Power Station

The National Skills Coalition (NSC) is building the workforce needed for our nation’s future by advocating for public investment in skills development now. This national nonprofit was launched twenty years ago when public support for job training was lagging and both labor and business leaders were concerned about the resulting lack of job opportunities and readiness. NSC’s message is now bolstered by 28,000 members representing industry, labor unions, community colleges and Chambers of Commerce.

As Amanda Bergson-Shilcock, NSC’s Director of Upskilling Policy says about this disparate and broad-ranging coalition, “They may not agree on much, but they all agree on the importance of workforce development.” And they are committed to making the change they want to see. They meet with state and federal policy makers to advocate evidence-based positions and now, to share the results of a new NSC poll of 2020 voters. It demonstrates overwhelming support for increased public investment in people’s skills to meet employers’ workforce needs. NSC’s research shows that the “train and pray” approach to job training has been replaced by a demand-driven model. That demand now rests with “middle skills” jobs, such as those in the culinary arts and the medical field. They require training that falls between high school and a 4-year college and create an opportunity as a society that we cannot afford to miss. Public support for middle skills jobs can also mean a pathway to citizenship, a particularly resonant message for our immigrant communities. This just skims the surface of Amanda Bergson-Shilcock’s rich conversation with Power Station.

The Center for Responsible Lending was founded in the belief that all communities should have access to fair banking and lending services. And that the nation's financial marketplace, from Wall Street to banks, should be reformed. It was rooted in the civil rights and economic justice movements and grew out of Self Help, a credit union launched in North Carolina in 1980. As Niktra Bailey, Executive VP says, "Low income families shouldn't have to pay more for financial services." We talk about CRL's unimpeachable research and its field building among diverse organizations. We looked back at the promise of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the hard-fought "win" of the small dollar loan rule, which over 700 nonprofit and faith-based organizations advocated for. Nikitra, a lawyer with an expertise in financial services is a leader committed to those who have been hurt by the debt trap. She is ready, as always, for what comes next.

The Center for Responsible Lending was founded in the belief that all communities should have access to fair banking and lending services. And that the nation’s financial marketplace, from Wall Street to banks, should be reformed. It was rooted in the civil rights and economic justice movements and grew out of Self Help, a credit union launched in North Carolina in 1980. What started as a small operation and an experiment in lending to rural and other underserved communities, has become a $7 billion-dollar lender and a community development leader. Self Help proved the theory that a credit union with bonds of trust in a community can provide needed resources and be repaid. It proves, as Power Station guest Niktra Bailey, CRL Executive VP says, “Race does not equate to risk.” "Low income families shouldn’t have to pay more for financial services.” We discussed the state-based advocacy that CRL leads, its unimpeachable research and data and its field building among diverse organizations. We looked back at the promise of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the hard-fought “win” of the small dollar loan rule, which over 700 nonprofit and faith-based organizations advocated for. They coalesced around the premise that pay day lenders must apply an ability to repay standard to their loan making, a provision that the current White House is now set to dismantle. Nikitra, a lawyer with an expertise in financial services and a leader committed to those who have been hurt by the debt trap is ready to advocate for the rule, and more, all over again. I learned so much for this conversation and I trust that you will too.

Share Our Strength is an organization rooted in the conviction that hunger is a solvable problem. It is led by Billy and Debby Shore, whose father ran the political office of a congressional member in Pittsburgh and made the everyday realities of constituents a part of the dinner table conversation. Billy and Debby now lead a thriving organization that deploys staff across the country to collaborate with schools, parents, chefs, corporate allies and policy makers to solve our nation's hunger and nutrition challenges. As Monica Gonzales, Associate Director of Government Relations for No Kid Hungry, says, "hunger affects children in urban, rural and suburban communities alike. And it is an indicator of other unmet needs that stem from poverty." Monica draws on her experience as a child who benefited from school-based breakfast programs when she meets with policy makers on Capitol Hill. And she underscores what the data shows: nutritious food, like early exposure to reading, is critical in early childhood development and is a predictor for positive life outcomes. By building bi-partisan support on Capitol Hill, Monica stands up for policies that nurture children and families and she stands with the elected leaders that champion them.

