BISA Promotes DE&I Initiatives Alongside the Urban League of Broward County

BISA Partners with The Urban League of Broward County to Empower Financial Education

The BISA Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) Committee announced its corporate partnership with the Urban League of Broward County (ULBC) this year, working cohesively to support the ULBC's mission of building communities with the opportunity to thrive. Through this partnership, BISA and its members donated more than $13,000 at the BISA 2024 Annual Conference.

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The ULBC is the top Urban League chapter amongst other local chapters in the state of Florida, and sustains a mission to enable African Americans and others in historically underserved communities to secure economic self-reliance, parity, power and civil rights. The organization focuses on six pillars of service, including education, entrepreneurship, jobs, justice, housing and health.

This partnership between BISA and ULBC will not only strengthen the Urban League's advocacy efforts but also promote economic empowerment through an integrated service delivery model that serves 14,000 children and adults annually. BISA's DE&I Committee largely found interest in partnering with the ULBC because of its initiative to provide financial literacy within underserved communities through financial management tools.

The Central County Community Development Corporation (Central County CDC) is a subsidiary of the ULBC, classified as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). This ULBC subsidiary works to raise money for small minority businesses, female owned businesses and provide affordable housing to these communities.

Citi Foundation is a supporter of both the ULBC and the Central Country CDC. The ULBC was recently awarded the Community Progress Makers grant. This grant will support integration of the ULBC's service implementation and Central County CDC's CDFI. Citi, one of BISA's financial institution members, has also funded a pitch competition for the ULBC in the past.

The 2024 BISA Rising Stars Subcommittee capstone project, prepared by Serina Shores (Chair) and Logan Hickman (Co-Chair), focuses on developing an understanding of financial management practices tailored to underserved markets. Shores and Hickman place a specific emphasis on the programs and initiatives of the ULBC. The Rising Stars Class of 2024 is the inaugural class to present a capstone project to the DE&I Committee.

With this capstone project, the BISA Rising Stars Subcommittee is working to provide an in-depth analysis of the ULBC's current financial management or small business lending programs and outline areas of opportunity based on specific needs of underserved markets. The subcommittee plans to propose and build out a new financial strategy or initiative the ULBC can deploy to empower underserved communities. The Rising Stars are composed of emerging leaders in the financial services industry. The opportunity to apply to the Rising Stars will open in the fall. Learn more about the Rising Stars Program.

Read more in the press release above about how the partnership between the BISA DE&I Committee and The Urban League of Broward builds positive communities and empowers self-reliance.