WHAT WE DO

Fight for a bright and just future

Rise Economy is building a powerful movement for economic justice, focused on knocking down the historical barriers for Black, Latine/x, and other People of Color who have faced hardships building generational wealth.

woman speaking
0

Years advocating for low-income communities and communities of color.

0

Billions of dollars in community investments.

0

California counties served by Rise Economy and our members.

0

Rise Economy organizational members throughout the state.

How We Do It

We’re focused on creating a more equitable society where BIPOC
have access to resources and opportunities to build generational wealth. We accomplish this by:

Driving Empowerment

Rise Economy’s work drives empowerment to support leaders to take back power from a racist system and build agency and control over their own success.

Advocacy & Action

Rise Economy’s work focuses on advocating for policies & practices that promote racial and economic justice and that address the root causes of inequality, redlining and systemic racism.

Growing Collaboration

Rise Economy works collaboratively with frontline groups and organizations to achieve its goals and seeks to build partnerships that create lasting change.

As the largest statewide reinvestment alliance in the country, Rise Economy is focusing on three distinct but complementary broad aspects of the ecosystem:

diverse people protesting

Organizing for power

Building collective power among community-serving organizations and impacted communities to advocate for economic justice.

diverse people protesting

Systems Change

Changing policies, laws, and practices that perpetuate inequality and harm to marginalized communities.

man and woman shaking hands

Direct Service Coordination

Work directly with impacted communities to provide essential services and resources, such as housing assistance and financial counseling.

Our History

Rise Economy—formerly CRC—was founded in 1986 with the goal of increasing the flow of credit, services, and investments to low-income communities and communities of color in California. Our most important tool is the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), a federal law passed in 1977 in response to redlining, which requires banks to help meet the credit needs of all communities in which they are located.

Over the last three decades, we have worked with our members to identify changing community needs, monitor bank practices, and advocate for systemic changes in the financial services industry and state and federal policy arenas.

Meet the Team Leading our Alliance

Our alliance is led by a diverse and passionate team with decades of experience in committing to creating systemic change and advancing social and justice in low income and BIPOC communities.

pink background
diverse group of people holding awards

Rise Economy Board of Directors

Chancela Al-Mansour

Chair

Elba Serrano

Vice Chair

Vanessa Carter Fahnestock

Secretary

Jillian Spindle

Treasurer

Eric Payne

CENTRAL VALLEY URBAN INSTITUTE

Joe Ridout

KNIGHT LAW GROUP

Kendra Noel Lewis

Stephanie Carrol

PUBLIC COUNSEL LAW CENTER