racial wealth equity.

Mayor Aftab Pureval views the program as a vehicle for creating “equitable financial mobility” opportunities for all residents.

“With CityStart, we are thrilled to drive community-informed, innovative strategies to help residents build generational wealth and combat the systemic disparities that have disproportionately held our Black and brown residents back,” he said.

To accomplish their goals, the Cincinnati team will work with experts from the CFE Fund. The nonprofit works with municipal leaders to find, develop, fund, carry out and research pilot programs to assist residents build assets and make the most of those financial resources.

As part of the process, the city, working with the CFE Fund staff, will craft what's called a “municipal financial empowerment blueprint.” That will entail identifying actionable implementation steps based on the financial needs of residents, especially Black residents. They’ll also outline administrative priorities and partnership opportunities. 

A series of meetings with key stakeholder groups will inform the development of the plan. They’ll focus on things such as looking for opportunities to address the racial wealth and assets gap and facilitating intergenerational wealth transfer.

The final blueprint will include both short-term and longer term policies and programs, with a focus on banking access, financial education, asset ownership and consumer financial protection.

The city has not released details about specific next steps. 

“We.. look forward to working with (Pureval) to harness the opportunities of financial empowerment work to benefit racial equity and wealth priorities in Cincinnati,” according to Jonathan Mintz, president and CEO of the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund. 

As part of the program, Cincinnati will receive intensive, hands-on technical assistance. They’ll also receive a $75,000 grant to go toward planning drawn from an earlier $19 million investment from Bloomberg Philanthropies. 

That grant will allow the city to go through a "robust and resident-centered" data collection process which will include holding focus groups, surveying households, and engaging with community partners, according to Sarah Mostafa with the city's Office and Performance Data Analytics.

That information will help inform the final blueprint.

OPDA recently launched a Policy Lab, which focuses on bringing evidence-based analysis to the design and evaluation of all city programs and policies. The CityStart grant is managed through that lab, in close collaboration with and under the guidance of the Mayor’s office.

Key to the process will be the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Greenwood Initiative, which has a mission to speed up the pace of Black wealth accumulation in the United States. Together, they’ll design and execute a vision with a specific lens on racial wealth equity.

Garnesha Ezediaro, who leads Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Greenwood Initiative, called the development of financial mobility strategies “essential for the stability of neighborhoods across the country.” The goal of the project, he said, is to support Black families in “earning more and passing down wealth to the next generation.” 

Mobile, Ala. and South Bend, Ind., are the other cities selected to take part in this round of the CityStart initiative. Together with Cincinnati, they make up the fourth cohort of CityStart partners for the CFE Fund. 

These new partners join 29 localities that have completed the CityStart process. One of those is Columbus, Ohio, which started taking part in 2019.

Examples of past program successes include opening an Office of Financial Empowerment within the city government and identifying strategies for tackling core priorities, such as affordable housing. Others have used the opportunity to replicate programs such as the Financial Empowerment Center initiative.

To-date, the CFE Fund has disbursed over $59 million in grant support to municipal partners.