[ONLINE] - COVID-19 Equitable Relief & Recovery

While no community has been spared by the current public health crisis, COVID-19 has taken a disproportionate toll on the physical and economic well-being of African-American and Latino communities in America's cities. The Urban America Forward: Equitable Relief & Recovery webinar series highlights partners and practices in eight U.S. cities that prioritize racial equity in COVID-19 relief and response. We will discuss the work of equitable relief, lessons learned, and models for collaboration with leaders from Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore, Detroit, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, New Orleans, and Washington D.C.

Please join us August 3 from 1:00 - 2:30pm EST for the first webinar in this series: “How Practitioners are Preventing COVID-19 from Expanding the Racial Wealth Gap.” One of the greatest challenges of the pandemic is ensuring basic economic stability while also preserving opportunities for business and home ownership. The current policy climate challenges cities to respond to emergency needs while designing longer term reforms to create a more inclusive economy. Our panel will discuss small business supports (including recent experience with The Paycheck Protection Program); equitable lending programs; financial support for low-income and essential workers; and forecasts for federal action.

Moderator: Alaina Beverly, Assistant Vice President for Urban Affairs, University of Chicago

Introduction: Marc Morial, President and CEO, The National Urban League

Speakers:

• James Feagin, Chief Strategist, Projects + People (Detroit)
• Helene Gayle, CEO, The Chicago Community Trust (Chicago)
• K. Sabeel Rahman, President, Demos
• Lynnette White-Colin, Vice President, Small Business Initiatives, New Orleans Business Alliance (New Orleans)

Reflections From:

• Vincent Ash, Director of Economic Development, Develop Indy - Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce
• Lauren Counts, Senior Director of Strategy / Head of National Programs, Capital Impact Partners
• Samuel Ndely, Director of Employer Inclusivity - Center for Economic Inclusion
• Ashleigh Gardere, Senior Advisor to the President & CEO / Director, All-In Cities, PolicyLink

Webinars are open to all local innovators and community development practitioners to enable the sharing of insights across cities. The series will be made available on the New America COVID-19 YouTube playlist, the Urban America Forward website, and syndicated by The Indianapolis Recorder, one of America's oldest Black newspapers.

Launched in 2015 by the University of Chicago Office of Civic Engagement, the Urban America Forward program convenes non-profit, private, public and philanthropic sector leaders, as well as urban researchers and social scientists who are committed to furthering equity in urban America.

New America Local is a geographically distributed team at New America, created in 2015 to work with local communities on issues of racial and economic equity. We build better feedback loops between lived experience and policy design, providing a national platform for local problem solvers.

The University of Chicago Office of Civic Engagement and New America Indianapolis are honored to host this important and timely conversation with the generous support of our partners: