6 Stones, Jubilee Park selected for Bank of America program
Bank of America has named 6 Stones and Jubilee Park and Community Center its 2019 Neighborhood Builders awardees for Dallas-Fort Worth. The company selected the nonprofits for their work in North Texas to address issues fundamental to economic mobility, community revitalization, and affordable housing.
The awards are part of the $4 million Bank of America has contributed to local nonprofits so far in 2019.
As an awardee, each organization receives a $200,000 grant, a year of leadership training for the executive director and an emerging leader at the organization, a network of peer organizations across the U.S., and the opportunity to access capital to expand their impact.
Over the past 15 years, Bank of America has invested $240 million in 49 communities through Neighborhood Builders, partnering with more than 1,000 nonprofits and helping more than 2,000 nonprofit leaders strengthen their leadership skills.
BofA announced the awards at the 2019 North Texas Bank of America Foundation Celebration at the Gaylord Texan on Nov. 7.
“Through a program like Neighborhood Builders, nonprofits have the power to grow strategically and advance sustainable growth in the area. Bank of America has invested over $1 million in South Dallas through partnerships with organizations like Jubilee Park,” said Jennifer Chandler, Dallas market president, Bank of America.
Jubilee Park and Community Center is a catalyst for community renewal and enrichment in the Jubilee Park Neighborhood, a 62-block area in southeast Dallas.
“We see every day the impact that organizations like Jubilee Park and 6 Stones are making in DFW and we are excited to contribute to their successes,” said Mike Pavell, Fort Worth Market President, Bank of America.
6 Stones, based in Bedford, will launch a mentoring program to help people it serves achieve economic mobility. 6 Stones spurs hope that transforms lives, homes and communities by building a coalition of churches, businesses, and others that provide solutions to meet residents’ needs in the area.
“Many of the people who come to us for help with food, clothing, school supplies and other basic needs have been entrapped in generational poverty,” said Jennifer Leney, executive director, 6 Stones. “Our current programs help to cover their immediate needs so that they can stabilize. Now, with support from Bank of America, we will be able to lead our neighbors into the next chapter of their lives: security that leads to growth. We believe that leveraging our amazing volunteer base to address communitywide issues through personal mentoring will not only empower the families we serve but also build a thriving community: one household at a time.”
Since 2004, through its Neighborhood Builders program, Bank of America has partnered with nearly 50 nonprofits in Dallas-Fort Worth, investing $9 million to provide financial education and economic mobility opportunities in North Texas.
Paul Quinn, JP Morgan partner on work college
As part of its expansion into Plano, located 32 miles north of its campus in southern Dallas, Paul Quinn College has partnered with JPMorgan Chase & Co. to give 22 students an opportunity to work at the state’s largest bank.
Paul Quinn College (PQC) is the first Urban Work College in America and the only minority-serving federally-funded work college in the Work College Consortium. PQC created the Urban Work College Model in 2015 to provide students the opportunity to gain paid, real-world work experiences while completing their academic requirements.
“We are so proud to partner with JPMorgan Chase. Through our partnership with JPMorgan Chase and their Advancing Black Pathways initiative, we are able to provide our students with opportunities that they have dreamed about and expose them business, finance, and technology at the highest levels,” said Dr. Michael J. Sorrell, president, Paul Quinn College. “We have created a new version of higher education that guarantees its students a way out of poverty. We are thankful that JPMorgan Chase believes in our program and our students.”
By requiring residential students to work 20 hours per week and allowing them to use part of their compensation to defray the cost of attendance and cutting tuition and fees by almost $10,000, PQC has created a model where its students graduate without accumulating insurmountable debt.
The partnership with JPMorgan Chase is a major step forward in enlisting new corporate partners in the program, which currently has 138 student participants.
“Growing up in Harlem, an internship like this would have been a life changing event,” said Plano Mayor Harry LaRosiliere. “These Paul Quinn Scholars are from all over the country – New York, Detroit, Oakland, Chicago – and they are going to be employed, build their business network and acquire a first-class education right here in Plano. This partnership is going to make an incredible difference in their lives.”
LaRosiliere sponsors the Plano Mayor’s Summer Internship Program. Approaching its seventh year, it gives outstanding public high school students an opportunity to work for some of the area’s most prestigious businesses, including JPMorgan Chase. To date, 562 students have participated in summer internships. Forty percent of the students are first-generation college-bound.
This effort is part of a broader plan by JPMorgan Chase, the state’s largest bank, to hire 4,000 black students over the next five years through the firm’s Advancing Black Pathways program, which is investing to help black people make gains in three key areas: education, careers and wealth.
“We’re committed to expanding our partnerships with historically black colleges and universities and are being intentional in our work to cultivate black talent,” said Sekou Kaalund, the Head of Advancing Black Pathways. “As America’s largest bank, it’s our responsibility to make sure we’re hiring from the most diverse pool of candidates possible while creating pathways to long-term success for traditionally underrepresented groups.”
Additional foundational partners of the PQC-Plano expansion include:
• Aimbridge Hospitality
• Ampex Brands
• Bank of America
• FedEx
• JCPenney
• Liberty Mutual
• McDonalds
• NTT Data
– FWBP Staff
Google plans to offer checking accounts
Google plans to add checking accounts from Citigroup and a credit union to its Google Pay digital wallet in 2020, the tech company said Nov. 13.
Google confirmed an earlier report by The Wall Street Journal.
Big tech companies have been pushing into other arenas such as finance and health care to gain more access to consumer data. Google launched Google Wallet in 2011, now called Google Pay, which lets users store credit and debit card information and use them to make mobile and digital payments.
Now the Mountain View, California-based tech giant wants to add checking accounts.
“We’re exploring how we can partner with banks and credit unions in the U.S. to offer smart checking accounts through Google Pay,” the company said in a statement.
The move would let users use Google Pay but keep money in accounts that meet the federal regulatory standards for banks. While Google is working with Citigroup and Stanford Credit Union now, it hopes to add more partners in the future.
In the U.S., more than 2,000 banks already offer virtual card transactions via Google Pay, Google said.
The push comes at a time when regulators are looking into privacy practices by firms including Google and Facebook so the deals are likely to be scrutinized.
Citigroup did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
– Associated Press