Communities are invited to apply until June 28th for up to $5 million to support innovative, sustainable solutions that drive wealth creation and economic success of Black and Latina women, which is foundational to building more equitable communities.
Based on a history of investments across U.S. cities, JPMorgan Chase understands achieving a more inclusive economy and reversing racial and gender inequities will require bold, collaborative work.
Sustainable solutions must be as multidimensional as the challenges they seek to address. This means leaders need to work together across sectors in new and innovative ways to address the root causes of today’s challenges and take promising solutions to scale. Collaboration across business, government, philanthropic, nonprofit, anchor institutions, and other community actors is required to confront and dismantle interlocking, systemic barriers to economic mobility. This often means altering policies and practices at the local level.
This year, JPMorgan Chase is evolving its AdvancingCities Challenge to source bold solutions that catalyze recovery and long-term prosperity for Black and Latina women, their families, and local economies. Black and Latina women are the backbone of many of America’s cities – as consumers, homeowners, entrepreneurs, business owners, and essential workers in critical sectors affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, longstanding racial and gender wealth gaps, coupled with impacts from COVID-19 have exacerbated disparities for Black and Latina women.
The AdvancingCities Challenge is an annual competition that sources innovation to drive systemic change in U.S. cities, helping support economic opportunity for more people by leveraging meaningful collaboration among private, public, and nonprofit leaders. Previous AdvancingCities Challenge winners have demonstrated key factors that are essential to working collaboratively for lasting change. These include:
- Shared priorities and a common understanding of goals to ensure alignment across partners,
- A powerful vision for the future shaped by deep community engagement,
- Strong leadership and collaboration among a diverse set of actors with unique authority and resources to drive sustainable change, and
- Innovative approaches that are data-driven and evidence-based and that move beyond “business as usual” to change the trajectory of communities that are currently being left behind.
Through the AdvancingCities Challenge, JPMorgan Chase has seen how competitions can incentivize collaboration – a foundational element to drive innovative solutions to large social and economic challenges. The most successful local efforts unite around a common vision, set forth innovative approaches, and leverage the unique strengths, skills, and resources of each partner, making the whole stronger than the sum of its parts.
From May 17th through June 28th, JPMorgan Chase is inviting communities to apply for up to $5 million to support innovative, sustainable solutions that drive wealth creation and economic success of Black and Latina women, which is foundational to building more equitable communities. The proposals should address multidimensional, systemic challenges, leverage cross-sector leadership and collaboration, center the voice and lived experience of Black or Latina women, and drive systems change at the local level.
