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SEE CHANGE Collective

The SEE CHANGE Collective is a catalyst for closing the wealth gap for Blacks, Hispanics, and Latinos in the Greater New Orleans Region by focusing on three pathways to wealth-building – homeownership, business ownership and entrepreneurship, and income and wages.

WHY

WHAT

COMMITTEES

ACTION PLAN

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ACTION PLAN

The planning process for the SEE CHANGE Collective began in May 2021 with the formation of a 9-member Steering Committee comprised of community and business leaders representing a range of organizations, personal experiences, and areas of expertise. Over the course of several months, Committee members came together to develop a common understanding of the racial wealth gap in the Greater New Orleans and worked to identify high-level strategies to close the gap. To support the Committee members, the Urban League of Louisiana commissioned a literature review and landscape scan using both quantitative and qualitative research to illustrate the state of wealth for Blacks, Hispanics, and Latinos in the region. The Urban League of Louisiana also assembled a 6-member National Advisory Committee to provide additional thought partnership and strategic advice on the Collective’s work. The Steering Committee used the knowledge gained from this body of research as well as guidance from the National Advisory Committee to build a datainformed, actionable, and measurable strategic framework. Working Groups were then established for each lever; and over the course of three months, Working Group members worked together to determine the appropriate activities that would support the goals identified in the strategic framework. This all culminated into the SEE CHANGE Collective Action Plan.
The action plan was developed by the SEE CHANGE Collective Steering Committee and Working Groups to address the conditions that lead to racial and economic inequality for Black, Hispanic, and Latino people in the Greater New Orleans region. The plan includes outcomes the SEE CHANGE Collective aims to achieve, the strategies that will be used to achieve them, and the specific activities that the network of members will accomplish to support the strategies.
WHY IT MATTERS

By 2050, Metro New Orleans stands to realize a $43 billion gain in economic output by closing the racial equity gap.

“Closing the gap” means lessening and ultimately eliminating, disparities and opportunity differentials that limit the human potential and economic contributions of people of color in the Greater New Orleans Region.

By 2050, more than half the population, workforce, and consumers in the eight-county Metro New Orleans area will be people of color. Research shows that by enabling the full creative and economic potential of New Orleanians benefits Louisiana through a 24% increase in New Orleans’ economy, a projected $9.5 billion in earnings gain by 2050 and $720 million projected increase in state and local tax revenues by 2050.

Our response is the SEE CHANGE Collective – a strategy for improving the overall economy and quality of life of the New Orleans Region by increasing the wealth of Black, Hispanic and Latino communities.

What is SEE CHANGE?
SEE CHANGE is a data-driven, community-oriented and outcomes-focused initiative committed to identifying policy and practice solutions to close the racial wealth gap in the Greater New Orleans region.
The Urban League of Louisiana launched the initiative in early 2021 beginning with an 18-month planning phase designed to establish a coordinated regional implementation strategy for addressing racial disparities in homeownership, business ownership and entrepreneurship, and income and wages.
THREE LEVERS FOR CHANGE
Income and wages, homeownership, and business ownership and entrepreneurship are historic pathways to wealth-building that have not generated the same results for black and brown communities. We focus on these three levers for change that present the greatest opportunity for wealth creation if equity were present.
Homeownership
  • Homeownership is the primary way Americans build generational wealth, yet historically, national policies encouraging home ownership as a wealth generator have not benefitted people of color at the same rate.
  • The SEE CHANGE Collective will explore the factors promoting and hindering homeownership as a wealth generator for Black, Hispanic and Latino residents in the New Orleans metro area.
Business Ownership & Entrepreneurship
  • Business ownership is the most effective way to build wealth, yet significant barriers exist in establishing the growing businesses for people of color.
  • The SEE CHANGE Collective will explore the factors that promote and hinder the growth of small business revenue and employment growth for businesses owned by Black, Hispanic and Latinos in the New Orleans metro.
Income & Wages
  • Everyone who works earns a salary or wage, which makes it the most accessible way to facilitate wealth generation, yet many barriers exist making wealth generation through employment impossible for too many.
  • The SEE CHANGE Collective will explore factors that promote and hinder access to high-growth, high wage employment opportunities.
NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Bill Bynum

CEO

Hope Credit Union

Peggy A. Davis

Vice President Community Impact

The Chicago Community Trust

Angela Glover Blackwell

Founder in Residence

PolicyLink

Mitch Landrieu

Founder & President

E Pluribus Unum

Marc Morial

President & CEO

National Urban League

Andre Perry

Senior Fellow

Brookings Institute

JaNay Queen Nazaire

Senior Advisor

PSG
STEERING COMMITTEE

Norman Barnum

Interim President & CEO

New Orleans Business Alliance

Lamar Gardere

Executive Director

The Data Center

Leesha Gooseberry

Author

Fred Johnson

CEO

Neighborhood Development Foundation

Jan Moller

Executive Director

Louisiana Budget Project

Lindsey Navarro

Executive Director

El Centro

Mayra Pineda

President & CEO

Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Louisiana

Jon Renthrope

CEO & Brewmaster

Cajun Fire Brewing Company

Mike Scott

Senior VP & Regional Community Affairs Manager

Regions Bank
EARLY CHAMPIONS

Chris D’Amour

Former Board Chairman, Urban League of Louisiana

Adams & Reese

Jade Brown Russell

Board Chairperson, Urban League of Louisiana

J. D. Russell Consulting

Christy Slater

Women’s Foundation of the South

Deirdre Johnson Burel

W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Peggy Davis

Chicago Community Trust

Andy Kopplin

Greater New Orleans Foundation

The Kresge Foundation

LANDSCAPE SCAN
The Greater New Orleans region is a melting pot of residents with varied life experiences and backgrounds. However, the outcomes and opportunities afforded to each resident in this diverse region look vastly different due to systemic inequities related to the color of their skin. Like many metropolitan areas across the country, New Orleans and its surrounding region have been largely shaped by a legacy of structural racism that has disadvantaged many Black, Hispanic, and Latino people, and that, in many ways, endures in the present day. Access to opportunity is unequal in Greater New Orleans, as it is throughout the country, and this is perhaps best demonstrated through the racial wealth gap that exists between the region’s White residents and those of color. Decades of racial and systemic oppression have prevented many Black, Hispanic and Latino people from accumulating wealth at the same rate as their White counterparts in the U.S., resulting in significant racial disparities across key economic outcomes including income and wages, homeownership, as well as business ownership and entrepreneurship. To create the economic climate that will position Greater New Orleans for the future, businesses and policymakers must look to the potential of all the region’s residents and take deliberate, realistic, and proven measures to enable full participation.

SPONSORS

WATCH THE SEE CHANGE COLLECTIVE PANEL

WANT TO LEARN MORE?

Please contact Charles Phipps (cphipps@urbanleaguela.org). You can also view the SEE CHANGE announcement event below.