October 28, 2021
LAWT News Service
In one of the wealthiest states in one of the richest countries in the world, a $400 emergency could have a crippling effect on some LA families, leaving them without necessities, such as food, healthcare, or the worst outcome, a home. The city's Basic Income Guaranteed: LA Economic Assistance Pilot (BIG: LEAP) is a pilot program to address economic fragility and help families tackle unforeseen emergency expenses or address other household needs. Applications for the program will be available on Friday, October 29th, through Sunday, November 7th. Everyone is welcome to apply, as long as they meet the eligibility requirements. You can apply at: www.BIGLEAP.lacity.org.
The program will operate similarly to the Angeleno Card program, which offered a one-time $1000 cash transfer to qualifying families during the pandemic. The funds were unrestricted, and recipients could use the money to address whatever need they saw best.
Michelle G*(we've omitted her last name to respect her privacy), a recipient of an Angeleno card, said, "It was amazing to be able to provide for my family. I used the card to pay for [sic] my bills and buy groceries." When asked how she would use the funds if they were available every month, she added, "Oh well, they would help me fix my car, keep me out of debt, keep the light bill and the rent up to date." And what do you think was the most significant benefit of having these funds available this way? She took a beat and answered, "Living without the burden of having to worry about how I was going to pay."
When BIG: LEAP was introduced, Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson saw the program's benefit and invested an additional $3.4M to increase the number of participants from his District, which has been hard hit by the pandemic. He understood that families with the
necessary cash to make ends meet is a first step in creating vibrant, thriving local economies where money circulates and works as a rising tide. To that end, during the pandemic, he developed the Senior Meals program, which was replicated throughout the state to address the needs of a vulnerable population and help local businesses survive. This is how governments should work to reduce the strain on our social safety nets.
These programs demonstrate an understanding that residents are best equipped to solve their own problems and restore faith in the community that the government is responding to their needs. Sometimes the best thing government can do is provide resources and get out of the way.
October 14, 2021
By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
Lydia Pope counts among the fortunate, and she knows that.
Pope also doesn’t pull any punches when advocating for African Americans – particularly as it pertains to generational wealth.
Her father worked throughout Cleveland, Ohio, to help turn around the lives of gang members. Pope’s mother worked a lunch program that fed those individuals after her father tutored them about the importance of homeownership and generational wealth.
“My father passed away in 1991, and my mom told me that we were the second Black family to move onto our block when I was younger,” Pope, the president of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB), said during an interview inside the television studio of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) in Washington, D.C.
“My mother told me about the real estate card she possessed that prompted her to own a home,” Pope reminisced during a conversation with NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.
The entire conversation will air this season on PBS-TV and PBS-World during a telecast of The Chavis Chronicles.
Today, Pope’s brother owns the family’s Cleveland home, which she said will eventually pass to his son.
NAREB offers five pillars to building Black wealth, Pope added.“It’s all about a succession plan,” Pope stated. “This is how you build generational wealth.”
The five pillars include:
• Multi-generational wealth.
• Government relations and advocacy.
• Diversity and inclusion for small businesses.
• Women’s initiatives.
• Faith-based and civic engagement.
“Even today, the rate of Black homeownership is still at 46 percent. We have not moved the needle, so it’s important that as Black people, we have to fight for what we want,” Pope exclaimed.
“When you talk about democracy and housing, it’s important that we understand that we have to continue to fight for what we want. If that means going to our legislatures, that’s what we do. Our goal is to talk and advocate for the community, for those in need, for those who can’t speak for themselves. We can be the voice for them.”
Pope counts as the third woman president in NAREB’s 74-year history.
She has worked in real estate since 1995 and serves as the owner and president of E&D Realty & Investment Company, Inc., and E&D Realty Property Management Division and E&D Construction Company.
According to Pope’s biography, some of her past and current accomplishments including Past President of the Women’s Council of NAREB, Mt. Pleasant Advisory Board, Ohio Housing Finance Agency Committee, Cleveland Realtist Association Past President & Chair, and the Cleveland/Akron Legislative Committee.
Pope also holds a longtime membership with the NAACP.
Significantly, Pope declared that NAREB seeks ways to assist African Americans in wealth building and sustainability. Founded in Tampa, Florida, in 1947 as an equal opportunity and civil rights advocacy organization for African American real estate professionals, consumers, and communities in America.
According to its website, the purpose of NAREB is to enhance the economic improvement of its members, the community at large, and the minority community which it serves.
To unite those engaged in the recognized branches of the real estate industry including brokerage, management, mortgage financing, appraising, land development, home building, and allied fields for the purpose of exerting influence on real estate interests. Although composed principally of African Americans, the REALTIST organization embraces all qualified real estate practitioners who are committed to achieving our vision, which is Democracy in Housing. “Our mission is to provide solutions to the various challenges Black people face,” Pope stated. “It’s not just increasing awareness of the barriers to homeownership, but we want to provide solutions to all of the challenges, and educating our community is one of the biggest ways we at NAREB can have a positive impact.”