Share Our Strength is an organization rooted in the conviction that hunger is a solvable problem. It is led by Billy and Debby Shore, a brother and sister whose father ran the political office of a congressional member in Pittsburgh and made the everyday realities of constituents a part of the dinner table conversation. Billy Shore went on to advise political campaigns and was motivated by the devastating famine of the early 1980s in Ethiopia to become an anti-hunger advocate. Billy and Debby now lead a thriving organization that deploys staff across the country to collaborate with schools, parents, chefs, corporate allies and policy makers to solve our nation’s hunger and nutrition challenges. As Monica Gonzales, Associate Director of Government Relations for No Kid Hungry, a key initiative of Share Our Strength, says on Power Station, “Hunger is non-partisan and does not discriminate. It affects children in urban, rural and suburban communities alike. And it is an indicator of other unmet needs that stem from poverty.” Monica draws on her experience as a child who benefited from school-based breakfast programs when she meets with policy makers on Capitol Hill. And she underscores what the data shows: nutritious food, like early exposure to reading, is critical in early childhood development and is a predictor for positive life outcomes. Monica explains that No Kid Hungry also advocates for state-based policy solutions and partners with local organizations and leaders in doing so. By building bi-partisan support on Capitol Hill, Monica stands up for policies that nurture children and families and she stands with the elected leaders that champion them. This is a rich discussion that should not be missed. And it opens the door to what we all can do to make change possible.

If you want to see justice in action, go to DC Superior Court and look for the lawyers with the blue clipboards and a sign offering free help. They position themselves there for the 2 days a weeks dedicated to debt collection and are a counterpart to a sea of for-profit debt collectors. The justice gap for people marginalized by debt is what led Ariel Levinson-Waldman to create Tzedek DC, a public interest nonprofit that advocates for just policy solutions. Debt can have devastating consequences for people with a limited ability to repay. It can mean the suspension of a driver's license, leading people who need to drive to get to work or take kids to school to risk arrest by doing so. And non-payment of utility bills can lead to wage garnishment that makes it impossible for low-wage workers to pay rent. Judgements on permanent records create significant obstacles to employment, housing and credit. Tzedek DC is based in the central Jewish tenet of seeking justice. It is making justice possible, in collaboration with a growing cohort of inter-faith partners, in DC and nationally.

If you want to see justice in action, go to DC Superior Court and look for the lawyers with the blue clipboards and a sign offering free help. They position themselves there for the 2 days a weeks dedicated to debt collection and are a counterpart to a sea of for-profit debt collectors. Picture this in Washington DC, where only 5% of residents get help with debt cases that disproportionately impact low-income people of color. The justice gap for people marginalized by debt is what led Ariel Levinson-Waldman to create Tzedek DC, a public interest nonprofit that advocates for just public policies.

Debt can have devastating consequences for people with a limited ability to repay. It can mean the suspension of a driver's license, leading people who need to drive to get to work or take kids to school to risk arrest by doing so. And non-payment of utility bills can lead to wage garnishment that makes it impossible for low-wage workers to pay rent. Judgements on permanent records create significant obstacles to employment, housing and credit. Tzedek DC is making debt-related policy a focus of the DC Council. Former clients are becoming advocates and telling their stories in Council hearings, a strategy that led to the lifting of license suspensions. Tzedek DC is based in the central Jewish tenet of seeking justice. It is making justice possible, in collaboration with a growing cohort of inter-faith partners, in DC and nationally.  

What does it take to build wealth in low-income and communities of color? It requires more than personal responsibility and savings. Bridging our nation's gaping racial wealth divide means taking on systemic barriers: racism, student debt, low wages and resistance to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. We need changes to the US Tax Code, which, as Joseph Leitmann-Santa Cruz, Acting Director of Capital Area Asset Builders explains, "rewards the rich, misses the middle and penalizes the poor." In combination with other financial education and resources, families that file for and receive a credit can aspire to and reach financial goals, from a college education to the purchase of a home or the launch of a small business. In Washington DC, where over 1/3 of the residents are unbanked or underbanked, Capital Area Asset Builder leads a network of nonprofits, City government, corporate and foundation partners, in advocating for the EITC. CAAB also promotes the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, a critical alternative to the unregulated tax preparers who strip wealth wealth in poor communities.