What is the Partnership for Financial Equity?
• partnership (noun): a relationship involving close cooperation to advance mutual interests
• financial (adjective): pertaining or relating to money matters
• equity (noun): fairness or justice in the way people are treated AND the ownership of any asset after any liabilities associated with the asset are cleared.
We are a partnership of financial industry professionals, community leaders and government officials dedicated to closing racial wealth gaps and improving the financial futures of low- and moderate-income households.
We started in 1990 as the Massachusetts Community & Banking Council (MCBC) to provide a forum for Massachusetts financial institutions and community organizations to meet and share information with the goal of affecting positive change in the availability of credit and financial services in traditionally underserved communities across the Commonwealth.
We have a proud history as the sponsor of Basic Banking for Massachusetts, the first voluntary statewide low-cost checking and savings account program established in 1994. In 1999, we developed the anti-predatory lending campaign, Don’t Borrow Trouble that was adopted by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and later by Freddie Mac. For over twenty-five years we have produced high-quality research reports on home mortgage lending and small business lending patterns. Those reports led to the passage of the Mortgage Lender Community Investment law in 2007 as Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to cover independent mortgage companies for community reinvestment activities.
Today, the Partnership for Financial Equity continues to help financial institutions advance equity while helping to connect with community-based organizations operating innovative programs in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods. Each fall, PFE sponsors a Financial Equity Summit bringing together bankers, non-profit practitioners, government officials and other thought leaders, locally and from around the nation.
Join us. Contact tcallahan@financialequity.net or 857-309-3096.