Dear friends, 

As we approach the end of summer and start of a new school year still in the midst of the pandemic, we know families continue to work hard to put food on the table while trying to stay healthy. Our work to close the racial wealth divide never stops, but I sincerely hope that you have been able to take the time you need to carve out joy and rest. I remain optimistic as we welcome a busy and exciting fall season -- one where we continue to fight for all families to thrive and prosper. 

I believe hope grounds us here at Prosperity Now and drives the solutions we work on. Here’s what we’re thinking about and preparing to advance in the month ahead:

• In celebration of Black Small Business Month, I wrote about a new path to boost BIPOC-owned businesses that could both be sustainable and collaborative. To widen economic opportunity, it’s critical to invest in BIPOC entrepreneurship, and it’s equally important to keep Black and Latinx workers in the workforce as their rates of unemployment still remain higher when compared to white and Asian workers. Let me be clear: to invest in Black and Latinx workers and entrepreneurs is to invest in our nation’s future. 
• Together, we can achieve collective change – and that is at the heart of our Advocacy Guide we recently released! Join us in making noise to close the racial wealth divide – once and for all.
• Today is Women's Equality Day and Prosperity Now is committted to a world where all women have equal access to wealth. When women, especially women of color, are invested in and get paid equally and fairly, all families benefit. Share our graphic on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook if you agree!
• September marks the start of Hispanic Heritage Month and we will be honoring and celebrating the Latinx community in a special way as we lift up its role and efforts in the collective fight for equity. Stay tuned as we lift up the leaders who work to make this a reality – hint: get your follow buttons ready!

Check out our new Advocacy Guide, your go-to resource to engage and mobilize your communities to take action! Whether you take action by meeting with lawmakers in your home state and district offices, picking up the phone, writing letters, or reaching out through email to ask them to advance equity-centered policies, join to help prioritize those most in need. This comprehensive mobilization tool lays out concrete ways to begin to close the racial wealth divide, including:

• Prosperity Now’s top federal policy priorities that serve as a roadmap on how to start closing that divide
• Ways to contact your Members of Congress
• How to partner with us so that we can provide guidance and support for your efforts

Check out the guide here and please share with your networks! 

Giving All Babies the Financial Start They Need

The American Opportunity Accounts Act would provide every child, at birth, with the economic resources needed to begin building long-term economic security and generational wealth. As we address the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on BIPOC communities, long-term policy solutions like this Baby Bonds legislation must supplement short-term financial relief. Prosperity Now led a letter of support urging Congress to include Baby Bonds legislation in the budget reconciliation package. Read the letter, signed by 25 of our partners, here.

Reducing Student Loan Debt to Boost Entrepreneurship

Investing in young BIPOC entrepreneurs is essential to closing the racial wealth divide. But, over the past two decades, we have seen entrepreneurial activity in decline, particularly among younger generations. At the same time, student loan debt is soaring, particularly for millennials of color. In response, the Supporting America’s Young Entrepreneurs Act of 2021, led by House Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia M. Velasquez (D-NY), seeks to provide more opportunities for budding entrepreneurs to start businesses by lowering high levels of student loan debt. Read more about this in our blog post and tell Congress to show up for young entrepreneurs!

Helping Families Save for a Rainy Day

The pandemic has only made it more difficult for families to save for emergencies, with many households racking up significant expenses due to unemployment, eviction, illness and more. To help families navigate an uncertain future, a bipartisan group led by Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Todd Young (R-IN) have reintroduced the Rainy Day Savings Act which would allow families to defer a portion of their tax refund to help cover unanticipated expenses. Learn more in our blog post and tell your legislators to support families working to put food on the table.

Star Tribune: When you look at these neighborhoods, what do you see?, Gary Cunningham, President & CEO

Black News Channel: A Conversation Around the Eviction Moratorium, Doug Ryan, Interim Vice President of Policy

The National Interest: Can You Guess What Americans are Buying with Their Child Tax Credit, Robin McKinney, Prosperity Now Board Member

Yahoo! Finance: How to build a resilient economy for years to come, Alejandra Montoya-Boyer, Director of Policy

Salon: A feminist reckoning for six Beyonce songs, Prosperity Now Data

Research Note: Economic Security Programs Significantly Reduce Poverty in Every State | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP)
CBPP finds that federal programs like Social Security, SNAP, TANF and tax credits kept 40 million people a year above the poverty line before the COVID-19 pandemic and cut poverty by half nationwide.

The Cost of Living in America: Helping Families Move Ahead | Council of Economic Advisors and Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
In this issue brief from OMB, the Biden Administration examines the growing costs of necessities like health care and caregiving and how the Build Back Better Plan will protect families from future cost increases.

Recovery Bill Should Restore Child Tax Credit (CTC) to Children Without Social Security Numbers | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP)
This blog from CBPP argues that Congress should restore CTC eligibility to children are ineligible for a Social Security number because of their immigration status but can be claimed as dependents using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number.

These Interconnected Policies Would Sustain Families, Support Women, and Grow the Economy | Center for American Progress
Center for American Progress suggests policies, such as living wages, CTC permanency, and affordable childcare, that are included in the Build Back Better plan and would meet the needs of American families.

Advancing Equity for AAPI Communities | Urban Institute
Urban Institute worked with the Asian American Foundation to conduct a landscape study of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) advocacy. This report shares their findings and recommendations for strategic investments.

Smart Chart 4.0 | Spitfire
Prosperity Now’s Racial Wealth Equity team has played a key role in making the Smart Chart an equity-centered tool to help mission-driven organizations like yours create actional and effective communications plans, and it’s free to use!

The Role of Women in Economics, Finance, and Banking: A Conversation Between the Dallas Fed and Banco de México | Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas | September 1, 2021

Right at Home 2021: The State of Manufactured Housing in a Post Pandemic Economy | Prosperity Now | September 21 – 22, 2021

Virtual VITACon 2021 | Prosperity Now | September 28 – 30, 2021

Ending the Tax Audit Paradox: The IRS Should Not Be Targeting Low-Income Families | Prosperity Now

Camp Prosperity 2021 | Prosperity Now