Description
Book SynopsisGregory Fairchild introduces readers to the rising set of entrepreneurs whose efforts to reach marginalized groups are reshaping the emerging markets of the United States. He explores how minority-owned and community-development institutions are achieving innovations in financial services to further economic development and reduce inequality.
Trade ReviewI've long believed that the issues facing underserved communities are not intractable, despite what some say. There are proven approaches that work. In this book, Gregory Fairchild showcases some of those approaches and innovations, marrying his compelling firsthand experience with academic research. -- Robert E. Rubin, board chair, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, and former U.S. treasury secretary
Fairchild expertly weaves personal narrative, academic scholarship, and practical insights to provide a truly compelling thesis for enhancing communities and financial systems within our urban centers. This book should be required reading in business schools, board rooms, and governments at all levels. -- Erika H. James, dean, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
By sharing his own personal journey and decades of in-depth research, Gregory Fairchild reveals how capital and finance can help us build a more just, inclusive future. His timely account of community development financial institutions beautifully conveys their power to expand opportunity and transform lives, from Indian Country to the South Side of Chicago. -- Debra D. Schwartz, managing director of impact investments, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Arguably the greatest threat to America’s competitiveness in the global economy is the inequality of opportunity among races and places across the country. Fairchild’s book details the work and stories of innovative people and organizations transforming the American financial system into an agent of economic mobility for more people and communities throughout our land. Continuing and expanding this work is absolutely critical to forming a more perfect union. -- Maurice A. Jones, president and CEO, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, and former U.S. HUD deputy secretary
Fairchild moves the conversation on diversity and inclusion in the U.S. financial system forward, with personal stories from his own work and honest case studies that don’t try to hide or sugarcoat the challenges. -- Marcus Schaefer, former CEO, Truliant Federal Credit Union
Compelling vignettes along with sensitive analysis and commentary repeatedly affirm the impact that courageous leadership and a genuine commitment to economic and social justice can have on invigorating communities by embracing diversity and inclusion. * Choice *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Preface
1. The Best Investment I Never Had to Make
2. A Fool’s Errand? The Riskiness of Financial Services in Low-Income Areas
3. Efficient? Are Development Financial Institutions Expensive to Operate?
4. Changing the World Through the South Side of Chicago
5. Corn Tostadas and a Changing Compton
6. A Sense of Place: Interplay of Geography and Capability
7. What Ethnic Hairstyling and Credit Unions Have in Common
8. Croissants and Corridors to Wealth Creation
9. Targeted Private Equity I: Neighborhood Integration, Black Capitalism, and the Inception of Minority Private Equity
10. Targeted Private Equity II: The Advantage of Being a Marginal Minority
11. Building Wealth in Indian Country
12. Flooding the Food Desert in North Philly
13. A Bluebird Takes Flight: A Reinterpretation of Banking at American Express
14. How I Lost My FOMO
Notes
Index
