Metropolitan Ministries and Pinellas County Urban League have been named as the 2020 Bank of America Neighborhood Builders® awardees for Tampa Bay. The nonprofits were selected for their work in the Tampa Bay community addressing issues fundamental to economic mobility, specifically basic needs and workforce development.
As an awardee, each organization receives a $200,000 grant, a year of leadership training for the executive director and an emerging leader, a network of peer organizations across the U.S., and the opportunity to access capital to expand their impact. Metropolitan Ministries has selected Christine Long, chief programs officer, and Pinellas County Urban League has selected Charlotte Anderson, vice president of housing and community economic development, as their respective emerging leaders.
Since 2004, Bank of America has invested over $260 million in 50 communities through Neighborhood Builders, partnering with more than 1,300 nonprofits and helping more than 2,600 nonprofit leaders strengthen their leadership skills.
“As we consider many of the challenges that our community is facing – from the health and humanitarian crisis brought on by the coronavirus to the need for progress on racial equality and economic opportunity – the Neighborhood Builders program is committed to supporting the communities we serve,” said Bill Goede, Tampa Bay market president for Bank of America. “This program enables long-term partners like Metropolitan Ministries and Pinellas County Urban League to plan strategically for growth and long-term sustainability.”
Metropolitan Ministries is dedicated to helping struggling families and individuals achieve their highest potential for self-sufficiency, with goals of alleviating homelessness and poverty. The organization serves over 31,000 households annually in Tampa Bay within the continuum of care for homeless and at-risk families. A past Neighborhood Builder awardee, Bank of America has partnered with the organization for years to assist its efforts to provide food, housing and support to the community.
“We are prepared to face the challenges of the new decade in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis and plan to leverage technology to once again increase service levels and reach to meet the enormous community need,” said Tim Marks, president and CEO of Metropolitan Ministries. “Since March 2020, we have increased our homeless prevention services by more than seven times, and Bank of America’s support will enable us to serve additional households and invest in our staff through training and resources to improve efficiency.”
Pinellas County Urban League’s mission is to help minority communities increase their social inclusion, educational competitiveness, and economic prosperity. This includes a focus on the hardest hit neighborhoods, with an emphasis on helping individuals and small businesses rebound from unexpected circumstances and loss, such as those brought on by the pandemic.
“Minority small businesses were disproportionately affected as a result of the pandemic, and these funds will help support our small business development initiatives and foster employment and revitalization efforts in underserved communities,” said Watson L. Haynes, II, president of Pinellas County Urban League. “With added support from partners like Bank of America, small businesses can continue to make a lasting impact and inspire growth and expansion to contribute to a thriving community.”
The Neighborhood Builders program is an opportunity to provide relevant skills development and topics to help nonprofit leaders address current and future community challenges. Each year, Bank of America refines the Neighborhood Builders Leadership Program to include topics ranging from strategic storytelling to human capital management, and highlights themes that are critical to moving the nonprofit sector forward within broader societal and economic context.
Since 2005, through its Neighborhood Builders program, Bank of America has partnered with 41 nonprofits in Tampa Bay, investing $8,600,000 to provide economic mobility opportunities for building a stronger, more vibrant community. The invitation-only program is highly competitive, and leading members of the community including Brian Auld, Stacy Baier, Elizabeth Frazier, Dr. Cynthia Johnson and Marlene Spalten participated in a collaborative selection process to identify this year’s awardees. Examples of the leadership training topics include human capital management, increasing financial sustainability, and storytelling. Neighborhood Builders is just one example of how Bank of America deploys capital in communities, builds cross-sector partnerships, and promotes socioeconomic progress as part of its approach to responsible growth.
Recent Bank of America announcements focused on advancing economic mobility include:
• Bank of America Announces Seven Completed Equity Investments in Minority Depository Institutions and Community Development Financial Institution Banks
• $2 billion Equality Progress Sustainability Bond.
• Universal ESG Reporting; International Business Council of World Economic Forum.
• Top Global Bank on Fortune Change the World List.
• Bank of America Directs $300 Million of Its $1 Billion, Four-Year Commitment to Advance Racial Equality and Economic Opportunity.
• Expanding support of Boys & Girls Clubs of America with $1 million grant to support educational programs.
• $1 billion, four-year commitment to support economic opportunity initiatives.
• Committing $250 million in capital and $10 million in philanthropic grants to CDFIs.
Bank of America
At Bank of America, we’re guided by a common purpose to help make financial lives better, through the power of every connection. We’re delivering on this through responsible growth with a focus on our environmental, social and governance (ESG) leadership. ESG is embedded across our eight lines of business and reflects how we help fuel the global economy, build trust and credibility, and represent a company that people want to work for, invest in and do business with. It’s demonstrated in the inclusive and supportive workplace we create for our employees, the responsible products and services we offer our clients, and the impact we make around the world in helping local economies thrive. An important part of this work is forming strong partnerships with nonprofits and advocacy groups, such as community, consumer and environmental organizations, to bring together our collective networks and expertise to achieve greater impact. Learn more at about.bankofamerica.com, and connect with us on Twitter (@BofA_News).
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