Leveraging the Community Reinvestment Act to Advance Workforce Development

Monday, December 2, 2013

1:00 PM - 1:30 PM EST

A recent survey of workforce boards by the Federal Reserve indicated that nearly 60% of WIBs have representatives from the banking industry on their boards.  However, only 10% of boards had engaged Community Reinvestment Act funding to develop complementary programs.  So how can WIBs better partner with this important and expanding industry sector to bring services to low-income job seekers or youth and better prepare them to enter or re-enter the workforce?  The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) is legislation that puts an obligation on banks to serve all members of the community where they take deposits, and meet the credit needs of their local areas.  The Federal Reserve has oversight of the CRA, and wants to develop new and innovative ways for banks to meet their requirements under the Act by serving the low to middle income population through partnerships with the workforce system.  Join us NAWB CEO Ron Painter as he interviews Federal Reserve of Kansas City’s Community Development Director, Steve Shepelwich, on Monday, December 2nd at 1:00 PM.  During this 30-minute interview, learn how the Federal Reserve system can help WIBs partner with local banks to create complementary programs and even identify funding streams to advance financial literacy and workforce readiness among their customers.

View a map of Federal Reserve Community Investment Areas