October 07, 2021
LAWT News Service
After more than two decades with the organization, Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Southern California (RMHCSC) today announced that Chief Executive Officer Vince Bryson plans to retire in January 2022.
“It has been an incredible privilege to have worked alongside an executive as strategic and mission-driven as Vince Bryson,” said Jeff Kaminski, chair of the board of directors for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California. “During his nine-year tenure as CEO, Vince significantly impacted the largest RMHC chapter in the country and truly drove the organization to a new level through his vision and relentless focus on expanding our impact. No words can do justice for all he has done to further our mission to provide comfort, care and support to critically ill children and their families.”
As CEO, Bryson led RMHCSC to significant growth, expanding the Chapter to encompass seven Ronald McDonald House® programs, four Ronald McDonald Family Room® programs, and Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times in Southern California. His tenure is marked by a series of successful capital campaigns that doubled the capacity of the Los Angeles, Inland Empire and Orange County programs and launched new programs in Bakersfield, Ventura and West Los Angeles. Alongside a team of executive directors and staff, Bryson launched marquee fundraising programs that were later adopted by RMHC chapters throughout the country, including the annual Walk for Kids campaign that has generated more than 20 million dollars over the past decade.
“Working with Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California to serve children and families during their most trying times has been the opportunity of a lifetime,” said Bryson.
“It’s been a great honor to have worked alongside such passionate and dedicated individuals who are relentlessly committed to making a difference for the families in our community each and every day.”
“On behalf of McDonald’s Southern California Owner/Operators, I thank Vince for his two decades of outstanding leadership and commitment to Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California,” said Dick Shalhoub, president of the Southern California McDonald's franchisee group and founding board member of the Inland Empire Ronald McDonald House in Loma Linda, Calif. “His dedication and strategic vision have ensured the thousands of children and families who rely on RMHCSC every day have access to the services and compassion they need, when they need it most.”
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California are built on the simple idea that nothing else should matter when a family is focused on the health of their child – not where they can afford to stay, where they will get their next meal or where they will lay their head at night to rest.
September 30, 2021
By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
Shawn Rochester, who authored the spellbinding book “The Black Tax: The Cost of Being Black in America,” and Robin Watkins, a highly regarded financial and operations accountant, have made Wall Street history.
And the two are poised to break through more barriers in the financial world.
Their latest venture, Minority Equality Opportunities Acquisitions Inc. (MEOA), has raised $126.5 million they’ve earmarked to help minority businesses and enterprises grow and prosper through mergers and acquisitions.
“It’s amazing to be a part of this,” Watkins, a Drexel University graduate, stated.
While Rochester serves as CEO of MEOA, Watkins counts as the company’s CFO.
“I come from a family of entrepreneurs,” Watkins remarked during an appearance on PBS-TV and PBS-World’s The Chavis Chronicles with National Newspapers Publishers Association (NNPA) President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.
The interview took place inside the new state-of-the-art NNPA television studios in Washington, D.C.
Because her grandfather owned a trucking company and café in Lawrenceville, Virginia, and her father and other family members were entrepreneurs, Watkins leaped at this latest opportunity.
“It’s historic, and it’s amazing,” Watkins stated.
MEOA raised the money after its initial public offering in August and now counts as the first special purpose acquisition company – or SPAC – headed by African Americans.
“We are trading now on the Nasdaq under MEOAU,” Rochester, who earned a master’s degree in Business Administration from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business with a focus in Accounting, Finance, and Entrepreneurship.
MEOA will target MBEs and Black-owned businesses nationwide.
“We’re really a blank check company that’s funded through an IPO,” Watkins remarked.
“The funds are held in trust to acquire another company. In this case, we are looking at minority business enterprises to take them public through our IPO. We are the only SPAC that is targeting minority business enterprises.”
According to financial experts, SPACs generally have two years to complete an acquisition.
If they fail, the company must return the money raised to its investors.
For Rochester and Watkins, failure isn’t an option.
Rochester said they are looking at companies with enterprise values between $250 million and $500 million with recurring and predictable revenues.
The criteria include having a history of being able to generate sustainable free-cash-flow.
“There is unprecedented demand for diverse suppliers, but many minority firms don’t have the resources to meet the demand,” Rochester said.
“That’s where MEOA, and the decades of combined experience that our team has in operations, strategy, business development, and acquisitions enter the picture for the right business, to help accelerate growth,” he continued.
Further demonstrating a commitment to racial equity and economic inclusion, MEOA engaged the Industrial Bank of Washington, one of the country’s preeminent Black-owned institutions, for its working capital banking needs during the SPAC and IPO process.
The company’s directors are majority-minority including, Dr. Julianne Malveaux, MIT economist and Dean, College of Ethnic Studies, Cal State Los Angeles, Mr. Ronald Busby, Sr., President and CEO, US Black Chamber, Inc., and Mr. Patrick Linehan, Partner, Steptoe & Johnson.
“The mission and purpose of MEOA will help to catapult minority enterprise in this country,” Rochester asserted.
“As a SPAC, we have the opportunity to not only help drive significant change and unleash superior performance but to also signal to the broader marketplace that there is tremendous value in companies and teams that have long been ignored.”