A historically Black university in Louisiana has received a $20 million donation from MacKenzie Scott, the former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The gift is the largest private contribution in the school's history and part of hundreds of millions of dollars Scott announced that she had given away. ... read more »

Over the last month, several corporations have stepped up to fund the Black community.   ... read more »

Local community partners will have a role in this initiative, President of Greater Los Angeles Raul Anaya stated, “We are looking to potentially partner with philanthropy and other large businesses in L.A., because our goal is to create a program ideally that is sustainable with long standing impact. ... read more »

Amidst the slew of nationwide virtual graduation ceremonies this past June, JP Morgan Chase held a similar event for its 10-year old mentoring success program The Fellowship Initiative. TFI’s Class of 2020 will see thirty-eight predominantly Black and Latinx young men from low-income communities throughout Los Angeles attending colleges across the state, as well as Princeton in New Jersey. ... read more »

The California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) announced the launch of CalMoneySmart. This $4 million grant program was set in motion by SB 455, introduced by Senator Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) in 2019, which created the California Financial Empowerment Fund to remove financial barriers and improve monetary security.  ... read more »

Last week, Gov. Newsom presented his May Revision budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year.   ... read more »

Bank of America announced today that it has received Small Business Administration (SBA) loan approvals for 265,500 small businesses under the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). This represents $24.9 billion in needed relief for small businesses. More than 256,000 of these small businesses have received a loan number since the SBA reopened the PPP funding on April 27. ... read more »

The $2.3 trillion coronavirus stimulus package includes a temporary tax change for individuals who make at least $1 million a year, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. The Joint Committee’s analysis shows 43,000 taxpayers in the highest income bracket, making more than $1 million a year, could save a combined $70 billion in taxes. Almost all benefits from the tax break go to people making more than $100,000 a year. ... read more »

With COVID-19 putting a financial strain on American families and businesses, millions of us are counting on our government stimulus payments.  ... read more »

Previously, my office sent out information about small business loans you can apply for through the Small Business Administration. ... read more »

Today, with support of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the Departments of Consumer and Business Affairs (DCBA) and Workforce Development, Aging and Community Services (WDACS) are proud to announce the launch of the new L.A. County Business and Worker Disaster Help Center, a new centralized call center and website providing free, one-on-one counseling and support for business owners and workers who have been adversely affected by the ongoing Coronavirus/COVID-19 emergency. ... read more »

As President of The Center for Strategic Economic Studies and Institutional Development (“The Center”), Constance Anderson wields her expertise in finance to help women and minority business owners in historically underserved communities grow and thrive. In an industry in which 32.5% of c-suite leaders are women, Anderson has proved herself a force for change. ... read more »

The Trump administration has announced that most individuals and businesses will be allowed to delay paying their federal tax bills for 90 days as part of an emergency relief plan amid the coronavirus pandemic. ... read more »

The U.S. Small Business Administration is offering low-interest federal disaster loans for working capital to California small businesses suffering substantial economic injury as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza announced today. SBA acted under its own authority, as provided by the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act that was recently signed by the President, to declare a disaster following a request received from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s designated representative, Director Mark S. Ghilarducci of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services on March 13, 2020. ... read more »

You might think that the kind of generational poverty that would concern a global powerhouse like the United States of America, let alone the paradise we call Southern California, is a non-conversation in this country. Yet the special rapport on poverty, racial equity, and human rights is an appropriate link. The notion that we have a low unemployment rate, but a high under-employment rate, increased homelessness, immigration, food insecurity, poor education, immigration political wars, and racial inequity, when correctly interpreted, the numbers suggest that we have an urgent problem. ... read more »