CEI Institute and Filene Research Institute Collaborate to Promote Racial Economic Equity

The CEI Institute and Filene Research Institute have launched a pioneering Racial Economic Equity (REE) Incubator to combat racial economic disparities in underserved communities. This initiative brings together credit unions and community partners to develop solutions aimed at enhancing economic equity.

The REE Incubator leverages Filene's innovation framework and the coaching expertise of the CEI Institute to foster collaboration among nine credit unions and eleven community partners from New York to Hawaii. Over 18 months, these groups worked together to create programs aimed at addressing racial economic disparities. These programs included down payment assistance, matching savings initiatives, financial empowerment services, educational resources, car loans, and credit-building assistance.

According to McKaye Black, Filene's Head of Incubation, the collaboration has been profoundly inspiring, reflecting the core mission of credit unions—empowering people. This sentiment was echoed by Peter Holmes, CEO of the CEI Institute, who noted that the initiative has enabled credit unions to engage with previously unreached individuals, resulting in significant community impact and new membership growth opportunities.

The CEI Institute's participating coaches, including Peter Holmes, Beverly Wolfe, Howard Holley, Terri Quinton, and Shellee Mitchell, provided crucial support and mentorship throughout the program. Their efforts helped focus the solutions and examine ways to scale and repeat them across other credit unions and their partners.

The culmination of the REE Incubator's initial phase was celebrated at Filene's Spark! 2024 conference, where the capstone projects were showcased. The highlight of the event was the Catalyst Award, which recognized outstanding contributions to economic equity.

Kaua'i Federal Credit Union, in partnership with Hawaiian Community Assets and coached by Beverly Wolfe, won the Catalyst Award. Their project focused on a down payment assistance program and a cesspool-to-septic conversion green lending program aimed at building Native Hawaiian homeownership on Kaua'i. They received $10,000 from the Target Foundation and TruStage Foundation to continue their work, which is projected to reach $1 million in green lending in 2024.

Veridian Credit Union, in collaboration with several community partners and coached by Terri Quinton, secured second place. Their "Achieve" collaboration delivered financial empowerment programs to African Americans in Blackhawk County. The initiative helped 108 individuals access homeownership education, provided financial mentoring to 161 people, enabled 30 to become homeowners, issued 7 car loans, and facilitated savings or debt reduction for 71% of participants.

Other notable participants included MSU Federal Credit Union and GreenPath Financial Wellness, coached by Peter Holmes, and Chartway Credit Union and Norfolk State University, coached by Shellee Mitchell.

Christie Kimbell, Executive Vice President at Filene Research Institute, emphasized the importance of dedicated team efforts in tackling significant challenges. She highlighted the collaborative spirit and commitment to social change that characterize the credit union movement.

For more information about the CEI Institute's coaching methods and community entrepreneurship activities, visit www.CEIInstitute.org. For details on the REE Incubator projects, visit www.filene.org/REE.