Economic Equity Network Supports OZ Capital Deployment in Needed Areas

The Economic Equity Network (EEN) was developed and launched to support deployment of Opportunity Zone capital into areas that can benefit from it. These include deploying the capital in ways to “generate community wealth; to redress the racial wealth gap and stabilize communities of color with improved economic outcomes for future generations,” according to a release announcing the organization’s launch.

The organization’s website noted that the EEN came about in an effort to “deploy Opportunity Zone capital the way it was intended,” which includes investment in lower-income communities.

The EEN was introduced at a roundtable event in Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland, CA. The round table consisted of Bay area minority and women-owned business leaders, investors of color, entrepreneurs, philanthropy and other public and private stakeholders. The event represented the first of a series of roundtables the EEN plans to host in major cities across to the United States, which will ultimately lead up to a national summit. The next event is scheduled to take place in Philadelphia.

The ultimate goal of the organization is to “assemble an emerging network of investors of color and women,” as well as nontraditional investors, business and property owners and community and philanthropic leaders, EEN’s network said. The EEN sponsors, founders and philanthropic partners include Kofi Bonner of FivePoint, Roberta Acthenberg, former Commissioner of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, Fred Blackwell with the San Francisco Foundation and Bruce Katz of the Drexel Nowak Metro Finance Lab. Lori Bamberger has been tapped to oversee the EEN.

Pictured: EEN Sponsors (l-r): Katz, Bamberger, Bonner, Achtenberg

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