We were selected to serve as a Local Network Leader for the Corporation for Enterprise Development’s (CFED) national Assets & Opportunity Network!
The Assets & Opportunity Network is a movement-oriented group of advocates, practitioners, policymakers, and others nationwide working to expand the reach and deepen the impact of asset-based strategies. The purpose of this Network is to serve as both a learning community and advocacy community – to both enhance member capacity to advocate and deliver asset services, and to foster growth of assets movement leading to opportunities at scale. The Network is a hub of action for local, state and federal policy advocacy as well as program implementation.
Neighborhood Allies was selected to join this national network as a Local Network Convening Leader on behalf of financial capability practitioners and supporters in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. As Network Leader, we will:
- Convene and organize a local group of asset building and financial capability practitioners and advocates that commit to working together to advance a common agenda.
- Regularly communicate with and convene network members to expand financial security, foster a shared agenda for policy change or program improvement, and commit to diversity and inclusion in coalition membership.
- Encourage members of the local network and partners to become General Members in the Assets & Opportunity Network and share learning and advocacy opportunities with them.
At Neighborhood Allies we are focused on mobilizing around three major issue areas in the Pittsburgh region: 1) economic opportunity; 2) safe and healthy environments; and 3) leadership capacity. Within Economic Opportunity, our investments increase families’ financial health and credit, net assets, employment skills, and connections to entrepreneurship opportunities and career paths that produce living wages. One of the ways we do this is through our local network of Financial Opportunity Centers (FOCs). Through our affiliation with Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), we have received technical support and funding to create these FOCs, which launched in early 2015 at three local employment/social service agencies. FOCs (called in some cities Centers for Working Families) bundle services focused on employment, financial coaching and access to income supports that together help clients change their financial outlook.
Building on the services that our FOCs are providing and this recent designation of Local Network Leader by CFED, our next step is to create the Pittsburgh-based Asset Building Network. This quarter, we’ll begin to work with current and new partners to develop a collective strategy and implement coordinated approaches to advance programs, policies and resources that build the financial capability – the knowledge, skills, and tools necessary for lasting behavior change – and grow the assets of Pittsburgh’s residents who are financially insecure.
If you or your organization are interested in joining the Pittsburgh Asset Building Network, you can reach out to Sarah Dieleman Perry, our Program Manager for Economic Opportunity at Neighborhood Allies.
About CFED: CFED’s work makes it possible for millions of people to achieve financial security and contribute to an opportunity economy. We scale up innovative practical solutions to empower low- and moderate-income people to build wealth, we drive responsive policy change at all levels of government and we support the efforts of community leaders across the country, advancing economic opportunity for all.
