The virtual panel Economic Justice and Wealth Building: A Roadmap for Equitable Recovery opened on Wednesday with a call to action from Mayor Kim Janey:
It is very important that…we are helping to equip residents in the City of Boston on how to become much more fluent when it comes to financial literacy, so that we can take a hold of our finances and break the cycle of poverty. That does not mean that we give up our work on fighting against discriminatory practices and policies that got us here in the first place. We have to keep up both efforts.
In that spirit the panel, organized by the Mayor’s Office of Financial Empowerment, explored the necessary work being done – and the work yet to do – to ensure an equitable economic recovery in Boston. Prabal Chakrabarti, Executive Vice President and Community Affairs Officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, presented an analysis of national and regional economic conditions, and also moderated a panel of speakers with expertise in small business development, housing asset policy, credit building, and financial empowerment. Panelists included:
- Karen Kelleher, Executive Director, LISC Boston
- Sherry Riva, Founder & CEO, Compass Working Capital
- David Stiffler, Equifax Foundation and CSR Leader
- Mimi Turchinetz, Assistant Deputy Director, Mayor’s Office of Financial Empowerment