Banks That Are Taking Black Lives Matter Seriously
April 28, 2021 (Investorideas.com Newswire) In the wake of the events of the summer of 2020 and the reinvigoration of national and international conversations surrounding race, equality and opportunity, the private sector, partly opportunistically, but in some cases sincerely, has taken up the call to do their part for social justice. Some of the institutions and organizations with the most potential to positively affect the outcome for Black people are banks, and there are several that have embraced their role in bringing about meaningful change.
Starling Bank
Starling Bank is a digital challenger bank based out of the United Kingdom which focuses on current and business account retail products. What Starling has done is put its money where its mouth is and has pledged its support to two BLM-affiliated organizations, COLORINTECH and 4FRONT.
The latter is a youth-led social enterprise established by activist Temi Mwale in 2012 that was set up to help provide a platform and support network for youth whose lives had been impacted by violence and the criminal justice system. The former is an organization set up by Silicon Valley tech leaders to help make Europe the most inclusive tech hub in the world.
Starling's commitment to the Black community is part of a larger movement towards more ethically-minded banking and represents part of the widespread tide change taking place throughout the corporate sector and financial institutions.
Bank of America
Bank of American committed one billion dollars to help address the many social and economic disparities that have been heightened by the global COVID-19 pandemic. The goal is for the money to help add to the workforce development and the socioeconomic mobility programs that the bank has supported for some time now. Black people and people of colour in Western countries were some of the hardest hit by the economic and public health effects of the pandemic.
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo, one of the largest banks in the United States and the world, has committed $400 million to Black Lives Matter--part of $5.4 billion pledged by companies such as PepsiCo, PNC, PayPal, and Bank of America--to help support Black Lives Matter activities and projects. These large donations have been hailed as funds that could be used by the many organizations receiving them to create a cooperative and collaborative economic effort for change that may determine the future economic and social prospects of millions of people.
Conclusion
It is only natural to wonder the extent to which the private sector, which is usually focused above all else on profit, is sincerely invested in the project of helping Black people in countries like the U.S. and the United Kingdom achieve equality, but the numbers discussed above speak for themselves. BLM and its partner and ally organizations are receiving major injections of capital in pursuit of social justice. It remains to be seen how other sectors and industries react over the coming years, but it is undeniably true that some financial institutions have put large amounts of money into this cause that could help facilitate real change if leveraged correctly.
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