If you attended our annual Financial Equity Summit this year, you heard Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll talk about centering equity and doing hard things. And Deputy Comptroller Donna Murphy challenging us to “drive positive change.” Our board chair, Brook Ames of Leader Bank, captured the spirit of the event in his opening remarks in Worcester, “Everyone is here today to discuss ways to make Massachusetts a more fair and equitable place, and we want to hear at next year’s Summit about new initiatives and programs inspired by what you’ve learned today.”

On day one of the Summit, attendees heard from Paulina Gonzalez-Brito of Rise Economy on the subject of banking access and the campaign for CalAccount in California; Horacio Méndez from Woodstock Institute speak about a groundbreaking state-level Community Reinvestment Act in Illinois; Sarah Dieleman Perry from Neighborhood Allies in Pittsburgh detail innovations like Fund My Future and Money Talks, a virtual community made up of Black women learning about saving and investing; and Betty Francisco from Boston Impact Initiative inform us that Black and Latino business founders receive only 2.5% of venture capital funding.

Moddie Turay, CEO of MHIC, opened the Summit with keynote remarks on the impact that nonprofit, guided in its work by a commitment to racial equity and inclusion, has made over the past 34 years. “Over our 34 year history, we’ve invested over $3.5 billion dollars…with over 27,000 homes developed and over 7 million square feet of community space…Next year will be our 35th anniversary. We’ve never lost a dollar.”

Day one also featured an expert panel on CRA with Tom Golden, Rockland Trust; Delisa Joseph, Needham Bank; Alison Tower, Hometown Financial Group; and Sue Murray, SEED, Inc talking about CRA compliance and partnerships. On day two, our banking services committee co-chairs Jason Andrade, Compass Working Capital and Lena Buteau, Monson Savings joined former Comproller of the Currency Tom Curry and our founding president Joe Feaster in discussing unbanked and underbanked households.

PFE Board members Darrell Byers from Interise, Sabrina Correia from JP Morgan Chase, and Symone Crawford from MAHA discussed closing racial wealth gaps in our state in a panel moderated by Brook Ames. Day two opened with a panel on the opportunities and challenges in New England’s second largest city with Yvette Dyson of Worcester Common Ground; Seth Pitts of Bay State Savings Bank; and Dani Babineau of Redemption Rock Brewing, our host for the day.

Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll talked about our state’s history of innovating. “We are so proud of our history. The revolutionary history that created so much of what we rely on today in this country, as you all know, started in Massachusetts. We’re home to so many firsts – first public park, first public library, first newspaper, first public school. We were the first state to pass marriage equality and to really lead when it comes to universal health care. And all of these accomplishments have a couple of big things in common. They were innovative, they were creative and they centered around equity.”