Standing at the intersection of real estate ownership and business ownership, the real estate development industry has the potential to be a powerful engine for Black and Hispanic Americans to build wealth.
This commissioned report, created by the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) with Grove Impact as part of its Obsidian Ecosystem Initiative (OEI), presents the findings of first-of-its kind research on Black and Hispanic real estate developers.
The report sheds light on the current state of Black and Hispanic real estate developers by identifying a representation crisis among real estate developers, a revenue gap for mid-sized Black developers, and revenue cliffs facing large Black and Hispanic developers. This report estimates the potential impact of removing the constraints on Black and Hispanic developers and recommends steps that real estate developers and their organizations, investors, public policymakers, and foundations could take to increase diversity in the real estate development industry.
The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, and as many as a third of Americans have some type of criminal record. Upon reentry, individuals with a justice history, whom we refer to as returning citizens, face significant barriers to economic security and reintegration into their communities. Among the most formidable barriers to reentry are a disadvantaged living environment, low levels of education, mental health challenges, and stigma that excludes them from job opportunities and other resources.
There were more Hispanic-owned businesses overall and more minority-owned businesses in various sectors in 2020 than a decade earlier, according to the Census Bureau’s 2021 Annual Business Survey (ABS).
This report tracks results from the East LA Business Connector (EL ABC), an action research project that as of October 2022 has engaged over 650 local and small businesses in East Los Angeles to better understand and meet community needs. This is a continuing work of action research, with every hour of effort directed toward actually supporting local businesses, both by connecting them with resources in the short-term and by informing policy and practice to better support a business ecosystem that is thriving, dynamic, and inclusive.
In our new report, we examine the barriers low-income, BIPOC communities face in the US banking system. Based on data from nearly 900 participants in Southern California, the report looks at access to affordable banking options, trust and confidence in the banking system, existing community outreach programs, and it offers policy recommendations. CRC
Minority owned small businesses face more challenges in obtaining capital than other small businesses. As stated in the PayPal-funded report, Reducing the Racial Financial Health Gap: The Opportunity for Responsible Fintech, “Black-owned small businesses have faced huge challenges in credit availability, which contributes to the racial disparities in income, financial health, and wealth. The COVID-19
The City of LA began issuing its vending permits in 2020, yet it has only issued 165 permits to sidewalk food vendors, even though there are an estimated ten thousand eligible vendors. The report, “UNFINISHED BUSINESS: How Food Regulations Starve Sidewalk Vendors of Opportunity and What Can Be Done to Finish the Legalization of Street
The way that homeowners, lenders and policymakers use the term “property values” often implies that there is one organic, objective, correct definition of what someone’s home is worth. But that is not the case. Our cultural conception of property values obscures the fact that those values are often determined by human beings. Professional appraisers make
New research from Advocacy indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic led to greater earnings losses for business owners of color than white business owners. SBA Office of Advocacy.
Entrepreneurship is a critical pathway to wealth-building and job creation. If Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) started and owned businesses at the same rate as White people, they would add approximately 9.5 million jobs to the US economy (Morelix et al 2017). Black and Latinx entrepreneurs in our study discussed investing in employees