Racial Wealth Divide Strategy Series

The racial wealth divide continues to persist across generations, driven by factors such as income, savings rates, and imbalances in household assets. Narrowing the racial wealth divide requires intentional, specific, targeted investments in Black, Indigenous and other People of Color (BIPOC) communities. Join the National League of Cities’ Economic Opportunity and Financial Empowerment and Race, Equity and Leadership teams for this series on narrowing the racial wealth gap. This page contains registration information to sign up for each module in the strategy series as well as completed recordings and blog posts.

Upcoming Events

Module 4: Housing and Homeownership

Thursday, April 18, 2024 | 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM (ET)

For most families in America, homeownership represents the greatest generational wealth transfer, and a meaningful step towards economic stability and mobility. Yet, in the U.S., the prosperity that homeownership offers is not shared equally. By promoting homeownership among residents of color, local governments can help to shrink the racial wealth divide as well as address the nation’s history of discriminatory lending practices, such as redlining, in the housing market. Join us for a webinar featuring NLC’s housing team showcasing actions cities can take to increase access to affordable housing and pathways to homeownership for communities of color.

Office Hours: Housing and Homeownership

Tuesday, April 30, 2024 | 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Sign up for office hours to discuss strategies for communities of color to build equity via homeownership in your municipality.

Past Events

View recordings from past events

Module 3: Income, Savings and Debt Reduction

Thursday, February 29, 2024 | 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM (ET)

When contemplating strategies to reduce the racial wealth divide, consider both sides of the household balance sheet. Creating wealth through the accumulation of assets is critical, but so too is debt reduction. Not only can cities take steps to support programs that invest in the financial health of families and children, but also take steps to reform inequitable systems that often strip wealth from communities of color and trap low-income people in a cycle of debt. Join us for a webinar to learn more about recommended approaches for reducing inequities in the ability to save and curtailing the accumulation of debt for communities of color. Read NLC’s blog, How Guaranteed Income Programs Can Help Cities Narrow the Racial Wealth Divide, to learn more.

Module 2: Inclusive Workforce Development

Thursday, January 11, 2024 | 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM (ET)

A significant driver of income and wealth instability amongst BIPOC are longstanding disparities in wages and employment. Municipalities can promote economic stability and mobility by analyzing and addressing systemic racial disparities in their communities through targeted workforce development strategies. Join us for a webinar featuring a panel of city representatives who are executing creative workforce development tactics in their communities. Read NLC’s blog, Narrowing the Racial Wealth Divide: Inclusive Workforce Development Programs, to learn more.

Module 1: Equitable Municipal Procurement

Webinar: October 25, 2023 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern

Experts discussed how to use municipal procurement processes to support Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (MWBEs) to shrink the racial wealth gap. Read NLC’s blog, Narrowing the Racial Wealth Divide: Using Procurement to Support Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises, to learn more.